BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE SUBSTANCES OF THE LAURUS NOBILIS LEAVES

Abstract

Laurus nobilis L. is an evergreen dioecious, rarely monecious plant up to 12-15 m high. The plant’s name is devoted to an Ancient Greek God of Sun Apollo and is a symbol of peace and victory. It was used in making up wreaths for emperors, generals, and poets. Its natural area includes Mediterranean countries with high level of annual precipitation. It is actively cultivated as a decorative plant in Europe, Russia, USA and other countries. It is cultivated in Turkey, Algeria, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Russia, and Mexico. The aim of the study is the review of available literature about isolation, identification, quantitative determination of biologically active compounds of the Laurus nobilis leaves in the established species and their pharmacological activity. Materialsand methods. The study was carried out using searching (PubMed, CiteSeer, arXiv), library databases (eLibrary, Cyberleninka), and ResearchGate free social network. Results and discussion. We have established that Laurus nobilis leaves have components of essential oil, phenolic compounds, and sesquiterpenic lactones as the principal active substances. Qualitative composition and quantitative content of these compound groups in these raw materials varies depending on the ecological and geographical, edaphic, climatic factors, phase of the plant growth, cultivation technology, drying method etc. The results of the pharmacological studies of the extracts, summary fractions, and individual compounds of Laurus nobilis leaves characterize this type of raw materials as a perspective source for a more profound study. Conclusion. As the available open review data showed, the essential oil components, phenolic compounds (phenolic acids, flavonoids, etc), sesquiterpenic lactones of Laurus nobilis exhibit a diverse spectrum of pharmacological activity. Antimicrobial (widely), anti-virus, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and cytoxic (anticancer) activities, established in extracts, certain fractions, and individual compounds of Laurus leaves compounds are perspective from the point of further studies and development of new treatment and preventive medicinal drugs.

Keywords

• laurus nobilis
• essential oil
• phenolic compounds
• sesquiterpenic lactones
• pharmacological activity