Taste of phytocompounds: A better predictor for ethnopharmacological activities of medicinal plants than the phytochemical class?

Publication date: 28 June 2018
Source:Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Volume 220
Author(s): Dorin Dragos, Marilena Gilca
Ethnopharmacological relevanceUnderstanding the patterns that shape traditional medical knowledge is essential for accelerating ethnopharmacological progress. According to Ayurveda, medicinal plants that belong to different taxa, but which have similar taste, may display similar (ethno)pharmacological activities (EPAs) (Bhishagratna, 1998; Sharma and Dash, 2006).Aim of the studyTo understand the patterns that govern the distribution of herbal EPAs in Ayurveda and to evaluate the potential concordance between chemical class or taste of the constituent phytocompounds and EPAs.Material and methodsA mixed database (PhytoMolecularTasteDB) was constructed for Ayurvedic medicinal plants by integrating modern data (medicinal plant composition, phytochemical taste) with traditional data (ethnopharmacological activities of plant). PhytoMolecularTasteDB contains 431 Ayurvedic medicinal plants, 94 EPAs, 223 chemical classes of phytocompounds and 438 herbal tastants. Potential global or individual associations between chemical classes/taste of the phytoconstituents and EPAs were statistically analyzed.ResultsThere was no global statistical correlation between the various chemical classes of phytocompounds and EPAs, although there were several individual correlations. The results suggest the existence of a global statistical correlation (besides several individual correlations) between the plant "molecular taste" (various taste-based classes of phytocompounds) and EPAs.ConclusionsThese results suggest that phytochemical taste may be more relevant than chemical class for EPAs prediction.

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