Passiflora was a nourishing and healthy fruit grown in tropical and subtropical regions. Passiflora has been widely used to alleviate various diseases in the folk in tropical nations, especially as a treatment for insomnia and anxiety in Europe. The title plant had been used as antalgesic and downer from the beginning of the 20th century up to now. The demands of Passiflora and its extract have been increasing. Therefore, comprehensive utilization of this plant is necessary. This paper reviewed the progress in the study on the chemical composition, nutrient value, and pharmacological effect of the genus of Passiflora.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Molecular Structure ; Passiflora ; chemistry

Soluble epoxide hydrolases (sEH) are enzymes present in all living organisms, metabolize epoxy fatty acids to 1,2-diols. sEH in the metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids plays a key role in inflammation. In addition, the endogenous lipid mediators in cardiovascular disease are also broken down to diols by the action of sEH that enhanced cardiovascular protection. In this study, sEH inhibitory guided fractionation led to the isolation of five phenolic compounds trans-resveratrol (1), trans-piceatannol (2), sulfuretin (3), (+)-balanophonin (4), and cassigarol E (5) from the ethanol extract of the seeds of Passiflora edulis Sims cultivated in Vietnam. The chemical structures of isolated compounds were determined by the interpretation of NMR spectral data, mass spectra, and comparison with data from the literature. The soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) inhibitory activity of isolated compounds was evaluated. Among them, trans-piceatannol (2) showed the most potent inhibitory activity on sEH with an IC₅₀ value of 3.4 µM. This study marks the first time that sulfuretin (3) was isolated from Passiflora edulis as well as (+)-balanophonin (4), and cassigarol E (5) were isolated from Passiflora genus.
Cardiovascular Diseases ; Epoxide Hydrolases ; Ethanol ; Fatty Acids ; Fatty Acids, Unsaturated ; Inflammation ; Metabolism ; Passiflora ; Passifloraceae ; Phenol ; Vietnam

Based on the research literatures of Passiflora incarnata and the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, the paper discussed the traditional Chinese medicinal properties of P. incarnate, so as to provide a theoretical basis for the compatibility and application of P. incarnata. The literature databases of CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus were selected, and the literatures relating to P. incarnata were reviewed to screen out the scientific research literatures with a high credibility, rational design and reliable conclusions. Foreign pharmacopoeia was consulted, and the listed products were summarized. The traditional Chinese medicine properties of P. incarnata were studied based on 32 clinical trials, 66 pharmacological researches, 64 chemical constituents researches as well as the theory of traditional Chinese medicine. It was preliminarily concluded that the medicinal properties of P. incarnata are sweet, cool, and enter heart, liver channels. The function is mainly to calm the heart and tranquilizing the mind, and calm the liver wind. It is used for hyperactivity of liver-Yang, stagnation of liver-Qi, restlessness of mind, depression, nervousness, insomnia. This paper summarized the source, characteristics of natures, tastes and channel tropism, usage and dosage, function indications of P. incarnata, and defined its clear traditional Chinese medicine property, which lays a theoretical foundation for the compatibility and clinical application of P. incarnata and Chinese medicine.
Anti-Anxiety Agents ; Anxiety ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Passiflora ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders/drug therapy*

Some species of traditional herbal medicine has a history of use, most traditional natural herbs have been used for various diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. Among them, Passiflora incarnata L. is a traditional natural medicine, flowers as well as berries, roots, and leaves have been used as a medicine. It has been used as a natural medicine for the treatment of insomnia and anxiety for a longtime in Europe, and it has been used primarily for sedation tea in North America. Moreover, Passiflora incarnata L. is widely used anti-asthmatic, analgesic and sedation in Brazil. In other words, Passiflora incarnata L. has been used to treat a sedative, dysmenorrhea, insomnia, cancer, etc. in many countries. Present review of the plants showed a wide range of pharmacological activity in anxiolytic relax the clinical disease, such as anti-inflammatory, anxiety and antioxidant. In addition, Passiflora incarnata L. affects menopause symptoms such as vasomotor symptoms, insomnia, and depression. This review aims to provide the latest information on specific functional components of Passiflora incarnata L. especially the results of clinical trials will provide new insights into opportunities for the future development of natural medicines and doors will be used for purposes of analysis.
Anxiety ; Brazil ; Depression ; Dysmenorrhea ; Europe ; Female ; Flowers ; Fruit ; Herbal Medicine ; Hypertension ; Menopause ; North America ; Obesity ; Passiflora* ; Plant Extracts ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; Tea

Although the number of prescriptions and dependence on sleeping pills are increasing, the associations with unexpected abnormal behaviors and metabolic diseases caused by the overuse of sleeping pills are not well understood. In particular, such as abnormal eating-behavior and the occurrence of metabolic disorders caused by psychological unstable states are reported. For this reason, herbal medicine, which has not had such side effects in recent years, is attracting attention as an alternative medicine/food for sleeping inducer. We have used ethanol extracts from Passiflora incarnata (PI) to steadily obtain positive effects on sleep and brain microenvironment. However, as mentioned earlier, sleep-inducing efficacy can only be used safely if the behavioral and metabolic abnormalities do not appear.Thus, in this study, we used Phenomaster equipment to continuously monitor the movement, feeding, water consumption, gas changes, etc. in C57BL/6 mice at a dose of 500 mg/kg/day for 5 consecutive days with PI extract group compared with the control group. Before sacrifice, differences in body composition of mice were also compared. Monitoring of 24 h/5 days through the equipment showed no change in PI-treated group in anything except for significant decrease in blood melatonin levels and activity after PI administration. Taken together, the statistically insignificance of any behavioral and metabolic phenomenon produced by repeated treatment of PI are not only expected to have an accurate sleep effect, but are also free of side effects of the prescribed sleeping pills. This study has given us greater confidence in the safety of the PI extracts we use for sleep-inducer.
Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Body Composition ; Brain ; Drinking ; Ethanol ; Herbal Medicine ; Melatonin ; Metabolic Diseases ; Metabolic Phenomena ; Mice ; Passiflora ; Prescriptions ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

OBJECTIVETo investigate analgesic, antidiarrhoeal and cytotoxic activities of the ethanol extract of Passiflora foetida L. (Passifloraceae) by three experimental methods.

METHODSAnalgesic activity of the ethanol extract of Passiflora foetida L. (EEPF) acetic acid-induced writhing inhibition in mice. The method of castor oil-induced diarrhoea in mice was utilized to evaluate antidiarrhoeal activity. The cytotoxic activity of EEPF was explored with a brine shrimp lethality bioassay.

RESULTSThe extract showed 68.75% and 30.00% inhibition of writhe at the doses of 500 and 250 mg/kg body weight, respectively. The extract increased the mean latent period prior to diarrhoeal onset to about 1.55 h and 1.17 h, and decreased the mean number of stools to 4.4 and 5.6 at the doses of 500 and 250 mg/kg body weight. The extract also demonstrated cytotoxic activity in the brine shrimp lethality assay, and the median lethal concentration for brine shrimp nauplii was 80 μg/mL.

CONCLUSIONThe results suggest that the plant extract has analgesic and antidiarrhoeal activities, supporting its uses in traditional medicine. The results also demonstrate that the plant extract possesses cytotoxic activities.

Analgesics ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Antidiarrheals ; pharmacology ; Diarrhea ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Female ; Male ; Mice ; Pain ; drug therapy ; Passiflora ; chemistry ; Phytotherapy ; adverse effects ; methods ; Plant Extracts ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; toxicity

This study was aimed at evaluating the anti-diabetic potential of passion fruit Passiflora edulis (EPE) extracts in diabetic rats, following Streptozotocin (STZ) induced oxidative stress. Thirty adult Wistar rats were divided into five groups, with six rats in each group. The control rats were injected intraperitoneally with citrate buffer (pH 4.5). The remaining groups of rats were administered single dose of 45 mg·kg(-1) of STZ by intraperitoneal route to induce diabetes. The diabetic animals were treated with 250 and 500 mg·kg(-1) of EPE and glibenclamide 0.6 mg·kg(-1) for fifteen days by oral route. Blood glucose, end organ oxidative stress marker, and anti-oxidants were assayed. Further, histopathological investigation of pancreas was studied at the end of the experimentation. The results revealed that subacute administration of EPE significantly (P < 0.001) controlled the blood glucose level in the diabetic rats. In addition, EPE extract protected the end organs by restoring the anti-oxidants enzyme, significantly increasing super oxide dismutase level (SOD) and decreasing catalase (CAT) and TBARS level in visceral organs. In conclusion, that EPE extracts showed anti-diabetic and anti-oxidant potential against streptozotocin-induced diabetes.
Animals ; Antidiarrheals ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Antioxidants ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Catalase ; metabolism ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; Female ; Fruit ; Insulin ; blood ; Male ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Pancreas ; drug effects ; pathology ; Passiflora ; Phytotherapy ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Rats, Wistar ; Seeds ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism