Volatile components and biological activities of Pulicaria essential oils. A review

The Asteraceae (Compositae) family is a widely distributed family throughout the world and contains about 200 genera and 2000 species [1]. The genus Pulicaria is an herbaceous plant of the Asteraceae family and consists of approximately 100 species [2]. It is widely distributed in Africa, Europe, and Asia, and concentrated mainly in the Mediterranean region. In North America, Pullcaria is known by the common name of false fleabane [3]. The leaves alternate and the capitulum is heterogamous and radiate, solitary or in terminal corymbs; receptacle epaleate, with scale-like ridges. The florets are radiate, small, disc florets 5-dentate, anthers sagittate and caudate, style branches linear, flat, and ABSTRACT The genus Pulicaria belongs to the Asteraceae family, consists of ca. 100 species with a distribution from Europe to North Africa and Asia, particularly around the Mediterranean. The Pulicaria essential oils were recognised to possess considerable biological activities with a varied chemical composition. This article aims to overview the medicinal uses, chemical compositions, and biological activities of Pulicaria essential oils considered as a medicinal plant, widely used as traditional herbal medicines in the treatment of various diseases. The data were collected from the scientific electronic databases including SciFinder, Scopus, Elsevier, PubMed, and Google Scholar. A total of sixteen Pulicaria species have been reported for their essential oils and biological activities. It can be observed that the major components were carvotanacetone, a-pinene, 4-terpineol, B-caryophyllene, and cis-chyrsanthenol. Pharmacological studies indicated that the essential oils exhibited antioxidant, antimicrobial, cytotoxicity, antibacterial, antifungal, anticholinesterase, leishmanicidal, allelopathic, anti-corrosive, antityrosinase, antitumor and insecticidal activities. The outcome of these studies will further support the therapeutic potential of the genus Pulicaa and provide convincing evidence to its future clinical applications in modern medicine.