Antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities of Polygonum minus: a review of literature

Inflammation and oxidative stress are involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, hypertension and ischemic heart disease. Natural products play an important role as nutritional supplements with potential health benefits in cardiovascular diseases. Polygonum minus (PM) is an aromatic plant that is widely used as a flavoring agent in cooking and has been recognized as a plant with various medicinal properties including antioxidative and anti-inflammatory actions. Phytoconstituents found in PM such as phenolic and flavonoid compounds contribute to the plant's antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects. We conducted this review to systematically identify articles related to the antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities of PM. A computerized database search was conducted on Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus, and ACS publication, from 1946 until May 2020, and the following keywords were used: 'Kesum OR Polygonum minus OR Persicaria minor' AND 'inflammat* OR oxida* OR antioxida*'. A total of 125 articles were obtained. Another eight additional articles were identified through Google Scholar and review articles. Altogether, 17 articles were used for data extraction, comprising 16 articles on antioxidant and one article on anti-inflammatory activity of PM. These studies consist of 14 in vitro studies, one in vivo animal study, one combined in vitro and in vivo study and one combined in vitro and ex vivo study. All the studies reported that PM exhibits antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities which are most likely attributed to its high phenolic and flavonoid content.