INTRODUCTION:
Consuming five or even more servings of vegetables and fruit each day may lower the risk of developing the disease, according to several researches examining the link between fruits and health (Oguntibeju, Truter, and Esterhuyse, 2013). A theory on the function of antioxidants in chronic disease prevention has been put forth since vegetables and fruits offer a variety of Phytochemical (Zia-Ul-Haq, 2021).
One of the most significant commercial crop species in tropical and subtropical nations, the guava (Psidium guajava) asserts dominance over other fruits due to its economic and nutritional benefits. Guava is referred to as the "apple of the tropics" and is a common man's fruit. Guavas are abundant in antioxidants such as carotenoids, ascorbic acid, and polyphenols, just as many other fruits and vegetables (Legesse, Tesfay, and Abay, 2016).
The guava plant's leaves, in addition to its fruit, have been investigated for their potential health advantages. These benefits are attributed to the leaves' abundance of Phytochemical, which include guaijaverin, caffeic acid, catechin, quercetin, apigenin, kaempferol, myricetin, hyperin, gallic acid, epicatechin, chlorogenic acid, epigallocatechin gallate, and avicularin (Kumar et al., 2021). Guava extracts have been examined for their biological effects, including their hepatoprotective, ant diarrheal, anticancer, antioxidant, ant diabetic, and antibacterial properties (Porwal, Singh, and Gurjar, 2012).
Role of Antioxidants in Human Health:
The body's defensive mechanism against ROS is thought to depend heavily on antioxidants. To put it another way, an antioxidant is "any chemical that, when found in small amounts compared to an oxidizable substrate, considerably inhibits or delays the oxidation of that substrate" (Ali et al., 2019). Any chemical that prevents slows, or reverses oxidative damage to a target molecule is an antioxidant. Antioxidants have a variety of physiological functions in the body because they block the oxidation process even at low doses. The plant material's antioxidant components serve as radical scavengers and aid in the transformation of radicals into less reactive species. Foods including fruits, vegetables, tea, and other beverages are dietary sources of a range of antioxidants that scavenge free radicals (Deledda et al., 2021).
Many fruits and vegetables contain natural antioxidants, which have garnered a lot of media and scholarly attention. All sections of plants contain natural antioxidants (Khan, Paniwnyk, and Hassan, 2019). Food tissues experience ongoing oxidative stress since they are (and were) living, which is caused by reactive oxygen species, free radicals, and pro-oxidants produced by both exogenous (heat and light) and endogenous (H2O2 and transition metals) sources. To combat oxidation intermediates, free radicals, secondary breakdown products, and lipid oxidation catalysts several of these structures have evolved antioxidant systems (Santos-Sánchez et al., 2019).
Guava : A Storehouse of Antioxidants:
The Psidium guajava L. tree, a member of the Myrtaceae family, is a particularly distinctive and long-established plant that is cultivated for both its nutritional and therapeutic benefits. Guava is a tropical fruit that has been cultivated and used extensively in South America, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Indonesia. Many cultures have used the stems, leaves, barks, roots, and fruits of the guava tree to cure stomach-aches, diabetes, diarrhoea, as well as other health issues. Dark green, elliptical, and oval in shape, the guava leaf (Psidium guajavae folium) is distinguished by its obtuse-type apex. Guava leaves, combined with the juice and seed, are used to treat several respiratory and gastrointestinal conditions as well as to boost platelets in dengue fever patients (Laily et al., 2015). The antispasmodic, cough sedative, anti-inflammatory, anti-diarrheic, anti-hypertension, anti-obesity, and ant diabetic effects of GLs are also commonly utilized (Chen and Yen, 2007). Additionally, studies using animal models have demonstrated the effectiveness of GL isolates as powerful cytotoxic, antitumor, and anticancer drug (Jiang et al., 2020).
Chemical Composition and Phytochemical Profile of Guava:
Guava is an abundant source of a number of micronutrients, macronutrients, and bioactive substances that are beneficial to one's health. Let alone leaves of guava have 12.74% carbohydrates, 83.47 % moisture, 0.62% fat, 18.53% protein, 3.64% ash,103 milligrams of vitamin C, and 1717 milligrams of gallic acid equivalents (GAE) per gram of total phenolic components (Shabbir et al., 2018).
It is possible to isolate the polysaccharides found in guava leaf (GLPs) via ultrasound-assisted extraction. These GLPs have a uronic acid content of 9.13% and a total sugar content of 64.42%, among which 2.24% are reducing sugars. GLPs are water soluble but inert in organic solvents such as diethyl ether, ethanol, acetone, ethyl acetate, and chloroform. Extracted GLP with a concentration of 100 g/mL has good antioxidant ability with 56.38% and 51.73% 2, 2’-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical- and radical cation-scavenging capacities, respectively (Luo et al., 2018).
The protein content in guava leaves is 9.73% by dry weight. According to Jassal et al., leaves of this plant can be used as a novel and sustainable food source because they are a good source of dietary fiber, protein, and carbohydrates (Jassal et al., 2019).
Essential oils are abundant in guava leaves. 1, 8-cineole and trans-caryophyllene are two of this essential oil's main components. Employing gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS), Chen et al. isolated 50 Phytochemical in essential oil, with -caryophyllene, -pinene, and 1, 8-cineole being the main ones. A distinct profile of chemicals, including limonene, -pinene, -caryophyllene, and longicyclene, was discovered in essential oil from the variety of guava grown in Philippines (Sacchetti et al., 2005).
Because of its antihyperglycemic properties, guava is a widely used traditional medicine source in Asian culture. In addition to minerals, lipids, vitamins, essential oils, and proteins, it also has high-quality bioactive polysaccharides. Phenolic acids, glycosides, flavonoids, saponins, triterpenoids, alkaloids, and sesquiterpenes are some of the several secondary metabolites that are present. Phenolic compounds (PCs), which have antioxidant and hypoglycemic characteristics, are important bioactive molecules. In general, these phenolic chemicals have a significant impact on controlling a variety of physiological and metabolic processes in the animal body. They can help minimize the tissue damage brought on by oxidative stress as a result of chronic diseases and also have anticancer properties. (Díaz-de-Cerio, 2016).
Biological Activity of Psidium guajavae:
The constituents in guava extracts have a variety of biological properties, including anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic, anti-cancer, and antioxidant properties. Additionally, compared to unsulfated guava extract, sulfated guava extract exhibits greater bioactivities, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancer properties (Kumar et al., 2021).
a. Anti-Diabetic Properties:
About 10 percent of the total of the world's population has a blood glucose metabolic abnormality called hyperglycemia, which is mostly defined by diabetes, a serious chronic disease. Type 1 diabetes is characterized by either insufficient insulin release from pancreatic islet -cells or by the incapacity of cells to respond to the produced insulin (type 2 diabetes) (Mazumdar, Akter, Talukder, 2015). According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), there were 451 million cases of diabetes mellitus worldwide in 2017, which led to 5 million fatalities. By 2045, it is expected that there will be 693 million cases of diabetes worldwide. Long-term hyperglycaemia increases the generation of ROS and dyslipidemia, which results in serious cellular damage and problems (Cho et al., 2018).
Numerous studies have demonstrated the possible ant diabetic properties of Guava flavonoids and polysaccharides. In diabetic mice, the hepatocyte shape and guaijaverin and avicularin flavonoids of Guava extract significantly improved -cell function in the pancreatic islets (Zhu et al., 2020). Avicularin prevented intracellular lipid aggregation by preventing glucose absorption through GLUT-4 in vitro, while guaijaverin decreased the activity of the blood glucose homeostasis enzyme dipeptidyl-peptidase IV and showed no obvious toxicity for 3T3-L1 adipose cells (Eidenberger, Selg, Krennhuber, 2013).
b. Anti-Oxidant Properties:
Guava's antioxidant properties are a result of the availability of phenolic substances such as pyrocatechol, ferulic acid, taxifolin, gallic acid, ellagic acid, and a number of others. Seven significant flavonoids, including apigenin, hesperetin, rutin, kaempferol, catechin, quercitrin, and quercetin, were found in guava extract by high-performance liquid chromatography (Farag et al., 2020). Other bioactive substances, including kaempfertin, corilaginoline, and isoquinoline, alkaloids, were also found. These constituents are majorly responsible for the guava's antioxidant effects (Taha et al., 2019). Numerous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of antioxidant molecules from guava in reducing the negative effects of free radicals. A DPPH experiment revealed that essential oils isolated from guava leaves operate as significant antioxidants IC50 value of 460.37 ± 1.33 g/mL (Lee et al., 2012).
Zebrafish were used to research protective effects of polysaccharides present in Guava. The authors found that GL polysaccharides prevented the production of (ROS) reactive oxygen species, decreased lipid peroxidation, and prevented cell death in response to oxidative stress brought on by hydrogen peroxide (Kim et al., 2016). Another study found that GL extracts at 4000 ppm or more can stop fresh pork sausages from oxidizing, indicating that they could be used as functional food ingredients (Tran et al., 2020). Guava extract was co-fermented with yeast and bacterial strains to liberate insoluble coupled polyphenol components, and it was found that fermentation increased the antioxidant activity of soluble guava extract polyphenols. In recent work, crude polysaccharides from Guava extract were used to create silver nanoparticles, which demonstrated strong DPPH radical- and ABTS radical cation scavenging ability. The results clearly show that Guava extracts can be a valuable antioxidant substance in the canning and cosmetic industries (Wang et al., 2017).
c. Anti-Microbial Activity:
Current serious concerns include the emergence of novel disease-causing strains as well as microbial resistance to conventional antibiotics. The prevalence of systemic microbial infections including septicemia, UTI, meningitis, pneumonia, and gastritis, affects the entire body and is a major cause of mortality worldwide (Nasser et al., 2018). Guava is recognized to have antibacterial effects since it contains a wide range of natural and inorganic antioxidants and anti-inflammatory substances. Against P. aeruginosa, E. coli, S. faecalis, S. aureus, and B. subtilis, guava essential oils exhibit potent antibacterial activity. Studies also point to their anti-proliferative and antioxidant properties (Soliman et al., 2016). Current research on the antibacterial properties of plant bioactive compounds encourages the use of Guava extract in the management of microbial infections, disorders linked to oxidative stress, and the discovery of additional preventative chemicals from Guava extract (Comber et al., 2012).
d. Anti-Cancer Properties:
An increase in cellular proliferation that results in apoptosis can be used to diagnose cancer, a complex health condition. It can result from a variety of endogenous and exogenous variables that contribute to the uncontrolled generation of ROS. Lipid peroxidation can cause single- or double-strand breaks in DNA or RNA, chromosomal breakage, base mutations, and reorganization, DNA cross-linkage, nucleic acid degradation, and tumour development (Gonzalez, Hagerling, Werb, 2018). Triterpenoids, tannins, sesquiterpenes, psiguadials, flavonoids, volatile oils, benzophenone glycosides, and various quinones are all present in guava in good amounts. HepG2 (human hepatoma cells) and PTP1B (protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B) are inhibited by the psiguadials D and C. Terpenoids and flavonoids found in GLs have anticancer effects by controlling the immune system, inhibiting signal transduction and tumor cell adhesion, and preventing tumor angiogenesis and cell proliferation (Biswas, Talukdar, Talapatra, 2019).
CONCLUSION:
Some Phytochemical, primarily ascorbic acid and tocopherol, as well as phenolic compounds, carotenoids, and vitamins, are efficient free-radical scavengers. These compounds are probably efficient in lowering the risk of cancer and stroke, which are already linked to eating fruits and vegetables. They primarily work to prevent oxidative cell damage brought on by the inactivation of free radicals produced by metabolic activities, inflammatory processes, environmental factors, UV radiation, etc. Specialists have encouraged frequent consumption of substantial quantities of vegetables and fruits to reduce degenerative and chronic diseases because of the noteworthiness of antioxidants in the human body.
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Received on 08.07.2024 Revised on 12.08.2024 Accepted on 03.09.2024 Published on 20.12.2024 Available online from November 25, 2024 Res. J. Pharmacognosy and Phytochem. 2024; 16(4):282-286. DOI: 10.52711/0975-4385.2024.00052 ©A&V Publications All right reserved
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