Ferula species: A rich source of antimicrobial compounds

Abstract

Abstract Ferula species, particularly F. assa-foetida and F. gummosa, have a long history of use in traditional medicine. They have extensively been used for the treatment of infectious diseases including diarrhea, skin infection, intestinal parasites and influenza. This review is an attempt to explore secondary metabolites from Ferula species as a rich source of molecules with antimicrobial property and highlights the gaps in our knowledge deserving future research. In this review, the authors explain the structure-antimicrobial activity relationship of compounds from Ferula species in order to provide a roadmap for future studies. All relevant databases were searched for the terms Ferula , and antimicrobial , antileishmanial , antifungal , antiprotozoal , antimalarial and antiviral without limitation up to 30th December 2017. Information was collected via electronic search using Scopus, Pubmed, Web of Science, Science Direct and local books on traditional medicine. A large number of metabolites have been discovered from Ferula species which have exhibited various biological activities, particularly antimicrobial activities. Additionally, a number of promising antiviral sesquiterpene coumarins have recently been isolated from this genus, some of which are active against dangerous viral infections including AIDS and influenza H1N1. Very potent antimycobacterial metabolites such as ferulenol have also been isolated from Ferula species. The drimane-type sesquitepene coumarins of the genus Ferula have been shown to have potential antiviral properties that deserve further research in future. We will hear much more about the antiviral activities of Ferula spp. and sesquiterpene coumarins in future.