Anti-inflammatory bioactivities in plant extracts

The medical ethnobotanical knowledge propagated over generations in the coastal regions of the Eastern Mediterranean, including Lebanon, is one that has built on several ancient cultures and civilizations of these regions. Recent interest in medical ethnobotany and the use of medicinal herbs in treating or preventing ailments has rejuvenated interest in folk medicine practices, especially those transcendent across generations. According to Eastern Mediterranean folk medicine practices, herbal remedies that treat many inflammation-related ailments were typically based on plant bioactive water extracts or decoctions. Studies have shown that active anti-inflammatory ingredients in water extracts include many natural chemicals such as phenols, alkaloids, glycosides, and carbohydrates. The intent of this manuscript is twofold: first, to review the literature that describes anti-inflammatory bioactivities in plant extracts of different plant genera; and second, to evaluate indigenous folk remedies used by folk doctors to treat inflammatory ailments in this region of the world. For this aim, the reported literature of five plant genera assumed to possess anti-inflammatory bioactivities and typically prescribed by folk doctors to treat inflammation-related ailments is reviewed.