Phytochemistry and pharmacology of plants in the genus Chaenomeles

Chaenomeles plants belong to the Rosaceae family and include five species, Chaenomeles speciosa (Sweet) Nakai, Chaenomeles sinensis (Thouin) Koehne, Chaenomeles japonica (Thunb.) Lindl, Chaenomeles cathayensis (Hemsl.) Schneid and Chaenomeles thibetica Yu. Chaenomeles plants are found and cultivated in nearly every country worldwide. China serves as both the origin and distribution hub for the plants in the Chaenomeles genus, and all Chaenomeles species except for C. japonica are indigenous to China. Chaenomeles spp. is a type of edible medicinal plant that has been traditionally used in China to treat various ailments, such as rheumatism, cholera, dysentery, enteritis, beriberi, and scurvy. A variety of chemical constituents have been extracted from this genus, including terpenoids, phenolics, flavonoids, phenylpropanoids and their derivatives, benzoic acid derivatives, biphenyls, oxylipins, and alkaloids. The biological activity of some of these constituents has already been evaluated. Pharmacological investigations have demonstrated that the plants in the genus Chaenomeles exhibit anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant, antihyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic, gastrointestinal protective, antitumor, immunomodulatory, antibacterial, antiviral, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective and other pharmacological activities. The objective of this review is to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date summary of the available information on the genus Chaenomeles to serve as a valuable reference for further investigations.