Purpose : The paper by Hiroyuki Kamakura et al. (2010) described the existence of Passiflora. edulis subspecies, P. edulis fo. edulis with purple fruit and P. edulis fo. flavicarpa with yellow fruit. It was reported that both subspecies showed different component chemical profiles regarding the flavonoid content.
Therefore, this time the author extracted documents related to P. edulis from overseas academic literature on Passiflora sp. Next, the author collected academic information on the component compositions of both subspecies, such as flavonoids, and conducted a comparative study of the component compositions of both subspecies. The author also collected academic information on the neuropharmacological and biological effects of both subspecies, and conducted a comparative study of the activity effects of both subspecies. The author also considered the effects of differences in component compositions such as flavonoids between the two subspecies on their active effects.
Method : The author extracted three publications regarding the two subspecies of P. edulis: Ayres et al. (2015), He et al. (2020), and Rai et al. (2022). Then, from among the documents cited in these three reports, documents 3), 4), and 14) to 25) were extracted. From this, the author collected academic information on the composition of components such as flavonoids and terpenoids, as well as pharmacological and biological effects on the two subspecies of P. edulis, and based on the information collection results, the author conducted a comparative study on them.
Results : Phytochemical analyses such as HPCL of leaf extracts of both P. edulis subspecies showed completely different flavonoid component chemical profiles in chromatography of both subspecies. In addition, quantitative analysis of the flavonoid content showed that the content concentration of isoorientin and isovitexin was higher in the leaf extract of P. edulis fo. flavicarpa than in P. edulis fo. edulis. On the other hand, extracts of both subspecies of P. edulis had common psychotropic and neurological effects such as anxiolytic, antidepressant, and sedative effects. However, it was found that P. edulis fo. flavicarpa has a
stronger anti-anxiety effect, and P. edulis fo. edulis has a stronger anti-depressant effect. The commonality of psychotropic and neurological effects observed in the extracts of both subspecies of P. edulis contradicts the difference in the composition of components such as flavonoids in the extracts of both subspecies.
Conclusion : Recent neuropharmacological studies have revealed that both subspecies of P. edulis share psychotropic and neurological effects. This can be considered as scientific proof that P. edulis leaf extract has been historically used in Brazil as a herbal therapy (traditional folk medicine) for the treatment of many psychiatric and neurological disorders. However, this is inconsistent with the difference in the composition of phytochemical components such as flavonoids in the extracts of both subspecies. Therefore, the author comprehensively looked at the flavonoids such as C-glycosylflavones, terpenoids, and other secondary
metabolic products contained in both subspecies of P. edulis. By doing so, the author believes that they can investigate the similarities in biological effects such as psychotropic and neurological effects between the two subspecies from a phytochemical perspective.
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