Bioactive Compounds in Fern Systems
Summary
Ferns represent a rich reservoir of phytochemicals, encompassing terpenes, phenolics, phloroglucinols, alkaloids and fatty acids. These metabolites display a spectrum of bioactivities, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic effects. Key classes such as pterosins and ent-kaurane diterpenoids are distinctive to pteridophytes and underpin applications in neuromodulation, hepatoprotection and cancer therapy. Ferns bridge evolutionary gaps between lower and higher plants, offering unique chemical frameworks that have been harnessed in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. Advances in analytical technologies have revealed complex mixtures of catechins, procyanidins and bioflavonoids in genera such as Psilotium, Polypodium and Dryopteris, highlighting their neuroprotective and immunomodulatory potential. Standardisation of extracts and quantification of active constituents are increasingly important for translating these findings into functional foods, nutraceuticals, crop protection agents and novel pharmaceuticals.
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Bioactive Compounds in Fern Systems publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in bioactive compounds in fern systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Phytochemical diversity: The variety and abundance of chemical compounds produced by plants.
Ent-kaurane diterpenoids: A class of tetracyclic diterpenes found in ferns, noted for anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities.
High-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection (HPLC–PDA): An analytical technique for separating and quantifying multiple compounds based on their UV–visible absorbance spectra.
Procyanidins: Oligomeric flavanol compounds with strong antioxidant properties common in plant sources.
Pterosins: Sesquiterpene compounds characteristic of the Pteris genus, implicated in cytotoxic and neuroprotective effects.
References
- Insights into Chemical Diversity and Potential Health-Promoting Effects of Ferns. Plants (2024).
- Anti-Neuroinflammatory ent-Kaurane Diterpenoids from Pteris multifida Roots. Molecules (2016).
- The Development and Validation of Simultaneous Multi-Component Quantitative Analysis via HPLC–PDA Detection of 12 Secondary Metabolites Isolated from Drynariae Rhizoma. Separations (2023).
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