Phlomis

Phlomis syriaca

The genus Phlomis L. belongs to the Lamiaceae family and encompasses 100 species native to Turkey,North Africa, Europe and Asia. All parts of the Phlomis plants are used including the leaves (Phlomis aspera, Phlomis cephalotes . . .), the flowers (Phlomis aspera, Phlomis rotata . . .), the seeds (Phlomis cephalotes) and the roots (Phlomis nepetaefolia). They are used as a decoction, an infusion or as a juice. The flowers of some Phlomis species are sweet and are consumed directly or sucked (Phlomis purpurea subsp. purpurea, Phlomis cephalotes). The leaves of Phlomis cephalotes are used to prepare an herb-pot.

Special Precautions of Phlomis

Do not confuse with Mullein.

Health Benefits and Uses of Phlomis

• a high number of Phlomis species over the world have the same mode of use, namely as herbal tea (decoctionor infusion) to treat gastric, abdominal and intestinal conditions (Phlomis bourgei . . .).
• Other species were described to protect the liver, the kidney, the heart, the veins and the bone from different pathologies.
• Some Phlomis species were described to treat fever, cough and cold, such as Phlomis cephalotes and Phlomis plukenettii.
• Other Phlomis species such as Phlomis bovei subsp. bovei and Phlomis crinita are made into pastes and used as poultice or plaster to treat burns, lesions and skin infections and allergies. For example, Phlomis crinita subsp. crinita and subsp. mauritanica, which grow in Spain and in Tunisia and Algeria, are used to heal lesions and burns by preparing a plaster from chopped leaves in Spain or as dried leaf powder in Tunisia and Algeria.
• However, the same species may have variable uses from one country to another: i.e., Phlomis fruticosa is used in Italy as an anticough agent and as a cicatrizant, whereas in Turkey and Greece, it is used to heal gastric ulcers.
• Phlomis syriaca : the Syrian multi-component herbal tea called “Zahraa” is a complexmixture of leaves and/or flowers from 6 to 14 species, including Phlomis syriaca. Usually, these teas are consumed in households and in restaurants and cafes in Damascus (Carmona et al., 2005).
• Phlomis purpurea, also known as marioilas in Portugal has over 17 different medicinal uses in that country. It is directly ingested to treat gastric pains, and its olive oil decoction is used as an intestinal antispasmodic (Novais et al., 2004). In Spain, this plant is called “matagallos,” and its aerial infusion is frequently used to treat prostate and liver problems (González-Tejero et al., 1995).
• Phlomis lychnitis, named Candilera, is commonly used in Spain as an herbal tea, to treat gastric, intestinal and abdomen pains, as a tonic, sedative, carminative and astringent (Rivera Nú˜nez and Obón De Castro, 1993; Fernández-Oca˜na et al., 1996; Vázquez et al., 1997; Tardio et al., 2006; Pardo de Santayana et al., 2005).
• Antidiabetic activity (in vivo) : Several Phlomis species are recognized for their antidiabetic properties, i.e., Phlomis aurea, Phlomis ocymifolia. Their activity may be due essentially to their ability to protect liver and pancreas integrity by reducing the oxidative stress in diabetes or by stimulating
• Antinociceptive activity (in vivo) : Analgesic properties have been reported for some Phlomis species like Phlomis caucasica, Phlomis fruticosa, Phlomis herba-venti, Phlomis lychnitis. Sarkhail et al. (2003) confirmed the analgesic properties of three Phlomis species and proved their pain reliving activity.
• Antiulcerogenic activity (in vivo) : In Turkey, Spain, Iran, Syria, Greece and Portugal, herbal tea (decoction, infusion) prepared with Phlomis species is commonly used as digestive aid and to treat gastric ulcers and aches. Thus, it is not surprising to find that extracts of Phlomis species are antiulcerogenic. Two different studies have confirmed the gastroprotective activity of Phlomis grandiflora and Phlomis crinita subsp. mauritanica aqueous extract (Gürbüz et al., 2003, Limem-Ben Amor et al., 2009).
• Protection of vascular system (in vitro) : The protective activity of different extracts and compounds isolated from Phlomis pungens var. pungens against free radicalinduced impairment of endothelium-dependent relaxation may be related to their free radical scavenging property (Ismailoglu et al., 2002).
• Anti-inflammatory and antiallergic activities (in vivo) : Phlomis umbrosa is used in folk medicine to treat kidney and brain problems and it has been shown to have hemostatic properties. Shin et al. evaluated the anti-inflammatory properties of this specie.
• Anticancer activity (in vitro) : Phenyl propanoid caffeic acid, phenylethyl alcohol and phenylethylalcohol glycosides isolated from Phlomis armeniaca were found to show cytotoxic activity against several kinds of cancer cells. However they did not affect the growth and viability of primary cultured rat hepatocytes (Saracoglu et al., 1995). Verbascoside, isoverbascoside, forsythoside B and 3- O-caffeoylquinic acid methyl ester isolated from Phlomis brunneogaleata showed cytotoxic activity against L6 cell lines (Kirmizibekmez et al., 2004).
• Anti-infective testing in vitro : Many Phlomis species are known to possess anti-infective activities. They reduce fever, attenuate cough, treat throat infections and eliminate worm infections. They are rich in essential oils as recognized by their antimicrobial activity. Consequently, many studies have evaluated the antimicrobial activities of essential oils extracted from Phlomis species.
• Antibacterial activity : Essential oils extracted from different Phlomis species show important antibacterial effects against a wide range of pathogenic bacteria. Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa seem to be the most sensitive bacteria to Phlomis essential oils. In addition to essential oils, methanol extracts of some Phlomis species (Phlomis bruguieri, Phlomis herba-venti, Phlomis olivieri) possess antibacterial effects against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus sanguis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Morteza-Semnani et al., 2006).
• Antifungal activity : As can be seen in Table 4,methanol extracts, ethanol extracts and essential oils extracted from the majority of Phlomis species exhibit antifungal activity toward different Candida species (Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida tropicalis). The methanol extracts of Phlomis bruguieri, Phlomis herba-venti and Phlomis olivieri inhibit the growth of Aspergillus niger (Morteza-Semnani et al., 2006). The ethanol extract of Phlomis fruticosa has antifungal activity against Aspergillus ochraceus, Cladosporium caladosporioides and Phomopsis helianthi whereas the essential oil of this Phlomis species inhibits only the growth of the two last fungi (Ristic et al., 2000). In additio to its anti-Candida activity, the essential oil of Phlomis lanata inhibits the growth of Torulopis glabrata (Couladis et al., 2000). Demirci et al. (2008) reported the antifungal activity of Phlomis russeliana and Phlomis grandiflora var. grandiflora essential oils against Clostridium perfringens. Lopez et al. (2007) described the anti-Rhizopus activity of nonpolar extracts of Phlomis lychinitis.
• Antiparasitic activity : Several compounds purified from Phlomis brunneogaleata show anti-parasite activities against Leishmania donovani, Plasmodium falciparum and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense (Kirmizibekmez et al., 2004). The soluble portion of the Phlomis kurdica chloroform extract possesses anti-Leishmania, anti-Plasmodium and anti-Trypanosoma activity whereas the same type of extract prepared from Phlomis leucophrata inhibits only Trypanosoma growth (Tasdemir et al., 2005). The cited antiplasmodial activities are due to the inhibition ability of the purified eonyl-ACP reductase (FabI), a crucial enzyme in the fatty acid biosynthesis of Phlomis falciparum (Kirmizibekmez et al., 2004; Tasdemir et al., 2005).
• Antioxidant and antiradical activities (in vitro) Phlomis fruticosa and Phlomis lanata methanol extract have antioxidant activity. They prevent bleomycin-Fe (II) catalyzed arachidonic acid superoxidation (Couladis et al., 2003). Forsythoside B, acteoside (the two major phenylethylalcohol glycoside in Phlomis genus) purified from Phlomis caucasica and samioside prepared from Phlomis samia were found to be potent scavengers of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical(Kyriakopoulou et al., 2001; Delazar et al., 2008).

Reference

Phytochemistry and biological activities of Phlomis species Ilef Limem-Ben Amora,b, Jihed Boubakera,b, Mohamed Ben Sgaier a,b, Ines Skandrania,b, Wissem Bhouria,b, Aicha Neffati a,b, Soumaya Kilani a,b, Ines Bouhlela,b, Kamel Ghediraa,b, Leila Chekir-Ghediraa,b,