Secondary Metabolites of : Metabolism and Medicinal Value

(scientific name: (Thunb.) Lour.) is a species of the genus in the family Oleaceae, and it has a long history of cultivation in China. is edible and is well known for conferring a natural fragrance to desserts. This flowering plant has long been cultivated for ornamental purposes. Most contemporary literature related to focuses on its edible value and new species discovery, but the functional use of is often neglected. has many properties that are beneficial to human health, and its roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits have medicinal value. These characteristics are recorded in the classics of traditional Chinese medicine. Studies on the metabolites and medicinal value of published in recent years were used in this study to evaluate the medicinal value of . Using keywords such as metabolites and , a systematic and nonexhaustive search of articles, papers and books related to the medicinal use of metabolites was conducted. Fifteen metabolites were identified through this literature search and classified into three categories according to their properties and structure: flavonoids, terpenes and phenolic acids. It was found that the pharmacological activities of these secondary metabolites mainly include antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities and that these metabolites can be used to treat many human diseases, such as cancer, skin diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and neurological diseases. Most of the reports that are currently available and concern the secondary metabolites of have limitations. Some reports introduce only the general classification of compounds in , and some reports introduce only a single compound. In contrast, the introduction section of this paper includes both the category and the functional value of each compound. While reviewing the data for this study, the authors found that the specific action sites of these compounds and their mechanisms of action in plants are relatively weak, and in the future, additional research should be conducted to investigate this topic further.