Beneficial effects of Perilla frutescens that can be explored as health food-A review

Abstract

Perilla frutescens is used as spices, condiments, leafy vegetables and herbal medicines in many parts of the world including India especially in the north eastern region where the traditional used of P. frutescens in culinary recipes is well known. Various studies presented herein showed the plant has potent anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-microbial, anti-allergic and anti-proliferative activities that could be explored for therapeutic use. Perilla frutescens belongsto Lamiaceaefamily. It is an annual aromatic plant cultivated and widely consumed in most Asian countries. Modern research has revealed that different plant parts of P. frutescens possess enormous amounts of bioactive secondary metabolites, including terpenoids, flavonoids, alkaloids, steroids, quinines and phenolic compounds, which exhibit a wide range of biological activities and have immense potential applications as pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, agrochemicals, biopesticides, flavours, fragrances, colours, and food additives (Hou et al., 2022). Here, we present some of the research work highlighting the activities and effects of P. frutescens that confers beneficial effects on health.