Phytochemical constituents of Lamiaceae family

Abstract

Lamiaceae is a family comprising 236 genera, and more than 7000 species. It is one of the most widely used and phytochemically studied families, because of their various compounds.Lamiaceae can be divided into two major categories, the first one includes all those species that mainly produce volatile terpenoids, found in the volatile compounds, such as Salvia sp., Mentha sp., Thymus sp. and Rosmarinus sp. While the second one comprises species that mainly biosynthesize constituents of the polar fraction, as Ajuga sp., Origanum sp., Teucrium sp., Melittis sp., and Stachys sp. Numerous researches on phytochemicals have led to the identification of many compounds, such as α- and β-pinene, menthol, thymol, eucalyptol, and limonene among the volatile constituents, and mono- and sesquiterpenes. From the other hand, Terpenes phenolic acids (rosmarinic, caffeic acids) and Alkaloids (apigenin, hesperidin), were detected. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to produce a comprehensive review by summarizing the results from the literature on phytochemical constituents of the Lamiaceae family.