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Putative Datura meteloides (left) and D. ceratocaula (right). Plate 49, from Codex Barberini Latin 241, 1552 (Walcott Emmart, 1940).
Source publication
The systematic study of solanaceous plant iconography has been a neglected source of information although historical records (ceramics, painted and printed images in manuscripts, and printed documents) are numerous. Many wild and domesticated solanaceous species have been associated with human culture from antiquity, as medicinal, ritual or magical...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... in Europe appear during the second half of the XVI century. A putative th P. philadelphica ( Fig. 10) is found in Aldrovandi (second half of the XVI century, vol.2, folio 318) and another species, identified as P. angulata by Hedrick (1919) is located in Besler (1613, Tafel 304, right side drawing). Daturas originated in Mesoamerica. There has been a long controversy about the geographical origin of some Datura species, in particular D. metel and D. ferox , which were believed to be of Asian origin, until Symon and Haegi (1991) demonstrated their New World origin. According to these authors, the misuse of ancient Hindu ( Datura ) and Arabic (metel) for naming these American plants perpetuated the uncertainty about their origin. The scarcity of datura images in Medieval manuscripts of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF) is a side indication of the absence of this plant in Europe in th those early times: we found only one painted plant in an VIII -century manuscript (Grec. th 2179, folio 103) that does not look like a datura, and the other image is located in a XIV century manuscript (Arabe 2771, folio 264), which we have not seen. The earliest iconographic traces of daturas are from the New World. Spindle whorls from Columbia, dated 500–1000 CE , reproduce geometrical features of datura flowers according to McMeekin (1992). In the Codex Barberini , also known as the Badianus manuscript (Aztec herbal, dated 1552) there are three colored plates. Plate 20 (plant on the left side) is identified as Datura arborea by Walcott Emmart (1940), but Symon and Haegi (1991) suggest it is a Solanum sp. Plate 41 (right side plant) is identified as D. inoxia or D. stramonium by Symon and Haegi. The two plants of Plate 49 (Fig. 11) are identified as D. meteloides by Walcott Emmart (left side drawing) and D. ceratocaula by Symon and Haegi (right side drawing). In another Aztec document, the Florentine Codex dated 1540–1585 (Dibble and Anderson, 1963; Estrada-Lugo, 1989), daturas are present in several illustrations: Fig. 12 shows a datura plant next to a person applying an ointment to the back of a prostrate patient. Daturas are often represented in Renaissance herbals, although the botanical identification of the illustrations is speculative, given the insufficiency of details and the often cryptic texts. It is probably Datura metel that is found in Oellinger (1553, folio 335), Fuchs (1543, folio 396; and unpubl. Codex 11 122 , 2(3) p.153), and Aldrovandi th (second half of the XVI century, vol.2, folio 171). Datura inoxia (also named D. meteloides ) is possibly illustrated in Besler (1613, Tafel 342), while D. stramonium (the common name in the USA is Jimson weed) occurs in Fuchs (unpubl. Codex 11 122 , 2(3) p.155), Aldrovandi (vol. 2, folio 311), Dodoens (1608), Besler (1613, Tafel 343) and Parkinson (1656, drawing 4). The indigenous inhabitants from America used Datura species as hallucinogens for various rituals and as medicine. In European herbals, daturas were allocated several medicinal properties such as being an anti-inflammatory and for relief of asthma (atropine has a paralyzing action and thus relieves bronchial spasms). When Europeans reached the New World, tobacco was in common use by natives in most areas (North, Central and South America) and nearby islands by smoking, chewing, snuffing and for medicinal and possible hallucinogenic purposes in a complex system of rituals (Prescott, 1843; Hedrick, 1919; Heiser, 1969). Fig. 13, taken from book 11 of the Florentine Codex dated 1540–1585 (Dibble and Anderson, 1963) illustrates the plant and its preparation by grinding (drawing 512), as well as its use for attacking a snake called tecutlacoçauhqui with tobacco powder (drawing 247). From the early tobacco images, it appears that coarse tobacco ( Nicotiana rustica ) and sweet tobacco ( N. tabacum ) were introduced at about the same time in Europe. ...
Citations
... The plant has similarly been historically used to treat many complains and diseases in many other areas of the ancient world (49)(50)(51). In Europe its uses are recorded in numerous national Pharmacopoeias (52). ...
Within the genus Solanum (Solanaceae family) over 2,000 species exist which are distributed throughout the world and includes foods such as tomatoes, potatoes, and aubergines (1,2). The family member, Solanum nigrum (S. nigrum) the European blackberry nightshade or black nightshade is native originally to Eurasia and was later established in the Americas, Africa and Australasia. Whereas the cooked leaves and ripe berries of edible strains are frequently used as ingredients in foods, traditional medicine and as food supplements the plant is sometimes confused with the toxic deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) a member of another Solanaceae genus. The entire plant of S. nigrum has benecial detoxication effects of detoxication and has been commonly used for thousands of years (3). Recently, research has identied that the plant is rich in in steroidal alkaloids and saponins as well as organic acids, avonoids, polysaccharides, and other compounds of interest which have been demonstrated to deliver numerous health benets including likely immunomodulatory, antitumor, anti-inammatory, antioxidative, neuroprotective and hepatoprotective effects.
... The economic importance of the plant family Solanaceae has been extensively discussed [1], as well as the role these plants have had in the progress of traditional cultures and civilizations [2]. Among them, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and eggplant (S. melongena L.) are very common vegetable crops, widely spread worldwide and known for their culinary, medicinal, and ornamental uses [2,3]. ...
Although many crops have developed several adaptation mechanisms that allow them to
defend against limiting factors, some biotic and abiotic stresses may cause reversible or irreversible changes in plants. Among the biotic stresses, the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is probably one of the main important pests that negatively affect several vegetable crops that are grown in greenhouses. The present study evaluated its impact on the morphology and physiology of two solanaceous plants, i.e., tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and eggplant (S. melongena L.), under laboratory conditions. The results showed that, for tomatoes, plant height, shoot dry weight, leaf area, and indirect chlorophyll content were strongly reduced in infested plants, compared to the uninfested control, by 39.36%, 32.37%, 61.01%, and 37.85%, respectively. The same has been shown for eggplant, although the reduction percentages of plant height, root dry weight, and
indirect chlorophyll content were less marked (i.e., 16.15%, 31.65%, and 11.39%, respectively). These results could represent interesting information for a better understanding of the B. tabaci influence on plant growth, as well as for the development of management strategies to successfully control its infestations in a cropping system.
... The Leiden specimen was also thought to be older than a tomato in a herbarium in Rome, dated pre-1553(De Toni, 1910, which was attributed first to the painter Gherardo Cibo (Penzig, 1905) and later to the physician Francesco Petrollini (Chiovenda, 1909). However, the 'En Tibi tomato', with its simple flowers and round fruit (see https://data.biodiversitydata.nl/naturalis/specimen/L.2111092), did not resemble the wellknown sixteenth-century woodcut illustration of a tomato plant with double flowers and elongated, segmented fruits, claimed as typical for the early European tomatoes (Sturtevant, 1919;Daunay, Laterrot & Janick, 2007). This woodcut is often inaccurately attributed to Matthioli (e.g., Houchin, 2010), but was published eight years after his death by Camerarius in his commentaries on Matthioli, first in black and white and four years later in color (Camerarius, 1586: 821;Camerarius, 1590: 378). ...
... We performed a literature review, starting with studies on the introduction of the tomato in Europe (e.g., Jenkins, 1948;McCue, 1952;Daunay, Laterrot & Janick, 2007;Gentilcore, 2010) and on early modern naturalists in Italy, France, Central Europe and the Low Countries (e.g., De Toni, 1907;De Toni, 1910;De Toni, 1940;Findlen, 1994;Findlen, 2017;Egmond, 2016;Egmond, 2018;Rotelli, 2018). We also reviewed modern taxonomic and molecular studies on the origin of the tomato (e.g., Peralta, Spooner & Knapp, 2008;Lin et al., 2014;Blanca et al., 2021). ...
... Although the tomato was common in Mexico at the time of the Spanish conquest, no images of tomatoes made in the New World exist (Daunay, Laterrot & Janick, 2007). An uncolored woodcut illustration, published in 1553 in a Latin herbal by the Flemish doctor and botanist Rembert Dodoens, can be considered the first image of a tomato ( Fig. 2A). ...
Background
Soon after the Spanish conquest of the Americas, the first tomatoes were presented as curiosities to the European elite and drew the attention of sixteenth-century Italian naturalists. Despite of their scientific interest in this New World crop, most Renaissance botanists did not specify where these ‘golden apples’ or ‘pomi d’oro’ came from. The debate on the first European tomatoes and their origin is often hindered by erroneous dating, botanical misidentifications and inaccessible historical sources. The discovery of a tomato specimen in the sixteenth-century ‘En Tibi herbarium’ kept at Leiden, the Netherlands, triggered research on its geographical provenance and morphological comparison to other tomato specimens and illustrations from the same time period.
Methods
Recent digitization efforts greatly facilitate research on historic botanical sources. Here we provide an overview of the ten remaining sixteenth-century tomato specimens, early descriptions and 13 illustrations. Several were never published before, revealing what these tomatoes looked like, who saw them, and where they came from. We compare our historical findings with recent molecular research on the chloroplast and nuclear DNA of the ‘En Tibi’ specimen.
Results
Our survey shows that the earliest tomatoes in Europe came in a much wider variety of colors, shapes and sizes than previously thought, with both simple and fasciated flowers, round and segmented fruits. Pietro Andrea Matthioli gave the first description of a tomato in 1544, and the oldest specimens were collected by Ulisse Aldrovandi and Francesco Petrollini in c. 1551, possibly from plants grown in the Pisa botanical garden by their teacher Luca Ghini. The oldest tomato illustrations were made in Germany and Switzerland in the early 1550s, but the Flemish Rembert Dodoens published the first image in 1553. The names of early tomatoes in contemporary manuscripts suggest both a Mexican and a Peruvian origin. The ‘En Tibi’ specimen was collected by Petrollini around 1558 and thus is not the oldest extant tomato. Recent molecular research on the ancient nuclear and chloroplast DNA of the En Tibi specimen clearly shows that it was a fully domesticated tomato, and genetically close to three Mexican landraces and two Peruvian specimens that probably also had a Mesoamerican origin. Molecular research on the other sixteenth-century tomato specimens may reveal other patterns of genetic similarity, past selection processes, and geographic origin. Clues on the ‘historic’ taste and pest resistance of the sixteenth-century tomatoes will be difficult to predict from their degraded DNA, but should be rather sought in those landraces in Central and South America that are genetically close to them. The indigenous farmers growing these traditional varieties should be supported to conserve these heirloom varieties in-situ.
... The Leiden specimen was also thought to be older than a tomato in a herbarium in Rome, dated pre-1553(De Toni, 1910, which was attributed first to the painter Gherardo Cibo (Penzig, 1905) and later to the physician Francesco Petrollini (Chiovenda, 1909). However, the 'En Tibi tomato', with its simple flowers and round fruit (see https://data.biodiversitydata.nl/naturalis/specimen/L.2111092), did not resemble the wellknown sixteenth-century woodcut illustration of a tomato plant with double flowers and elongated, segmented fruits, claimed as typical for the early European tomatoes (Sturtevant, 1919;Daunay, Laterrot & Janick, 2007). This woodcut is often inaccurately attributed to Matthioli (e.g., Houchin, 2010), but was published eight years after his death by Camerarius in his commentaries on Matthioli, first in black and white and four years later in color (Camerarius, 1586: 821;Camerarius, 1590: 378). ...
... We performed a literature review, starting with studies on the introduction of the tomato in Europe (e.g., Jenkins, 1948;McCue, 1952;Daunay, Laterrot & Janick, 2007;Gentilcore, 2010) and on early modern naturalists in Italy, France, Central Europe and the Low Countries (e.g., De Toni, 1907;De Toni, 1910;De Toni, 1940;Findlen, 1994;Findlen, 2017;Egmond, 2016;Egmond, 2018;Rotelli, 2018). We also reviewed modern taxonomic and molecular studies on the origin of the tomato (e.g., Peralta, Spooner & Knapp, 2008;Lin et al., 2014;Blanca et al., 2021). ...
... Although the tomato was common in Mexico at the time of the Spanish conquest, no images of tomatoes made in the New World exist (Daunay, Laterrot & Janick, 2007). An uncolored woodcut illustration, published in 1553 in a Latin herbal by the Flemish doctor and botanist Rembert Dodoens, can be considered the first image of a tomato ( Fig. 2A). ...
Background
Soon after the Spanish conquest of the Americas, the first tomatoes were presented as curiosities to the European elite and drew the attention of sixteenth-century Italian naturalists. Despite of their scientific interest in this New World crop, most Renaissance botanists did not specify where these ‘golden apples’ or ‘ pomi d’oro ’ came from. The debate on the first European tomatoes and their origin is often hindered by erroneous dating, botanical misidentifications and inaccessible historical sources. The discovery of a tomato specimen in the sixteenth-century ‘En Tibi herbarium’ kept at Leiden, the Netherlands, triggered research on its geographical provenance and morphological comparison to other tomato specimens and illustrations from the same time period.
Methods
Recent digitization efforts greatly facilitate research on historic botanical sources. Here we provide an overview of the ten remaining sixteenth-century tomato specimens, early descriptions and 13 illustrations. Several were never published before, revealing what these tomatoes looked like, who saw them, and where they came from. We compare our historical findings with recent molecular research on the chloroplast and nuclear DNA of the ‘En Tibi’ specimen.
Results
Our survey shows that the earliest tomatoes in Europe came in a much wider variety of colors, shapes and sizes than previously thought, with both simple and fasciated flowers, round and segmented fruits. Pietro Andrea Matthioli gave the first description of a tomato in 1544, and the oldest specimens were collected by Ulisse Aldrovandi and Francesco Petrollini in c. 1551, possibly from plants grown in the Pisa botanical garden by their teacher Luca Ghini. The oldest tomato illustrations were made in Germany and Switzerland in the early 1550s, but the Flemish Rembert Dodoens published the first image in 1553. The names of early tomatoes in contemporary manuscripts suggest both a Mexican and a Peruvian origin. The ‘En Tibi’ specimen was collected by Petrollini around 1558 and thus is not the oldest extant tomato. Recent molecular research on the ancient nuclear and chloroplast DNA of the En Tibi specimen clearly shows that it was a fully domesticated tomato, and genetically close to three Mexican landraces and two Peruvian specimens that probably also had a Mesoamerican origin. Molecular research on the other sixteenth-century tomato specimens may reveal other patterns of genetic similarity, past selection processes, and geographic origin. Clues on the ‘historic’ taste and pest resistance of the sixteenth-century tomatoes will be difficult to predict from their degraded DNA, but should be rather sought in those landraces in Central and South America that are genetically close to them. The indigenous farmers growing these traditional varieties should be supported to conserve these heirloom varieties in-situ .
... These plants, sometimes called nightshades or hexing herbs, have been used in Europe for as long as history has been recorded, finding use as recreational substances [1][2][3][4][5] medicines [6][7][8][9], for hunting [10], in magic [11,12], and in warfare [13,14]; these have been extensively reviewed elsewhere [15]. These various uses are all linked to their alkaloid profiles, as these plants contain the anticholinergic tropane alkaloids hyoscyamine and scopolamine, which function as muscarine receptor antagonists; these receptors are found throughout the body's smooth muscles, exocrine glands, and the nervous system [16]. ...
... The repetition of "fact" leads to it being incorporated into traditional knowledge; one participant noted that D. stramonium was used to strengthen wine in ancient Greece. Indeed, many books and even academic papers today make claims about the use of D. stramonium in Classical and Medieval Europe, despite the fact that botanists are largely in agreement that this plant arose in the Americas and would not have made its way to Europe until the 1500s [11,35]. Such incorporation of incorrect information could be happening throughout "traditional" knowledge systems at each step of their transmission, once more showing that simply being "traditional" does not make knowledge accurate. ...
Anticholinergic plants of the family Solanaceae have a long history of use as medicines, poisons , and recreational drugs. Though they were the intoxicating substances of choice throughout Europe for centuries, their use for these purposes has declined with the globali-sation of other recreational drugs. The present study sought to examine the level of knowledge surrounding these plants among individuals who had used other hallucinogenic plants or mushrooms in Slovenia. Participants were questioned in regards to the anticholinergic Solanaceae that are known to grow wild in Slovenia: Atropa belladonna L., Datura stramo-nium L., Hyoscyamus niger L., and Scopolia carniolica L. As expected, only a small number of individuals had any substantial knowledge of these plants, and fewer still had used them; some were even unfamiliar with any of these plants. Knowledge of toxicity generally arose from family members, while books and the internet played prominent roles in regards to use knowledge. Knowledge of the plants was vastly varied, with many individuals confusing the plants for others, especially other members of the Solanaceae. Ultimately, a small group of individuals had the largest body of knowledge of these plants, though this was linked with university studies rather than traditional uses. Knowledge of the intoxicating Solanaceae has been largely lost in Slovenia among users of other botanical hallucinogens, likely due to the various dangers their use poses and the undesirable effects they often cause.
... This is evidenced in pictograms from the second half of the 16 th century, frequently representing chimeric plants mirroring the existing diversity (e.g., Fuchs, ca. 1550; Matthiolus, 1586; see Daunay et al., 2007, andPeralta et al., 2008). Diversification was particularly important in the Mediterranean basin, which is considered a secondary centre of diversity of the species (Esquinas-Alcázar and Nuez, 1995;Cebolla-Cornejo et al., 2007;Mazzucato et al., 2008;Terzopoulos and Bebeli, 2010;García-Martínez et al., 2013). ...
The Mediterranean long shelf-life (LSL) tomatoes are a group of landraces with a fruit remaining sound up to 6–12 months after harvest. Most have been selected under semi-arid Mediterranean summer conditions with poor irrigation or rain-fed and thus, are drought tolerant. Besides the convergence in the latter traits, local selection criteria have been very variable, leading to a wide variation in fruit morphology and quality traits. The different soil characteristics and agricultural management techniques across the Mediterranean denote also a wide range of plant adaptive traits to different conditions. Despite the notorious traits for fruit quality and environment adaptation, the LSL landraces have been poorly exploited in tomato breeding programs, which rely basically on wild tomato species. In this review, we describe most of the information currently available for Mediterranean LSL landraces in order to highlight the importance of this genetic resource. We focus on the origin and diversity, the main selective traits, and the determinants of the extended fruit shelf-life and the drought tolerance. Altogether, the Mediterranean LSL landraces are a very valuable heritage to be revalued, since constitutes an alternative source to improve fruit quality and shelf-life in tomato, and to breed for more resilient cultivars under the predicted climate change conditions.
... Hyoscyamus niger is a pubescent and aromatic annual or biennial with dentate ovate leaves of about 20 cm in length; reaching a height of about 75 cm, this plant bears scorpoidal cymes of small yellow flowers with purple centres and veins, which later mature into capsules (Schultes et al., 2001). Originating from the Mediterranean/Balkan region of Europe, H. niger has since found its way throughout Eurasia and North America, where it normally grows in waste areas as a weed (Daunay et al., 2007;Goyal et al., 2009;Hocking, 1947;Passos and Mironidou-Tzouveleki, 2016). ...
... First isolated in the 1800s, scopolamine has been found in all parts of the plant (Passos and Mironidou-Tzouveleki, 2016). This explains its extensive historical use in Europe since ancient Greece as a narcotic, anaesthetic, pain killer, cure for insomnia, in the treatment for respiratory ailments, in the famous soporific sponge, and many more (Carter, 1996;Daunay et al., 2007;Gorun et al., 2011;Hocking, 1947;Kala and Ratajc, 2012;Lee and Schilling, 2006;Passos and Mironidou-Tzouveleki, 2016;Piomelli and Pollio, 1994;Schultes, 1977). This plant has also found use in Tibetan medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, and Ayurveda for similar purposes (Goyal et al., 2009;Patočka and Jelínková, 2018). ...
... It was also used extensively in Europe as a means of fortifying beer, and for making other forms of psychoactive beverages (Kromar, 1979;Lee and Schilling, 2006). So often was it used that a law was passed in 1507 in what is now Germany to prohibit its use in the making of ales (Daunay et al., 2007). Repeated use was also known to cause insanity, but this did not impact its popularity as it likely presented a form of intoxicant available even to the poorest people who could not afford more costly pleasures (Müller, 1998;Schultes, 1969). ...
Ethnopharmacological relevance
The Norse berserkers were wild warriors of Scandinavia known to enter a trance-like state that allowed them to fight with increased strength and a rage that granted them immunity to many forms of harm in battle. Though many theories have been advanced as to the cause of this state, the most widely believed is that the intoxicating mushroom Amanita muscaria was used.
Aim of the study
The following article underlines the issues with this theory, as well as providing an alternate intoxicant that fits with the reports of berserker behaviour much better: Hyoscyamus niger.
Materials and methods
Literature from a variety of disciplines pertaining to history, toxicology, pharmacology, and botany were compiled to frame and support the argument.
Results
H. niger proved to be a more likely intoxicant used to induce the berserker rage state.
Conclusions
With its anticholinergic tropane alkaloids and symptom profile, H. niger is a much more likely cause of the berserker state than A muscaria. Though there is not enough archaeological and historical evidence to prove or disprove this theory, it provides a novel explanation that is at present the most viable means of understanding the berserkers' trance.
... The arrival of potato to Europe is attributed to Francis Drake in association with the rescue of Roanoke colonists (Janick, 2012). The delay in the introduction of potato and tomato was partly due to their land of domestication, respectively the Inca Empire, conquered by Francisco Pizarro in 1531-1536 and the Aztec Empire, whose conquest occurred in 1521 (Daunay, Laterrot and Janick, 2006). Potato is first mentioned in herbals, where an illustration is also found, by Gerarde in 1597. ...
... Potato is first mentioned in herbals, where an illustration is also found, by Gerarde in 1597. Tomato is first mentioned in a 1544 chapter on mandrake by P. A. Matthioli (Daunay, Laterrot and Janick, 2006). The first illustration appears in Fuchs' unpublished Vienna Codex, painted by A. Meyer between 1542 and 1565 (Daunay, Laterrot and Janick, 2006). ...
... Tomato is first mentioned in a 1544 chapter on mandrake by P. A. Matthioli (Daunay, Laterrot and Janick, 2006). The first illustration appears in Fuchs' unpublished Vienna Codex, painted by A. Meyer between 1542 and 1565 (Daunay, Laterrot and Janick, 2006). Much scepticism surrounded the consumption of both tomato and potato due to their similarity to the poisonous mandrake fruits and roots respectively (Janick, 2011). ...
This paper reports the archaeobotanical and archaeozoological data from a disposal pit, whose use started after the partial closure of a staircase, and from a mortar surface within a former porch in the Santi Quattro Coronati complex in Rome, Italy. The two contexts were in use in the Early Modern Age, when the complex served as a cardinal seat. The element that distinguishes the Santi Quattro Coronati from other contemporaneous contexts is the presence of New World species, until now only
hypothesized based on a letter sent by the first resident bishop in Santo Domingo to Lorenzo Pucci, then cardinal with the titulus of the Santi Quattro Coronati. Pumpkin seeds (Cucurbita pepo and C. maxima/ moschata) were found in the pit, while a pelvis of guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) was found in a former porch. Numerous archaeobotanical remains preserved by mummification, identified mostly as food, and many archaeozoological specimens were found in the pit. Based on the data, it is hypothesized that the pit was used mainly as a deposit for table waste. The results as a whole help towards the investigation of the eating customs and daily habits of a Renaissance high-status clerical community.
... In line with this evidence, the present study was aimed at evaluating the potential antiherpetic activity of Solanum melongena L., commonly known as eggplant, aubergine, or brinjal. Besides the culinary interest, this species has been used for several medicinal purposes in folk medicine, particularly by Asiatic people [20,21]. It is reported to be topically applied for treating several skin diseases, including dermatitis, eczema, sores, infections, and human papilloma virus-caused warts and condylomata [22,23]. ...
DR2B and DR2C extracts, obtained by ethanolic maceration of peel from commercially and physiologically ripe aubergine berries, were studied for the antioxidative cytoprotective properties and anti-HSV-1 activity, in line with the evidence that several antioxidants can impair viral replication by maintaining reducing conditions in host cells. The antioxidative cytoprotective effects against tBOOH-induced damage were assessed in Caco2 cells, while antiviral activity was studied in Vero cells; polyphenolic fingerprints were characterized by integrated phytochemical methods. Results highlighted different compositions of the extracts, with chlorogenic acid and delphinidin-3-rutinoside as the major constituents; other peculiar phytochemicals were also identified. Both samples reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and exhibited scavenging and chelating properties. DR2C partly counteracted the tBOOH-induced cytotoxicity, with a remarkable lowering of lactate metabolism under both normoxia and hypoxia; interestingly, it increased intracellular GSH levels. Furthermore, DR2C inhibited the HSV-1 replication when added for 24 h after viral adsorption, as also confirmed by the reduction of many viral proteins’ expression. Since DR2C was able to reduce NOX4 expression during HSV-1 infection, its antiviral activity may be correlated to its antioxidant properties. Although further studies are needed to better characterize DR2C activity, the results suggest this extract as a promising new anti-HSV-1 agent.
... In line with this evidence, the present study was aimed at evaluating the potential antiherpetic activity of Solanum melongena L., commonly known as eggplant, aubergine, or brinjal. Besides the culinary interest, this species has been used for several medicinal purposes in folk medicine, particularly by Asiatic people [20,21]. It is reported to be topically applied for treating several skin diseases, including dermatitis, eczema, sores, infections, and human papilloma virus-caused warts and condylomata [22,23]. ...
DR2B and DR2C extracts, from peel of commercially and physiologically ripe eggplants, were studied for the antioxidative cytoprotective properties and anti-HSV-1 activity, in line with the evidence that several antioxidants can impair viral replication by maintaining reducing conditions into the host cells. The antioxidative cytoprotective effects against tBOOH-induced damage was assessed in Caco2 cells, while the antiviral activity was studied in Vero cells; phenolic and anthocyanin fingerprint was characterized by integrated phytochemical methods. Results highlighted different compositions of the extracts, with chlorogenic acid and delphinidin-3-rutinoside as the major constituents; other peculiar phytochemicals were also identified. DR2C resulted able to partly counteract the tBOOH-induced cytotoxicity, with a remarkable lowering of lactate metabolism under both normoxia and hypoxia. DR2B and DR2C reduced ROS production, possessed scavenging and chelating properties. Interestingly, DR2C increased intracellular GSH levels. Furthermore, DR2C inhibited the HSV-1 replication when added for 24 h after viral adsorption, as also confirmed by the reduction of many viral proteins expression. Since DR2C was able to reduce NOX4 expression during HSV-1 infection, its antiviral activity may be correlated to its antioxidant properties. Although further studies are needed to better characterize DR2C activity, the results suggest this extract as a promising new anti-HSV-1 agent.
