Prospects of Application of Plants of the Genus Psoralea in Medicine, Pharmacy and as Agricultural Raw Materials

The review article includes literary information over the past ten years about plants of the genus Psoralea, the legume family (Fabaceae (Liguminosae)), which has about 500 genera, is one of the largest families of flowering plants and ranks third after Orchidaceae and Asteraceae. At present, the genus Psoralea includes, according to various sources, from 105 to 130 species. Although some species are poisonous, plants of the genus Psoralea can be used as food. The food potential is mainly in the significant content of starch in the roots of some plant species (more than 70%). Shredded roots are used for baking bread, confectionery, soups and cereals. The leaves and young shoots are used to prepare refreshing drinks or use as a tea substitute. Strong fiber is obtained from the roots and stems of some species, and aromatic oil is obtained from the seeds. The antibacterial properties of the extracts of the plants of the family allow their use as preservatives, and the cake, rich in nitrogen and minerals, is used as livestock feed or as fertilizer. Currently, more than 291 chemical compounds have been found in plants of the genus Psoralea. Psoralea extractive compounds have antimicrobial, estrogenic, antitumor, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidepressant, anti-inflammatory, osteoblastic and hepatoprotective activity. The use of various parts of the plant is effective in the treatment of asthma, eczema, diarrhea, impotence, menstrual irregularities and uterine bleeding. Historically, and considered to be the main one, is the photosensitizing effect of biologically active compounds of plants of the genus. 
Psoralea, which is used in the treatment of psoriasis, leukoderma, alopecia and leprosy. The cultivation of plants of the genus Psoralea is hindered by unsatisfactory seed germination and high seedling mortality. An alternative way to avoid these problems, to preserve endangered plants of the genus, can be a biotechnological method, that allows not only to solve the problem of accelerated production of high-quality planting material for agricultural, forest and ornamental crops, but also the problem of obtaining biologically active substances of plant origin for modern medicine and pharmacy.

1. Sambukova, T. V., Ovchinnikov, B. V., Ganapol'skii, V. P., Yatmanov, A. N., & Shabanov, P. D. (2017). Perspektivy ispol'zovaniya fitopreparatov v sovremennoi farmakologii [Prospectsforphytopreparations (botanicals) useinmodernpharmacology]. Obzory po klinicheskoi farmakologii i lekarstvennoi terapii [Reviews on Clinical Pharmacology and Drug Therapy], 15(2), 56-63. https://doi.org/10.17816/RCF15256-63

2. Zagrebel'nym, I. A. (2018). Sostoyanie dikorastushchem lekarstvennom i soputstvuyushchem ei rastitel'nosti v biotsenozakh (chast' II) [State of wild medicinal and accompanying vegetation in biocenoses (part II)]. Vestnik Akademii meditsinskikh nauk Tadzhikistana [Bulletin of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Tajikistan], 8(3), 265-272. https://doi.org/10.31712/2221-7355-2018-8-3-376-382

3. Ahmed, S. A., & Baig, M. M. V. (2014). Biotic elicitor enhanced production of psoralen in suspension cultures of Psoraleacorylifolia L. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 21(5), 499-504. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2013.12.008

4. Alam, F., Khan, G. N., & Asad, M. H. H. B. (2018). Psoraleacorylifolia L: Ethnobotanical, biological, and chemical aspects: A review. Phytotherapy Research, 32(4), 597-615. https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.6006

5. Borate, A., Khambhapati, A., Udgire, M., Paul, D., & Mathur, S. (2014). Preliminary phytochemical studies and evaluation of antibacterial activity of Psoraleacorylifolia seed extract. American Journal of Phytomedicine and Clinical, 2(1), 95-101. URL: https://www.imedpub.com/articles/preliminary-phytochemical-studies-andevaluation-of-antibacterial-activity-ofpsoralea-corylifolia-seed-extract.pdf (accessed: 13.02.2021).

6. Chand, S., & Sahrawat, A. K. (2002). Somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration from root segments of Psoraleacorylifolia L., an endangered medicinally important plant. In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology-Plant, 38(1), 33. https://doi.org/10.1079/IVP2001246

7. Cicero, A. F., & Baggioni, A. (2016). Berberine and its role in chronic disease. In Anti-inflammatory Nutraceuticals and Chronic Diseases (pp. 27-45). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41334-1_2

8. Gidwani, B., Alaspure, R. N., Duragkar, N. J., Singh, V., Rao, S. P., & Shukla, S. S. (2010). Evaluation of a novel herbal formulation in the treatment of eczema with Psoralea Corylifolia. Iranian Journal of Dermatology, 13(4), 122-127.

9. Jin, L., Ma, X. M., Wang, T. T., Yang, Y., Zhang, N., Zeng, N., & Zhang, Z. T. (2020). Psoralen Suppresses Cisplatin-Mediated Resistance and Induces Apoptosis of Gastric Adenocarcinoma by Disruption of the miR196a-HOXB7-HER2 Axis. Cancer managementand research, 12, 2803-2827. https://doi.org/10.2147/CMAR.S248094

10. Khan, Z., Kumar, A., Mahamood, M., Gawade, B., & Gautam, K. A. (2014). The root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita, on Psoraleacorylifoliain India. Nematropica, 44(1), 81-84.

11. Khushboo, P. S., Jadhav, V. M., Kadam, V. J., & Sathe, N. S. (2010). Psoraleacorylifolia Linn.-“Kushtanashini”. Pharmacognosy reviews, 4(7), 69-76. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-7847.65331

12. Koul, B., Taak, P., Kumar, A., Kumar, A., & Sanyal, I. (2019). Genus Psoralea: A review of the traditional and modern uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 232, 201-226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2018.11.036

13. Li, C. C., Wang, T. L., Zhang, Z. Q., Yang, W. Q., Wang, Y. F., Chai, X., Wang, C.-H., & Li, Z. (2016). Phytochemical and pharmacological studies on the genus Psoralea: A mini review. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 8108643. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/8108643

14. Madrid, A., Cardile, V., González, C., Montenegro, I., Villena, J., Caggia, S., Graziano, A., & Russo, A. (2015). Psoraleaglandulosaas a potential source of anticancer agents for melanoma treatment. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 16(4), 7944-7959. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms16047944

15. Madrid, A., Espinoza, L., Mellado, M., Montenegro, I., Gonzalez, C., Santander, R., Villena, J., & Carlos, J. A. R. A. (2013). Study of the chemical composition of the resinous exudate isolated from Psoraleaglandulosa and evaluation of the antioxidant properties of the terpenoids and the resin. Boletín Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Plantas Medicinales y Aromáticas, 12(4), 338-345.

16. Mohammadparast, B., Rustaiee, A. R., Rasouli, M., Zardari, S., & Agrawal, V. (2015). In vitro enhancement of psoralen as an important anticancer compound in Psoraleacorylifolia through precursor feeding. Pharmaceutical Biology, 53(5), 735-738. https://doi.org/10.3109/13880209.2014.942786

17. Nabi, N. G., Shrivastava, M., & Dhar, R. S. (2017). Endangered medicinal plant Psoraleacorylifolia: Traditional, phytochemical, therapeutic properties and micropropagation. UK Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biosciences, 5, 40-46. https://doi.org/10.20510/ukjpb/5/i1/147024

18. Parast, B. M., Chetri, S. K., Sharma, K., & Agrawal, V. (2011). In vitro isolation, elicitation of psoralen in callus cultures of Psoraleacorylifolia and cloning of psoralen synthase gene. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 49(10), 1138-1146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2011.03.017

19. Phillips, K. M., Pehrsson, P. R., Agnew, W. W., Scheett, A. J., Follett, J. R., Lukaski, H. C., & Patterson, K. Y. (2014). Nutrient composition of selected traditional United States Northern Plains Native American plant foods. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, 34(2), 136-152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2014.02.010

20. Prabha, C., Maheshwari, D. K., & Bajpai, V. K. (2013). Diverse role of fast growing rhizobia in growth promotion and enhancement of psoralen content in Psoraleacorylifolia L. Pharmacognosy magazine, 9(36), 57-65. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1296.117870

21. Raveesha, K. A. (2011). Antimicrobials of Plant Origin to Prevent the Biodeterioration of Grains. In N. K. Dubey (Ed.), Natural Products in Plant Pest Management (pp. 91-108). Varanasi: Banaras Hindu University.

22. Remiarz, T. (2017). Forest Gardening in Practice: An Illustrated Practical Guide for Homes, Communities & Enterprises. Permanent Publications.

23. Schneider, K., Wronka-Edwards, L., Leggett-Embrey, M., Walker, E., Sun, P., Ondov, B., Wyman, T. H., Rosovitz, M. J., Bohn, S. S., Burans, J. & Kochel, T. (2015). Psoralen inactivation of viruses: a process for the safe manipulation of viral antigen and nucleic acid. Viruses, 7(11), 5875-5888. https://doi.org/10.3390/v7112912

24. Shamsi, S., & Shamsi, S. (2019). Psoraleacorylifolia Babchi: A popular herb of Unani, Ayurvedic and Chinese system of medicine for Vitiligo. International Journal of Herbal Medicine, 7(4), 51-55.

25. Siva, G., Sivakumar, S., Kumar, G. P., Vigneswaran, M., Vinoth, S., Selvan, A. M., Ahamed, A. P., Manivannan, K., Kumar, R. R., Thajuddin, N., Kumar, T. S., & Jayabalan, N. (2015). Optimization of elicitation condition with jasmonic acid, characterization and antimicrobial activity of psoralen from direct regenerated plants of Psoraleacorylifolia L. Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology, 4(4), 624-631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcab.2015.10.012

26. Siva, G., Sivakumar, S., Premkumar, G., Baskaran, P., Senthilkumar, T., & Jayabalan, N. (2014). Enhanced seed germination of Psoralea Corylifolia L. by heat treatment. World Journal of Agricultural Research, 2(4), 151-154. https://doi.org/10.12691/wjar-2-4-2

27. Spessard, L. L. (1988). Seed-Germination Studies of Psoraleaesculenta Pursh. (Indian Turnip) and Psoralea argophylla Pursh. (Silver Scurfpea). Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies.

28. Wang, Y., Hong, C., Zhou, C., Xu, D., & Qu, H. B. (2011). Screening antitumor compounds psoralen and isopsoralen from Psoraleacorylifolia L. seeds. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 363052. https://doi.org/10.1093/ecam/nen087

29. Widmann, N., Goian, M., Ianculov, I., Dumbravă, D., & Moldovan, C. (2008). Method to starch content determination from plants by specific weight. Scientific Papers Animal Science and Biotechnologies, 41(1), 814-818. URL: http://spasb.ro/index.php/spasb/article/view/1294/1244 (дата обращения: 12.02.2021).

30. Zhang, X., Zhao, W., Wang, Y., Lu, J., & Chen, X. (2016). The chemical constituents and bioactivities of Psoralea corylifolia Linn.: A review. The American journal of Chinesemedicine, 44(01), 35-60. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0192415X16500038

31. Zhou, L., Tang, J., Yang, X., Dong, H., Xiong, X., Huang, J., Zhang, L., Qin, H., & Yan, S. (2019). Five Constituents in Psoralea corylifolia L. Attenuate Palmitic Acid-Induced Hepatocyte Injury via Inhibiting the Protein Kinase C-α/Nicotinamide-Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate Oxidase Pathway. Frontiersin Pharmacology, 10, 1589. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2019.01589