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Review
. 2019 Feb 21;9(2):76.
doi: 10.3390/biom9020076.

The Health Beneficial Properties of Rhodomyrtus tomentosa as Potential Functional Food

Thanh Sang Vo  1 , Dai Hung Ngo  2
Affiliations
Review

The Health Beneficial Properties of Rhodomyrtus tomentosa as Potential Functional Food

Thanh Sang Vo et al. Biomolecules. .

Abstract

Rhodomyrtus tomentosa (Aiton) Hassk. is a flowering plant belonging to the family Myrtaceae, native to southern and southeastern Asia. It has been used in traditional Vietnamese, Chinese, and Malaysian medicine for a long time for the treatment of diarrhea, dysentery, gynecopathy, stomachache, and wound healing. Moreover, R. tomentosa is used to make various food products such as wine, tea, and jam. Notably, R. tomentosa has been known to contain structurally diverse and biologically active metabolites, thus serving as a potential resource for exploring novel functional agents. Up to now, numerous phenolic and terpenoid compounds from the leaves, root, or fruits of R. tomentosa have been identified, and their biological activities such as antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer have been evidenced. In this contribution, an overview of R. tomentosa and its health beneficial properties was focused on and emphasized.

Keywords: R. tomentosa; bioactivity; functional food; phenolic compound; terpenoid.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts to declare.

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