Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Jan 28;26(3):696.
doi: 10.3390/molecules26030696.

Okra (Abelmoschus Esculentus) as a Potential Dietary Medicine with Nutraceutical Importance for Sustainable Health Applications

Abd Elmoneim O Elkhalifa  1 , Eyad Alshammari  1 , Mohd Adnan  2 , Jerold C Alcantara  3 , Amir Mahgoub Awadelkareem  1 , Nagat Elzein Eltoum  1 , Khalid Mehmood  4 , Bibhu Prasad Panda  5 , Syed Amir Ashraf  1
Affiliations
Review

Okra (Abelmoschus Esculentus) as a Potential Dietary Medicine with Nutraceutical Importance for Sustainable Health Applications

Abd Elmoneim O Elkhalifa et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Recently, there has been a paradigm shift from conventional therapies to relatively safer phytotherapies. This divergence is crucial for the management of various chronic diseases. Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) is a popular vegetable crop with good nutritional significance, along with certain therapeutic values, which makes it a potential candidate in the use of a variety of nutraceuticals. Different parts of the okra fruit (mucilage, seed, and pods) contain certain important bioactive components, which confer its medicinal properties. The phytochemicals of okra have been studied for their potential therapeutic activities on various chronic diseases, such as type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular, and digestive diseases, as well as the antifatigue effect, liver detoxification, antibacterial, and chemo-preventive activities. Moreover, okra mucilage has been widely used in medicinal applications such as a plasma replacement or blood volume expanders. Overall, okra is considered to be an easily available, low-cost vegetable crop with various nutritional values and potential health benefits. Despite several reports about its therapeutic benefits and potential nutraceutical significance, there is a dearth of research on the pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of okra, which has hampered its widespread use in the nutraceutical industry. This review summarizes the available literature on the bioactive composition of okra and its potential nutraceutical significance. It will also provide a platform for further research on the pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of okra for its possible commercial production as a therapeutic agent against various chronic diseases.

Keywords: antidiabetic; cardioprotective; functional foods; nutraceuticals; okra; phytotherapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structures of the identified potent bioactive components derived from okra. (A) Catechin, (B) rhamnogalacturonan, (C) epigallocatechin, (D) quercetin-3-O-sophoroside, (E) Quercetin-3-O-[glucosyl(1->6) glucoside]-7-O-rhamnoside, and (F) isoquercitrin.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Statistical data showing the number of publications on the use of okra in pharmaceuticals indexed in PubMed from 2000 to 2019. The colors indicate publications available in PubMed after using the following keywords/phrases: (1) okra (blue), (2) therapeutic effect of okra (orange), and (3) okra nutraceuticals/okra-based nutraceuticals (green).The average trendlines show the importance and urgent need for research concerning the development of easily available okra (or its by-products)-based nutraceuticals and functional foods.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Illustrative representation of the okra-mediated beneficial effects that have been scientifically established to date.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Jain N., Jain R., Jain V., Jain S. A review on: Abelmoschus esculentus. Pharmacia. 2012;1:84–89.
    1. Lamont W.J. Okra—A versatile vegetable crop. Hort Technol. 1999;9:179–184. doi: 10.21273/HORTTECH.9.2.179. - DOI
    1. Tindall H.D. Vegetables in the Tropics. Macmillan Publishers Limited; London, UK: 1983. - DOI
    1. Dhaliwal M.S. Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) L. (Moench) Kalyani Publishers; New Delhi, India: 2010.
    1. Kumar A., Kumar P., Nadendla R. A review on: Abelmoschus esculentus (Okra) Int. Res. J. Pharm. Appl. Sci. 2013;3:129–132.