A Review on the Ethnopharmacology and Phytochemistry of the Neotropical Sages (Salvia Subgenus Calosphace; Lamiaceae) Emphasizing Mexican Species

Abstract

Salvia is the most diverse genus within the mint family (Lamiaceae), many of its species are well-known due to their medicinal and culinary uses. Most of the ethnopharmacological and phytochemical studies on Salvia are centred on species from the European and Asian clades. However, studies about the most diverse clade, the Neotropical sages (Salvia subgenus Calosphace; 587 spp.), are relatively scarce. This review aims to compile the information on the traditional medicinal uses, pharmacological and phytochemistry properties of the Neotropical sages. To do so, we carried out a comprehensive review of the articles available in different online databases published from the past to 2022 (i.e., PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, among others) and summarized the information in tables. To uncover phylogenetic patterns in the distribution of four different groups of metabolites (mono-, sesqui-, di-, and triterpenes), we generated presence-absence matrices and plotted the tip states over a dated phylogeny of Salvia. We found several studies involving Mexican species of Salvia, but only a few about taxa from other diversity centres. The main traditional uses of the Mexican species of Calosphace are medicinal and ceremonial. In traditional medicine 56 species are used to treat diseases from 17 categories according to the WHO, plus cultural-bound syndromes. Pharmacological studies reveal a wide range of biological properties (e.g., antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, anxiolytic, cytotoxic, and antidiabetic, etc.) found in extracts and isolated compounds of 38 Neotropical sages. From extracts of these species, at least 109 compounds have been isolated, identified and evaluated pharmacologically; 73 of these compounds are clerodanes, 21 abietanes, six flavonoids, five sesquiterpenoids, and four triterpenoids. The most characteristic metabolites found in the Neotropical sages are the diterpenes, particularly clerodanes (e.g., Amarisolide A, Tilifodiolide), that are found almost exclusively in this group. The Neotropical sages are a promising resource in the production of herbal medication, but studies that corroborate the properties that have been attributed to them in traditional medicine are scarce. Research of these metabolites guided by the phylogenies is recommended, since closely related species tend to share the presence of similar compounds and thus similar medicinal properties.

Keywords: abietane; bioactive compounds; clerodane; diterpene; mexican traditional medicine.

FIGURE 1

Selected species of Neotropical sages (Salvia subgenus Calosphace) that have been studied from phytochemical and/or ethnopharmacological perspectives. (A) Salvia carnea, (B) S. coccinea, (C) S. connivens, (D) S. corrugata, (E) S. elegans, (F) S. gesneriiflora, (G) S. hispanica (chia), (H) S. iodantha, (I) S. lavanduloides, (J) S. longispicata, (K) S. mexicana, (L) S. occidentalis, (M) S. purpurea, (N) S. sessei, (O) S. urica. Photo credits Gerardo Salazar.

FIGURE 2

Medicinal uses reported for species of Salvia subgenus Calosphace in Mexico. (A) Number of species used to tackle diseases from different categories according to the WHO (WHO. ICD-11, 2021), (B) Number of mentions and disease categories associated with different species of Neotropical sages in Mexican traditional medicine. Abbreviations of the disease categories are as follows: Digestive system (diseases of the digestive system); symptoms and signs (Symptoms, signs or clinical findings, not elsewhere classified); pregnancy, childbirth (Pregnancy, childbirth or the puerperium); *cultural (Cultural-bound syndromes, not included in the WHO classification); musculoskeletal system (Diseases of the musculoskeletal system or connective tissue); infectious/Parasitic (Certain infectious or parasitic diseases); genitourinary (Diseases of the genitourinary system); injury, poisoning (Injury, poisoning or certain other consequences of external causes); nervous system (Diseases of the nervous system); skin (Diseases of the skin); endocrine (Endocrine, nutritional or metabolic diseases); respiratory system (Diseases of the respiratory system); ear (Diseases of the ear or mastoid process); sleep/wake (Sleep-wake disorders); visual system (Diseases of the visual system); neoplasms (Neoplasms); circulatory system (Diseases of the circulatory system); perinatal period (Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period).

FIGURE 3

Bioactive compounds found in Salvia subgenus Calosphace. (A) Monoterpenoids, (B) Sesquiterpenoids, (C) Abietanes, (D) Clerodanes, (E) Triterpenoids, (F) Polyphenols.

FIGURE 4

Distribution of different types of terpenes in the Neotropical sages (Salvia subgen. Calosphace) and their related lineages. The lineages of Salvia s.l. are color-coded. An asterisk (*) marks the Fulgentes subclade, recovered as part of the core Calosphace clade in other phylogenies (i.e., Jenks et al., 2013; Fragoso-Martínez et al., 2018).