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Review
. 2023 Jul;11(14):e15770.
doi: 10.14814/phy2.15770.

A review of the biological effects of Myrtus communis

Mohammad Mahdi Dabbaghi  1 , Mohammad Saleh Fadaei  1 , Hesan Soleimani Roudi  1 , Vafa Baradaran Rahimi  2 , Vahid Reza Askari  1   3
Affiliations
Review

A review of the biological effects of Myrtus communis

Mohammad Mahdi Dabbaghi et al. Physiol Rep. 2023 Jul.

Abstract

The World Health Organization stated that 1.6 million deaths worldwide were caused by contact with chemicals and toxins in 2019. In the same year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that natural toxins caused 3960 deaths. Myrtus communis, also known as common Myrtle, is a flowering plant native to the Mediterranean region. Myrtle has been traditionally used to treat diarrhea, inflammation, bleeding, headache, pulmonary and skin diseases. This review was performed to assess Myrtle's protective and therapeutic efficacy against various chemical, natural, and radiational noxious. Multiple databases such as PubMed, Web of Sciences, and Scopus were investigated without publication time limitation. Recent studies have demonstrated its potential as a protective agent against both natural and chemical toxins. One of Myrtle's most significant protective properties is its high antioxidant content. Studies have shown that the antioxidant properties of Myrtle can protect against harmful substances such as heavy metals, pesticides, and other environmental toxins. Additionally, Myrtle has anti-inflammatory properties that can help reduce the damage caused by long-term exposure to toxins. The anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties of Myrtle have also proven effective in alleviating gastrointestinal conditions such as gastric ulcers.

Keywords: Myrtus communis; Myrtle; anti-inflammatory; antioxidant; toxin.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Myrtus communis (This photo was taken by Jonathan Billinger, near to Huntley, Gloucestershire, England, licensed for reuse under Creative Commons License; Attribution‐ShareAlike 4.0 International [CC BY‐SA 4.0]).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Active constituents of Myrtus communis.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Pharmacological effects of Myrtus communis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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