| This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the medicinal, folkloric and traditional culinary uses of
Ferula species, related products and extracts in different countries together with the description of recently
isolated new components and the related bioactivities. The phytochemical composition of the essential oils
(EOs), oleo-gum-resin (OGR) and the non-volatile fractions obtained from several endemic and indigenous Ferula
species is also reported. A special emphasis is placed on their unusual components, i.e. sulfur-containing volatiles
from the EOs and the new phytochemicals with mixed biogenetic origins. More than 180 chemical constituents
(excluding common essential oils components), including sulfur-containing metabolites, terpenoids, coumarins,
sesquiterpene coumarins, etc., as both aglycones and glycosides, are reported, along with their occurrence and
biological activities when available. A large number of new secondary metabolites, belonging to different classes
of natural products possessing interesting biological activities, from the antiproliferative to the anti-inflammatory to the neuroprotective ones, among the others, have been recently found in the Ferula genus. Several
of these phytochemicals are exclusive to this genus; therefore may be considered chemotaxonomic markers. All
these aspects are extensively discussed in this review. |