‘Helencha’ (Enhydra fluctuans Lour.): A brief overview

Subject Areas : Phytochemistry: Isolation, Purification, Characterization

Lutfun Nahar ¹ , Satyajit D. Sarker ²

1 - Laboratory of Growth Regulators, Institute of Experimental Botany ASCR & Palacký University, Šlechtitelů 27, 78371 Olomouc, Czech Republic
2 - Centre for Natural Products Discovery (CNPD), School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, John Moores University, James Parsons Building, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, United Kingdom

Received: 2022-01-14 Accepted : 2022-01-14 Published : 2022-05-01

Keywords: Bioactivity, Baicalein, Glycosides, Helencha ( <i>Enhydra fluctuans</i> Lour.), Pharmacological,

Abstract :

‘Helencha’ (Enhydra fluctuans Lour.), a well-known but underused leafy vegetable with medicinal properties, belongs to the family Asteraceae (alt. Compositae). This aquatic or semi-aquatic herb is also known by several other common names such as ‘buffalo spinach’, ‘English marsh herb’, ‘godobos’, ‘harkuch’, ‘hilmochikah’, ‘hinche’, ‘jalabrahmi’, ‘phak bung ruem’ and ‘zhao ju’.Enhydra fluctuans is synonymous with Coreopsis anagallis, Enhydra anagallis, E. linifolia, E. longifolia, E. paludosa, E. wollsii, Tetraotis longifolia, T. paludosa and Meyera fluctuans. This plant is indigenous to Bangladesh and India, but also native to other South- East Asian countries like Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam, and introduced in various other countries, e.g., China, the Philippines, Senegal and Zaire.

References:

Barua, A., Alam, M.S., Junaid, M., Akter, Y., Afrose, S.S., Sharmin, T., Akter, R., Hosen, S.M.Z., 2021. Phytochemistry, traditional uses and pharmacological properties of Enhydra fluctuans Lour: A comprehensive review. Curr. Pharm. Biotechnol. 22, 61061-61068.
Hasan, M.N., Sabrin, F., Rokeya, B., Khan, M.S.H., Ahmed, M.U., Matondo, A., Billah, M.M., Akter, S., 2019. Glucose and lipid lowering effects of Enhydra fluctuans extract in cadmium treated normal and type-2 diabetic model rats. BMC Complement. Altern. Med. 19, article number: 278.
Kamal, S., Rony, S.R., Sharmin, S., Laboni, F.R., Sohrab, M.H., 2019. Phytochemical and pharmacological potential of Enhydra fluctuans available in Bangladesh. J. Pharm. Res. Int. 29, article number: 50435.
Lopa, S. S., Al-Amin, M.Y., Hasan, M. K., Ahammed, M. S., Islam, K. M., Alam, A. H. M. K., Tanak, T., Sadik, M. G., 2021. Phytochemical analysis and cholinesterase inhibitory and antioxidant activities of Enhydra fluctuans in the management of Alzheimer’s disease. Int. J. Food Sci. 2021, article number: 8862025.
Omidifar, N., Nilli-Ahmadabadi, A., Nakhostin-Ansari, A., Lankarani, K.B., Moghadami, M., Mousavi, S.M., Hashemi, S. A., Gholami, A., Shokripour, M., Ebrahami, Z., 2021. The modulatory potential of herbal antioxidants against oxidative stress and heavy metal pollution: Plants against environmental oxidative stress. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 28, 1908-1918.
Raj, A., Sikdar, B., Roy, A., Kumar, A.A., Roy, S., 2021. Antioxidant and antibacterial activities of phytochemicals in methanolic extracts of five underused vegetables. Res. J. Biotechnol. 16, 1-10.
Sannigrahi, S., Mazumder, U.U., Pal, D., Mishra, S.L., Maity, S., 2011. Flavonoids of Enhydra fluctuans exhibits analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity in different animal models. Pak. J. Pharm. Sci.24, 369-375.
Verma, E., Kumar, A., Daimary, U.D., Parama, D., Girisa, S., Sethi, G., Kunnumakkara, A.B., 2021. Potential of baicalein in the prevention and treatment of cancer: A scientometric analyses based review. J. Funct. Foods 86, article number: 104660.
Vrabec, R., Vokurkova, D., Tumova, L., Cheel, J., 2022. Ex-vivo immune-stimulating activity of Scutellaria baicalensis and its major flavonoids on human immune cells. Rec. Nat. Prod.16, 188-193.