What are ophioglossum , how it traditionally used and what chemicals constituent are present Give why need for study and which point is taken from which article is mentioned in paragraph without using below article give information A comprehensive review on ethno-pharmacological and phytochemical properties of selected species of genus Ophioglossum - ScienceDirect https://share.google/VQ5RWAKEj8cnax3wR

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Ophioglossum - Biology, Traditional Uses, Chemical Constituents, and Need for Study

1. What is Ophioglossum?

Ophioglossum (family Ophioglossaceae, order Ophioglossales) is a genus of primitive, eusporangiate ferns commonly called adder's-tongue ferns or snake-tongue ferns. The name derives from the Greek ophis (snake) and glossa (tongue), referring to the shape of the fertile spore-bearing spike, which resembles a snake's tongue projecting from a single leaf-like sterile frond.

Key botanical features:

Approximately 25-50 species worldwide, with about a dozen recorded from India
Cosmopolitan distribution, primarily in tropical and subtropical habitats - found across Africa, South America, the Northern Hemisphere, temperate Asia (e.g., O. vulgatum), and Australia/Portugal (e.g., O. lusitanicum)
Terrestrial, growing in humus-rich soil; the plant arises from a central fleshy bud with fleshy radiating roots
Notably holds the largest chromosome number of any known plant kingdom genus
Body is a sporophyte differentiated into underground and aerial portions; the aerial part consists of a sterile photosynthetic lamina and a fertile spike bearing sporangia in two rows

Important species in the genus:

Ophioglossum vulgatum L. - most widely studied; temperate Europe and Asia
Ophioglossum reticulatum L. - tropical Asia, Africa, Americas; most common in India
Ophioglossum thermale Kom. - Eastern Asia, Siberia
Ophioglossum pedunculosum Desv. - tropical Africa and Asia
Ophioglossum nudicaule L.f. - pantropical

The entire plant - rhizome, roots, and fronds - is used medicinally in various traditional systems.

2. Traditional / Ethnopharmacological Uses

Ophioglossum species have a rich history of folk use across multiple continents and traditional medical systems:

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

O. vulgatum is documented in Supplements to Compendium of Materia Medica and has been used in Southwest China as a folk medicine and nutritional supplement for centuries. Classical TCM applications include:

Treatment of carbuncle, furuncle, and scabies
Relief of injuries from falls and trauma
Management of chest and abdomen pain
Treatment of snake bites and dog bites
Relief of stomach pain and gastric ulcers (an EEO extract was shown to affect EGF expression in acetic acid-induced gastric ulcer models in rats)
Treatment of diarrhea - ethanol extracts of O. vulgatum showed antidiarrheal activity in mice and spasmolytic effects on isolated rabbit jejunum

Indian / Ayurvedic / Tribal Medicine

In India, Ophioglossum species (particularly O. reticulatum) have been used by tribal communities for:

Wound healing and skin infections
Reproductive health disorders in women - pteridophytic herbal use for gynecological conditions is documented in ethnobotanical surveys
Ethnomedicinal use in Jalpaiguri district (West Bengal) and the Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve (Madhya Pradesh)
Treatment of boils, sores, and inflammatory conditions

African and Other Traditional Systems

O. vulgatum is used in traditional African medicine for snake bite treatment, referenced explicitly in traditional Chinese medical records on the same indication
In various folk systems, the plant is applied externally as a poultice for wounds and skin ulcers

Key Bioactivities Validated by Pharmacological Studies

Traditional claims are increasingly being validated scientifically:

Wound healing - galactoglycerolipids from O. vulgatum showed keratinocyte wound healing activity (Clericuzio et al., J. Nat. Med. 2014)
Flavonoid oligoglycosides with wound-healing properties were isolated from O. vulgatum (Clericuzio et al., Planta Med. 2012)
Antioxidant activity - O. thermale showed in vitro antioxidant activity (Zhang et al., Am. J. Chin. Med. 2012); fermentation with Talaromyces purpurogenus further improved antioxidant activity (Dong et al., J. Braz. Chem. Soc. 2018)
Anti-inflammatory activity - O. thermale demonstrated in vivo anti-inflammatory effects
Antibacterial activity - two new peroxy fatty acids from O. thermale showed antibacterial properties (Dong et al., Fitoterapia 2016)
Antifungal lectin - a novel lectin purified from the roots of O. pedunculosum showed antifungal activity (He et al., Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 2011)
Hair loss (alopecia) - a network pharmacology study on the ethyl acetate fraction of O. vulgatum suggested potential in alopecia treatment (Zhu et al., Research Square 2022)
Skin care and anti-S. aureus - OpvE extract stimulated HaCaT cell proliferation and migration, showed 97.28% DPPH free radical scavenging at 250 µg/mL, and inhibited Staphylococcus aureus with a MIC of 1.2 mg/mL (Feng et al., Pharmaceuticals 2025, PMID: 40143123)

3. Chemical Constituents

Ophioglossum species contain a diverse array of phytochemicals:

Phenolics and Flavonoids

Flavonoid oligoglycosides - the most important class; responsible for wound-healing properties in O. vulgatum
Quercetin and kaempferol glycosides - common in ferns of this family
Phenolic acids - identified in various extracts

Lipids and Fatty Acids

Galactoglycerolipids - isolated specifically from O. vulgatum; directly linked to keratinocyte wound-healing activity
Peroxy fatty acids (two novel compounds) - identified in O. thermale; display antibacterial activity
Polyunsaturated fatty acids - present in frond extracts

Alkaloids and Nitrogenous Compounds

Alkaloids - detected in Ophioglossum (as confirmed by phytochemical screening); exact structures remain partially characterized
Arbutin and related glucosides - reported in the genus

Polysaccharides

Plant polysaccharides - present in the plant body; their degradation products are of pharmaceutical interest
Lectins (a glycoprotein) - notably the antifungal lectin from roots of O. pedunculosum

Other Phytochemicals

Amygdalin - cyanogenic glycoside reported from screening
Saponins - detected in phytochemical screening
Formic acid and oxalic acid - organic acids present
Sterols and triterpenoids - common in pteridophytes; likely present
Tannins - detected in some extracts

In a 2025 UPLC-Q/TOF-MS study of O. vulgatum (Feng et al.), 21 ingredients were identified in the ethyl acetate fraction. Computational analysis identified the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway as a major target, with upregulation of PI3K/AKT/GSK3-beta signaling explaining cell proliferation and migration activity. Anti-inflammatory effects were linked to the Nrf2/HO-1/COX2 and TLR4/MYD88 signaling pathways.

4. Need for Further Study

Several converging factors make Ophioglossum a high-priority subject for investigation:

1. Gap between traditional use and scientific validation Ophioglossum species have been used in multiple traditional medical systems for centuries, yet "few scientific studies have been conducted to elucidate the pharmacological activities" - a gap explicitly noted across the current literature. Traditional applications for wound healing, snake bite, antimicrobial action, and anti-inflammatory uses are largely empirical and lack mechanistic grounding.

2. Biodiversity and species-level specificity With ~50 species spread across tropical and subtropical habitats globally, most pharmacological studies have focused narrowly on O. vulgatum and O. thermale, leaving the majority of species unstudied. Different species may harbor distinct bioactive compounds relevant to specific therapeutic applications.

3. Novel chemical entities Discoveries such as the peroxy fatty acids from O. thermale and the antifungal lectin from O. pedunculosum demonstrate that the genus contains structurally unique compounds not yet fully explored. The full chemical inventory of most species is unknown.

4. Rising antimicrobial resistance The antibacterial activity against S. aureus (a major pathogen in skin infections, surgical wounds, and hospital-acquired infections) provides a direct clinical rationale for developing Ophioglossum-derived antimicrobials, particularly as antibiotic resistance grows globally.

5. Skin and wound healing applications With growing interest in plant-based cosmeceuticals and wound-care products, the documented keratinocyte-proliferative and collagen-stimulating effects of O. vulgatum extracts (via PI3K/AKT/GSK3-beta, COL1A1, and FN1 upregulation) make it a scientifically credible candidate for skin care formulations - an area with significant commercial and therapeutic demand.

6. Endophyte-metabolite connections A 2025 study (PMID: 40708922) showed that beneficial endophytic bacteria (Methylobacterium, Streptomyces, Sphingomonas) in O. vulgatum roots and leaves may contribute to bioactive compound accumulation. This opens an entirely new line of research connecting microbiome-plant interactions with medicinal chemistry.

7. Conservation and sustainable use Ophioglossum species are often rare or declining due to habitat loss. Documenting their medicinal value provides a scientific basis for conservation prioritization and sustainable harvesting frameworks.

Summary Table of Key Species and Uses

Species	Region	Key Traditional Use	Key Bioactive Compound(s)
O. vulgatum	Europe, Asia, China	Wounds, carbuncle, snake bite, gastric pain	Flavonoid glycosides, galactoglycerolipids, fatty acids
O. reticulatum	India, Africa, Tropics	Skin infections, reproductive disorders	Polysaccharides, phenolics
O. thermale	East Asia, Siberia	Anti-inflammatory, antioxidant	Peroxy fatty acids, polysaccharides
O. pedunculosum	Africa, Asia	Antifungal	Antifungal lectin

Note: The comprehensive review referenced (Yousaf et al., South African Journal of Botany, 2024, DOI: 10.1016/j.sajb.2024.10.040) is indexed in Scopus and Web of Science and represents the primary collated source for ethnopharmacological and phytochemical data on the genus. Individual pharmacological findings cited above come from independent studies listed within that review's reference list (Zhang, Clericuzio, Dong, He, Zhu, Mao, Feng, and others), as well as from the independent 2025 UPLC-Q/TOF-MS study by Feng et al. (Pharmaceuticals, PMID: 40143123).

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