Bioactive Phytoconstituents and Biological Activities of Polygonum minus Huds.

In the development of drugs, medicinal plants contributed many potent, efficacious, and low-toxicity compounds and analogs. Plants belonging to the Polygonaceae family have been proven to be effective in various ailments. Persicaria minor (Huds.) Opiz. (Polygonum minus Huds.) is a shrub mainly found in damp areas. It is distributed widely in Europe, Southeast Asia, India, and Sri Lanka. Rich amounts of antioxidants and other constituents also identified in this plant. Different types of extracts and plant products of P. minus showed a variety of pharmacological properties, including antioxidant, suppression of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation, antiplatelet aggregation, gastroprotection, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antibacterial action, as well as cognitive enhancement. The fresh and dried leaves of this plant are consumed in countries like Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand as a condiment and salad. Since it is consumed raw, the toxicity was estimated and found to be safe in normally consumed amounts. Numerous medicinally significant phytoconstituents were isolated and characterized using various advanced spectroscopic techniques, and the functional correlation of these constituents with pharmacological activities was also established. There are a few clinical trials conducted to assess the plant product’s efficacy and found to have promising outcomes for sexual well-being and cognition enhancement activity.