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Review
. 2023 Oct 19:11:1276514.
doi: 10.3389/fchem.2023.1276514. eCollection 2023.

Bougainvillea glabra Choisy (Nyctinaginacea): review of phytochemistry and antimicrobial potential

Ingrid G Ornelas García  1 , Alma L Guerrero Barrera  1 , Francisco J Avelar González  2 , Norma A Chávez Vela  3 , Daniela Gutiérrez Montiel  1
Affiliations
Review

Bougainvillea glabra Choisy (Nyctinaginacea): review of phytochemistry and antimicrobial potential

Ingrid G Ornelas García et al. Front Chem. .

Abstract

The Bougainvillea glabra or bougainvillea is a climbing plant native from South America belonging to the Nyctaginaceae family. The bougainvillea is recognized worldwide for its horticultural importance, due to the color of its bracts, commonly known as "flowers," made up of bracts, which are the striking parts, and the true flowers, which are white and small. Bougainvillea is widely known in traditional medicine to treat respiratory diseases such as cough, asthma, and bronchitis, gastrointestinal diseases, also for its antibacterial and insecticidal capacity. The antimicrobial potential of the involucre of this plant has not been studied, despite research showing a high phytochemical presence of secondary metabolites such as alkanes, phenols, terpenes, and betalains. This review compiles information about the traditional uses of B. glabra, its botanical description, ecological relevance, phytochemistry, antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity, such as the toxicology of bracts and flowers.

Keywords: Bougainvillea glabra; antimicrobial; betacyanins; betalains; bracts; phytochemistry; traditional medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Bougainvillea: involucre constituted by bract and flowers.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Bougainvillea glabra morphology.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
(A) Betacyanin structure: R1 and R2 represent Hydrogen or sugar moieties; (B) betaxanthin: R3 amino acid and R4: Hydrogen (Napoleón et al., 2013).
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Bougainvillea being pollinated.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Traditional uses of B. glabra.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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