Plant-based secondary metabolites as natural remedies: a comprehensive review on terpenes and their therapeutic applications

Terpenes are among the most diverse kinds of natural products because of their remarkable chemical variety. Numerous biological characteristics of terpenoids have been documented, including their antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antihyperglycemic, anti-inflammatory, and antiparasitic effects, as well as their cancer chemopreventive benefits. Additionally, terpenes are utilized in the manufacturing of organic solvents, varnishes, inks, adhesives, synthetic polymers, natural rubbers, cleaning supplies, biofuels, insecticides, and food and beverage items. Terpenes are therefore highly valued in modern medicine, pharmacy, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, and other fields. Plant oils, including terpenes, have been used to treat a variety of diseases without a full understanding of the roles or modes of action of particular bioactive substances. Many of these compounds are only present in nature in extremely small amounts; thus, methods such as metabolic engineering and synthetic biology are used to harvest them in large quantities in order to produce enough medicine. This comprehensive review aims to elucidate the biochemistry, phytochemical properties, and pharmacological activities of terpenes in metabolic disorders.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Frontiers in Pharmacology

• Publication date

  2025-05-19

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Chemistry, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3389/fphar.2025.1587215PMID 40458805PMCID 12127327
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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