Plants from Bulgarian Botanical Gardens: Some Selected Species with Potential for Health Food and Medical Applications

Bulgarian botanical gardens harbor more than 3600 plant species from across the world. Some of them are well-known plants widely used by humans, others are underutilized crops or little-known exotic species. The latter group constitutes a rich reservoir of plant resources whose potential to bring be...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Aleksandra Ivanova, Stefka Bogdanova, Veselin Petrov, Tsanko Gechev
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Plants
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/14/2176
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849733208576360448
author Aleksandra Ivanova
Stefka Bogdanova
Veselin Petrov
Tsanko Gechev
author_facet Aleksandra Ivanova
Stefka Bogdanova
Veselin Petrov
Tsanko Gechev
author_sort Aleksandra Ivanova
collection DOAJ
description Bulgarian botanical gardens harbor more than 3600 plant species from across the world. Some of them are well-known plants widely used by humans, others are underutilized crops or little-known exotic species. The latter group constitutes a rich reservoir of plant resources whose potential to bring benefits to society is still untapped. The aim of this review is to describe the diversity of species and their potentially valuable secondary metabolites in three of the largest Bulgarian botanical gardens, with a focus on underutilized crops and medicinal plants that are typical of Bulgaria. With this, we aim to pave the way for future research on the most promising of these plants. The report includes currently available ethnobotanical data on the properties and composition of their bioactive components, known culinary or therapeutic uses, and nutritional profiles. We also outline the vast potential of these plants in providing healthy diets, as well as for performing future groundbreaking biomedical research. Finally, we present the approach that will be used to screen extracts from these plants for biological activity.
format Article
id doaj-art-60b987df2b184cc3bfb5e2044dca9d1b
institution DOAJ
issn 2223-7747
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Plants
spelling doaj-art-60b987df2b184cc3bfb5e2044dca9d1b2025-08-20T03:08:06ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472025-07-011414217610.3390/plants14142176Plants from Bulgarian Botanical Gardens: Some Selected Species with Potential for Health Food and Medical ApplicationsAleksandra Ivanova0Stefka Bogdanova1Veselin Petrov2Tsanko Gechev3Center of Plant Systems Biology and Biotechnology, 4023 Plovdiv, BulgariaCenter of Plant Systems Biology and Biotechnology, 4023 Plovdiv, BulgariaCenter of Plant Systems Biology and Biotechnology, 4023 Plovdiv, BulgariaCenter of Plant Systems Biology and Biotechnology, 4023 Plovdiv, BulgariaBulgarian botanical gardens harbor more than 3600 plant species from across the world. Some of them are well-known plants widely used by humans, others are underutilized crops or little-known exotic species. The latter group constitutes a rich reservoir of plant resources whose potential to bring benefits to society is still untapped. The aim of this review is to describe the diversity of species and their potentially valuable secondary metabolites in three of the largest Bulgarian botanical gardens, with a focus on underutilized crops and medicinal plants that are typical of Bulgaria. With this, we aim to pave the way for future research on the most promising of these plants. The report includes currently available ethnobotanical data on the properties and composition of their bioactive components, known culinary or therapeutic uses, and nutritional profiles. We also outline the vast potential of these plants in providing healthy diets, as well as for performing future groundbreaking biomedical research. Finally, we present the approach that will be used to screen extracts from these plants for biological activity.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/14/2176botanical gardensmedicinal plantssecondary metabolitesunderutilized crops
spellingShingle Aleksandra Ivanova
Stefka Bogdanova
Veselin Petrov
Tsanko Gechev
Plants from Bulgarian Botanical Gardens: Some Selected Species with Potential for Health Food and Medical Applications
Plants
botanical gardens
medicinal plants
secondary metabolites
underutilized crops
title Plants from Bulgarian Botanical Gardens: Some Selected Species with Potential for Health Food and Medical Applications
title_full Plants from Bulgarian Botanical Gardens: Some Selected Species with Potential for Health Food and Medical Applications
title_fullStr Plants from Bulgarian Botanical Gardens: Some Selected Species with Potential for Health Food and Medical Applications
title_full_unstemmed Plants from Bulgarian Botanical Gardens: Some Selected Species with Potential for Health Food and Medical Applications
title_short Plants from Bulgarian Botanical Gardens: Some Selected Species with Potential for Health Food and Medical Applications
title_sort plants from bulgarian botanical gardens some selected species with potential for health food and medical applications
topic botanical gardens
medicinal plants
secondary metabolites
underutilized crops
url https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/14/2176
work_keys_str_mv AT aleksandraivanova plantsfrombulgarianbotanicalgardenssomeselectedspecieswithpotentialforhealthfoodandmedicalapplications
AT stefkabogdanova plantsfrombulgarianbotanicalgardenssomeselectedspecieswithpotentialforhealthfoodandmedicalapplications
AT veselinpetrov plantsfrombulgarianbotanicalgardenssomeselectedspecieswithpotentialforhealthfoodandmedicalapplications
AT tsankogechev plantsfrombulgarianbotanicalgardenssomeselectedspecieswithpotentialforhealthfoodandmedicalapplications