Antidepressant-like active ingredients and their related mechanisms of functional foods or medicine and food homologous products

Objective

To provide a new idea for the treatment of depression by summarizing the antidepressant effect and mechanism of active ingredients in functional food, and medicine and food homologous products.

Methods

The literature related to the antidepressant of functional food or medicine and food homologous products from September 25, 1996 to September 5, 2022 was collected through PubMed, Google Academic, Web of Science, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases. After that, their antidepressant active ingredients and mechanism of action were systematically summarized and analyzed.

Results

A total of 146 pieces of literature were involved in the study, including 67 plant-derived functional foods or medicine and food homologous products, 32 antidepressant extracts (including 8 flavonoid extracts), and 87 antidepressant active ingredients. The 87 antidepressant active ingredients include 7 terpenes, 22 saponins, 15 flavonoids, 11 phenylpropanoids, 7 phenols, 6 sugars, 8 alkaloids, and 11 others.

Conclusion

The study summarized and analyzed the active ingredients and mechanisms of antidepressants in functional foods and medicine and food homologous products, which provides a new vision for the development of new antidepressants and a potential alternative treatment for patients with depression.