Butterfly Pea (Clitoria ternatea), a Cyclotide-Bearing Plant With Applications in Agriculture and Medicine.

ABSTRACT: The perennial leguminous herb Clitoria ternatea (butterfly pea) has attracted significant interest based on its agricultural and medical applications, which range from use as a fodder and nitrogen fixing crop, to applications in food coloring and cosmetics, traditional medicine and as a source of an eco-friendly insecticide. In this article we provide a broad multidisciplinary review that includes descriptions of the physical appearance, distribution, taxonomy, habitat, growth and propagation, phytochemical composition and applications of this plant. Notable amongst its repertoire of chemical components are anthocyanins which give C. ternatea flowers their characteristic blue color, and cyclotides, ultra-stable macrocyclic peptides that are present in all tissues of this plan

SUBMITTER: Oguis GK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6546959 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature