Borage: A neglected and underutilized plant with health benefices

Abstract

Healthy eating is one of the most pursued objectives in today’s society. The increased demand for food with beneficial proper- ties against diseases has made herbal products a principal target for industry requirements. However, reports that show protective effects in some plant species are often conflicting or present vari- able results. Borage (Borago officinalis L.) is an annual herb, native to the Mediterranean region that has been used since ancient times for culinary and medicinal purposes. Nowadays, interest in borage has been renewed due to the gamma linolenic acid contained in its seeds. The leaves and seed oil of borage contain small amounts of pyrrolizidine alkaloids that could impair the benefits of these products.Toassessthebenefitofthreeboragecommercialproducts (borage leaves, commercial crude borage oil and refined borage oil) wehaveselectedthe invivoDrosophilamelanogaster systemandthe human acute promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL-60 model. Toxic- ityassays(S.M.A.R.T.)showedthatneitherborageleavesnorborage seed oil are toxic to D. melanogaster. Borage leaves showed tumori- cide activity against HL-60 cells in a dose dependent manner, and the 50% inhibition concentration (IC50) is reached at 0.28mg/ml. Both crude and refined borage oils also showed tumoricide activity against HL-60 cells, but the IC50 is reached at lower concentra- tion for crude borage oil (3.8 ml/ml) than for refined borage oil (4.8 ml/ml). In conclusion, the lack of toxicity and the tumoricide activity of leaves and seed oil from borage highlight the benefits of consumption of this plant.