Asparagus Polysaccharide Suppresses the Migration, Invasion, and Angiogenesis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells Partly by Targeting the HIF-1α/VEGF Signalling Pathway In Vitro.
Cheng W, Cheng Z, Xing D, Zhang M.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019 May 26;2019:3769879. doi: 10.1155/2019/3769879.

Cytotoxicity and cell cycle analysis of Asparagus laricinus Burch. and Senecio asperulus DC. on breast and prostate cancer cell lines.
Mfengwana PH, Mashele SS, Manduna IT.
Heliyon. 2019 May 11;5(5):e01666. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e01666.

Regulation of circadian rhythms by NEAT1 mediated TMAO-induced endothelial proliferation: A protective role of asparagus extract.
Wu X, Chen L, Zeb F, Huang Y, An J, Ren J, Yang F, Feng Q.
Exp Cell Res. 2019 Jun 5. pii: S0014-4827(19)30283-6. doi: 10.1016/j.yexcr.2019.05.032

Anti-Inflammatory Response and Muscarinic Cholinergic Regulation during the Laxative Effect of Asparagus cochinchinensis in Loperamide-Induced Constipation of SD Rats.
Kim JE, Park JW, Kang MJ, Choi HJ, Bae SJ, Choi YS, Lee YJ, Lee HS, Hong JT, Hwang DY.
Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Feb 21;20(4). pii: E946. doi: 10.3390/ijms20040946.

Antioxidant Activity of Gamma-Irradiated Asparagus cochinchinensis (Asparagi radix) (Lour.) Merr. Extract and Inhibition Effect on Lipid Oxidation of Emulsion-Type Pork Sausage.
Cho YH, Yang MS.
Korean J Food Sci Anim Resour. 2018 Dec;38(6):1196-1202. doi: 10.5851/kosfa.2018.e51

Antidiabetic potential of Asparagus racemosus Willd leaf extracts through inhibition of α-amylase and α-glucosidase.
Vadivelan R, Gopala Krishnan R, Kannan R.
J Tradit Complement Med. 2018 Apr 30;9(1):1-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcme.2017.10.004.

The Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Fermented Herbal Roots of Asparagus cochinchinensis in an Ovalbumin-Induced Asthma Model.
Choi JY, Kim JE, Park JJ, Lee MR, Song BR, Park JW, Kang MJ, Lee HS, Son HJ, Hong JT, Hwang DY.
J Clin Med. 2018 Oct 22;7(10). pii: E377. doi: 10.3390/jcm7100377.

Anthocyanins accumulation and molecular analysis of correlated genes by metabolome and transcriptome in green and purple asparaguses (Asparagus officinalis, L.).
Dong T, Han R, Yu J, Zhu M, Zhang Y, Gong Y, Li Z.
Food Chem. 2019 Jan 15;271:18-28. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.07.120.

The Asparagus that we know best and that ends up on our tables is Asparagus officinalis L. and belongs to the Asparagaceae family.

It is a large genus comprising 200/300 species including:

• Asparagus cochinchinensis
• Asparagus pseudoscaber Grecescu
• Asparagus maritimus L.
• Asparagus brachiphyllus Turcz
• Asparagus prostrates Dumort
• Asparagus africanus Lam
• Asparagus racemosus ecc.
• Asparagus laricinus Burch
• Asparagus adscendens

It is quite an important horticultural crop and is cultivated in Asia, America, Europe and Oceania.

Food

Asparagus is a foodstuff used both raw and cooked.

The colouring of asparagus can be green, purple and white.

Medical

Asparagus contains anti-inflammatory components and a variety of antioxidant nutrients, including beta-carotene, vitamin C, manganese, vitamin E, zinc and selenium (1).

In addition to these interesting components, phytochemical analysis has identified folic acid, vitamin B6, thiamine and rutin.

In traditional medical science, asparagus is used to treat liver diseases, bronchial asthma, gout, bladder and kidney stones and various rheumatic diseases. 

Studies have verified the anti-cancer activity of asparagus (2) as well as its anti-arthritic and anti-inflammatory activity (3).

Cosmetics

Skin conditioning agent. It is the mainstay of topical skin treatment by restoring, increasing or improving skin tolerance to external factors, including melanocyte tolerance. The most important function of the conditioning agent is to prevent skin dehydration, but the subject is rather complex and involves emollients and humectants.

Asparagus studies

References________________________________________________________________________

(1) Begum, A., Sindhu, K., Giri, K., Umera, F., Gauthami, G., Kumar, J. V., ... & Dutt, R. (2017). Pharmacognostical and physio-chemical evaluation of Indian Asparagus officinalis Linn family Lamiaceae. Int. J. Pharmacogn. Phytochem. Res, 9, 327-336.

(2) Almehdar, H., Abdallah, H. M., Osman, A. M. M., & Abdel-Sattar, E. A. (2012). In vitro cytotoxic screening of selected Saudi medicinal plants. Journal of natural medicines, 66, 406-412.

(3) Kumar, S., Srivastava, P., Gupta, S., Dhanawat, M., Rani, S., Ajiboye, B. O., & Gautam, R. K. (2023). Pharmacological Evaluation of Different Extracts of Asparagus officinalis (Asparagaceae) as an Analgesic, Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-arthritic Agent in Rats. Pharmacognosy Research, 15(1).