Salt-Tolerant Plants, Halophytes, as Renewable Natural Resources for Cancer Prevention and Treatment - Roles of Phenolics and Flavonoids in Immunomodulation and Suppression of Oxidative Stress towards Cancer Management

Sep 24, 2026

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Halophytes and xerophytes tolerate high salinity and survive drought conditions, partly due to comparatively higher levels of secondary metabolites, especially phenolics and flavonoids. Rising desertification driven by salinity, heat, and water scarcity increases the value of these species for environmental protection, land reclamation, and food security. Because the fight against cancer continues, there is a need for safer, more effective chemotherapeutic candidates. This review summarizes their secondary-metabolite-based products and discusses prophylactic and therapeutic roles in cancer prevention and management through phytochemical and pharmacological properties focused on immunomodulation, oxidative-stress suppression, and anti-cancer effects.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages30

Reading Time1 h 16 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Keywords

1. Introduction

Cancer as a leading cause of death

Cancer causes and risk factors

Natural products and plant-derived compounds in cancer

Review Salt-Tolerant Plants, Halophytes, as Renewable Natural Resources for Cancer Prevention and Treatment: Roles of Phenolics and Flavonoids in Immunomodulation and Suppression of Oxidative Stress towards Cancer Management Hamdoon A. Mohammed 1,2, *, Abdul-Hamid Emwas 3 and Riaz A. Khan 1, * Citation: Mohammed, H.A.; Emwas, A.-H.; Khan, R.A. Salt-Tolerant Plants, Halophytes, as Renewable Natural Resources for Cancer Prevention and Treatment: Roles of Phenolicsand Flavonoids in Immunomodulation and Suppression of Oxidative Stress towards Cancer Management. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 5171. [https://](https://)[ ](https://)[doi.org/10.3390/ijms24065171](doi.org/10.3390/ijms24065171) Academic Editors: Shivraj Hariram Nile and Doo Hwan Kim Received: 16 December 2022 Revised: 26 February 2023 Accepted: 3 March 2023 Published: 8 March 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[ ](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[4.0/](4.0/)) . 1 Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia 2 Department of Pharmacognosy and Medicinal Plants, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo 11371, Egypt 3 Core Labs, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955, Saudi Arabia * [Correspondence: ham.mohammed@qu.edu.sa](Correspondence: ham.mohammed@qu.edu.sa) (H.A.M.); [ri.khan@qu.edu.sa](ri.khan@qu.edu.sa) (R.A.K.) Abstract: Halophytes and xerophytes, plants with adequate tolerance to high salinity with strong ability to survive in drought ecosystem, have been recognized for their nutritional and medicinal values owing to their comparatively higher productions of secondary metabolites, primarily the phenolics, and the ﬂavonoids, as compared to the normal vegetation in other climatic regions. Given the consistent increases in desertiﬁcation around the world, which are associated with increasing salinity, high temperature, and water scarcity, the survival of halophytes due to their secondary metabolic contents has prioritized these plant species, which have now become increasingly important for environmental protection, land reclamation, and food and animal-feed security, with their primary utility in traditional societies as sources of drugs. On the medicinal herbs front, because the ﬁght against cancer is still ongoing, there is an urgent need for development of more efﬁcient, safe, and novel chemotherapeutic agents, than those currently available. The current review describes these plants and their secondary-metabolite-based chemical products as promising candidates for developing newer cancer therapeutics. It further discusses the prophylactic roles of these plants, and their constituents in prevention and management of cancers, through an exploration of their phytochemical and pharmacological properties, with a view on immunomodulation. The important roles of various phenolics and structurally diverse ﬂavonoids as major constituents of the halophytesin suppressing oxidative stress, immunomodulation, and anti-cancer effects are the subject matter of this review and these aspects are outlined in details. Keywords: halophytes; salt-tolerance; secondary metabolites; phenolics; ﬂavonoids; oxidative stress; immunomodulation; oxidation; anti-cancer activity; cancer management 1. Introduction Cancer has long been identiﬁed as one of the leading causes of worldwide deaths and is the second leading cause of death in the current millennium; it is still counted as one of the major health problems of the world [1] . Cancer is a heterogeneous disease with complex syndromes and affects different organs [2] . Moreover, cancer is a non-communicable disease that aggre

FAQs

What makes halophytes and xerophytes valuable for cancer-related research?

They withstand high salinity and drought while producing higher levels of secondary metabolites, mainly phenolics and flavonoids, which can support immunomodulation and anti-cancer effects.

How does the review connect halophyte metabolites to cancer management?

It links phytochemical and pharmacological properties of phenolics and diverse flavonoids to roles in immunomodulation and suppression of oxidative stress relevant to cancer prevention and treatment.

Why is there an urgent need for new cancer therapeutics mentioned in the review?

Because the fight against cancer is ongoing, requiring more efficient, safe, and novel chemotherapeutic agents beyond currently available options.

Sep 24, 2026

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