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Hepatoprotective Efficacy of Cinnamon

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Cinnamon: A Medicinal Plant and A Functional Food Systems

Part of the book series: Food Bioactive Ingredients ((FBC))

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Abstract

The liver is one of the five organs of the human body with a metabolic function in humans. From the perspective of metabolism, the main functions of the liver include amino acid metabolism, hormone metabolism, secretion and excretion of bile, and detoxification. With the improvement of people’s living standards, various overprocessed foods increasingly emerge. High-calorie foods are ingested in large quantities, and high-concentration alcohol products are also popular with consumers, which lead to the extensive prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and alcoholic fatty liver disease. However, related Western medicines may have some side effects. Therefore, natural products with lipid-lowering activity and liver-protecting functions in plants have gradually drawn wide attention. Cinnamon is not only used as a traditional food seasoning and spice but also as a medicinal herb. Phenols and aldehydes in cinnamon have been reported to have significant liver protection function. In this chapter, we review the inhibitory effects of cinnamon extract on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and alcoholic fatty liver disease, the related regulatory pathways, and molecular mechanisms. The related studies indicate that the combination of cinnamon and some chemicals might be a promising treatment scheme. Considering the excellent liver protective functions of cinnamon, it is of great significance to explore the new liver protective efficacy of cinnamon, its synergistic effect with other active substances, and its application in medicine and health food fields.

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Acknowledgments

We appreciate the research was funded by the China Agriculture Research System (CARS-46) and the major project of the Scientific and Technological R&D of Hubei Agricultural Scientific and Technological Innovation Center (2020-620-000-002-03).

Conflict of Interest

There are no conflicts of interest in this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Special Food Research Institute, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China

    Jian Ju

  2. Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Adolpho Ducke Laboratory/Botanical Coordination, Belém, Brazil

    Mozaniel Santana de Oliveira

  3. Institute of Agro-Products Processing and Nuclear agricultural Technology, Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wuhan, China

    Yu Qiao

Authors
  1. Jian Ju
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  2. Mozaniel Santana de Oliveira
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  3. Yu Qiao
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Ju, J., Santana de Oliveira, M., Qiao, Y. (2023). Hepatoprotective Efficacy of Cinnamon. In: Cinnamon: A Medicinal Plant and A Functional Food Systems. Food Bioactive Ingredients. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33505-1_16

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