Overview on Phytochemistry and Pharmacological Activity of the Leaves of Origanum vulgare

The plant family Lamiaceae is known for its vast variety of genera and richness in a vivid class of chemical constituents. The Lamiaceae family has a long history of usage in flavoring, food preservation, and medicine. There has been an increased interest of researchers in exploring the potentials of genus Origanum of this family as depicted by the number of research publications from the past ten years (2014–2024) available on scientific databases. Amid over 236 genera in the vast plant family Lamiaceae, genus Origanum is known for its richness in volatile oil content and therapeutic important non-volatile components. One of the most notable and commonly utilized plant species from this genus includes Origanum vulgare, also known as common oregano. This edible plant species with its wide distribution throughout the globe has been attributed with vivid biological actions in traditional practices worldwide apart from its use in culinary sciences. On one hand, volatile oils of this species are rich in terpenes and sesquiterpenoids, and on the other hand, the non-volatile content bioactive part contains various chemicals in the class of phenolic acids, polyphenols, flavonoids, and pentacyclic triterpenoids. This review is focused on exploring the scientific updates from the past 10 years of research work available on scientific databases like ScienceDirect and PubMed, with respect to therapeutic effects, pharmacological potentials, and associated phytoconstituents reported in this plant species.