Role of flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) in disease prevention and treatment

Abstract

Seeds of flax or linseed ( Linum usitatissimum L.) are important nutraceutical foods with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, estrogenic, laxative, and antibacterial properties. Flaxseed oil and seeds are the richest vegetarian source of omega-3 fatty acids. Consumption of flaxseeds helps in prevention and control of cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorders, obesity, diabetes mellitus, polycystic ovary syndrome, gout, liver and kidney dysfunction, oxidative stress-related diseases, post-menopausal symptoms, osteoporosis, irritable bowel syndrome, dry eye disease, cystic fibrosis, diarrhea, and cancer, particularly of the mammary and prostate gland cancer. Of late, flaxseed is gaining more importance not only because of its industrial values but also due to its nutraceutical and pharmaceutical properties. The literature review was performed using PubMed, Scopus, PubMed Central, Google Scholar, and Web of Science from 1995 onwards. Data was also obtained from websites/books/book chapters.

Keywords

Flaxseed / Linum usitatissimum / Omega-3 fatty acid / Preventive medicine / Nutraceutical foods

Acknowledgments

Authors are thankful to Indian Council of Agriculture Research, New Delhi.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Funding

The authors received no extramural funding for the study.

Authors’ contributions

CM contributed to designing the manuscript, data acquisition, data analysis and prepared draft of the manuscript. M. Sujatha and ALR conceptualized and reviewed the manuscript. M. Sandhanalakshmi contributed to detailed literature review of the manuscript. AAZ prepared final draft, and contributed to data acquisition and data analysis for manuscript preparation, manuscript editing and revision at every stage. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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