The Common Tansy or Tanacetum vulgare is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Asteraceae family. It is originally from Eurasia. Today it is very common in Europe. The essential oil is extracted from its stems and flowers.
It is very fragrant and repels insects. Its biological activities are associated with the composition of its essential oil which concentrates sesquiterpene lactones, camphor, α-thujone, β-thujone, borneol, chrysanthenone and 1,8-cineole in variable proportions depending on the chemotype (COLLIN & al., 1993 ; MOCKUTE & JUDZENTIENE, 2004 ; ROHLOFF & al., 2004).
Tansy has been used for many years in traditional medicine as an antihypertensive, antispasmodic, anthelmintic, insect repellent, carminative, abdominal viscera stimulant, tonic, emmenagogue, antidiabetic and diuretic remedy (STEVOVIC & al., 2009).
Depending on the dose, tansy is an effective repellant or insecticide and acaricide (LAZAREVIC & al., 2021 ; MAGIEROWICZ & al., 2020). It interferes with the development of larvae (DEVRNJA & al., 2020). It increases oxidative stress in the body of insects, interacts with their sugar metabolism and modifies the activity of 2 major enzymes in the functioning of their central nervous system: Acetylcholinesterase and Na + / K + -ATPase (CZERNIEWICZ & al., 2018). The insects exhibit difficulty in locomotion and sucking, are paralyzed and die.
Tansy has an anti-inflammatory effect. In particular, it reduces the inflammatory edema of the ear induced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate in mice (SCHINELLA & al., 1998). The flavonoids present in the plant are responsible for these effects by inhibiting the pro-inflammatory mediators cyclo-oxygenase and 5-lipoxygenase in leukocytes (WILLIAMS & al., 1999). Parthenolide appears to be the most potent active (SCHINELLA & al., 1998).
It promotes wound healing in models of linear and circular incisions made on rats and mice. It increases the tensile strength by 26.1% and the contraction value by 44.9% compared to the control (ÖZBILGIN & al., 2018).
Tansy exhibits potent antioxidant activity assessed by DPPH radical scavenging method and reducing potency assay techniques. This antioxidant activity is correlated with the content of polyphenols (IVANESCU, 2018) and linked to various antioxidant compounds including 3,5-O-dicaffeoylquinic acid, axillarin and luteolin (JUAN-BADATURUGE & al., 2009).
Tansy has an anti-tumor effect. In particular, it induces high cytotoxicity on uterus cervical cancer and renal cancer cell lines (IVANESCU, 2018).
Tansy shows antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. It has moderate efficacy against Staphylococus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia Coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It also has antimycotic activity against Candida albicans, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis (HOLETZ & al., 2002 ; IVANESCU, 2018).
Tansy and parthenolide, one of its sesquiterpene lactones, exhibit antiviral activity against the herpes simplex viruses HSV-1 and HSV-2 (ONOZATO & al., 2009) associated with 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid and axillarin (ALVAREZ & al., 2011). Antiviral activity is mediated by inhibition of replication: it blocks the entry of the virus and it has direct virucidal effects on extracellular virions.
In addition, Tansy limits infection with the influenza A H3N2 virus in vitro, probably by interfering with the cellular pathways involved in the replication cycle. It also exhibits a virucidal and adsorption inhibitory effect on CBV-1 (coxsackievirus B1) but without any inhibitory effect on its viral replication (VILHELMOVA & al., 2020).
