Wound healing and antioxidant properties: do they coexist in plants?

Introduction: It is known that the wound-healing process can be aided by the presence of antioxidants. Many plants have been reported to possess wound-healing and antioxidant properties. This review aims to appraise published literature and evaluate whether wound-healing and antioxidant properties co-exist in plants. Methods: Web of knowledge, Google Scholar and PubMed were primarily used to search for published reports on wound-healing and antioxidant properties of plants. Other relevant publications, e.g., books and journal articles, were also consulted. Results: Literature search has revealed that several wound-healing plants also possess considerable antioxidant properties as evident from the results of various in vitro and in vivo assays. It has appeared that the wound-healing properties of plants, in most cases, are associated with their antioxidant activities. Conclusions: The wound-healing property and antioxidant activity co-exist in many plant species from a variety of families.