Medicago sativa L., a functional food to relieve hypertension and metabolic disorders in a spontaneously hypertensive rat model

Medicago sativa L. (alfalfa) is a leguminous plant with beneficial effects on altered glucose and lipid metabolism, moreover exhibiting hypotensive activity. We improved the functional properties of alfalfa, growing the plant under specific soil conditions of high salinity. We determined the main bioactive compounds and five new phenolic compounds were identified. Alfalfa grown under high salinity conditions was added to experimental diets and assayed in an experimental model of spontaneously hypertensive rat. Among the main findings, a slight decrease on blood pressure, a reduction in the risk of kidney stone formation, a protective action against oxidative damage in fatty liver disease, as well as an improvement of glucose metabolism through the normalization of the gcg expression in colon should be underlined. Alfalfa can be used as an efficient functional food for the dietary prevention and treatment of several metabolic alterations, characteristic of the metabolic syndrome.