Pharmacognosy Reviews

The European mistletoe, Viscum album , is the most common consumed adjuvant among cancer patients in Europe. Its success warrants a report on three most apparent mistletoes found in Borneo Island, namely Scurrula ferruginea , Macrosolen cochinchinensis , and Dendrophthoe curvata . The traditional and pharmacological uses of these mistletoes include antibacterial, anticancer, antiviral, antihypertensive, antioxidative, and cytotoxic effects. Phytochemicals such as flavonols, alkaloids, tannins, and gallic acid have been reported in one of these mistletoes...

The treatment based on plant or plant derivatives is a promising strategy in the killing of cancers cells. Moreover, wide-ranging finding has established that medicinal plant and its ingredient modulate several cells signaling pathways or inhibiting the carcinogenesis process. In this vista, pomegranates fruits, seeds and peels illustrate cancer preventive role seems to be due to rich source of antioxidant and other valuable ingredients. Furthermore, anti-tumour activities of pomegranates have been evidences through the modulation of cell signaling pathways including transcription factor, apoptosis and angiogenesis...

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic hyperglycemic condition with deleterious effects on microcirculation, resulting in diabetic complications. Chronic hyperglycemia induces the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are the key pathological triggers in the development of diabetic complications. ROS are responsible for the activation of various pathways involved in the genesis of diabetic complications, mitochondrial dysfunction, as well as insulin resistance. The review describes normal mitochondrial physiology and abnormal alterations, which occur in response to hyperglycemia...

The emergence and rapid development of seriously drug-resistant pathogens have created the greatest danger to public health and made the treatment of infectious diseases ineffective; to control the antibiotic-resistant microbes, the discovery of new effective antibacterials with new mechanisms of action against bacteria remains an urgent task to control the bacterial resistance. The paucity of infections in wild plants supports the role of innate defense system of plants. Many researchers nominate the natural extracts to act against bacterial resistance mechanisms, and the majority of them have now been focused on the combination of plant extracts and antibiotics to define the availability of resistance modification agents...

Candida is a serious life-threatening pathogen, particularly with immunocompromised patients. Candida infections are considered as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in a broad range of immunocompromised patients. Candida infections are common in hospitalized patients and elderly people. The difficulty to eradicate Candida infections is owing to its unique switch between yeast and hyphae forms and more likely to biofilm formations that render resistance to antifungal therapy. Plants are known sources of natural medicines...

The view that food can have an expanded role that goes well beyond providing a source of nutrients truly applies to traditional functional foods. The systematic consumption of such traditional functional food provides an excellent preventive measure to ward off many diseases. Rasam , a soup of spices, is a traditional South Indian food. It is traditionally prepared using tamarind juice as a base, with the addition of Indian sesame oil, turmeric, tomato, chili pepper, pepper, garlic, cumin, curry leaves, mustard, coriander, asafoetida, sea salt, and water...

The discovery of penicillin nearly 90 years ago revolutionized the treatment of bacterial disease. Since that time, numerous other antibiotics have been discovered from bacteria and fungi, or developed by chemical synthesis and have become effective chemotherapeutic options. However, the misuse of antibiotics has lessened the efficacy of many commonly used antibiotics. The emergence of resistant strains of bacteria has seriously limited our ability to treat bacterial illness, and new antibiotics are desperately needed...

The rural population in India faces a number of health problems and often has to rely on local remedies. Psidium guajava Linn. (guava), a tropical plant which is used as food and medicine can be used by rural communities due to its several medicinal properties. A literature search was undertaken to gauge the rural health scenario in India and compile the available literature on guava so as to reflect its usage in the treatment of multiple health conditions prevalent in rural communities. Towards this, electronic databases such as Pubmed, Science Direct, google scholar were scanned...

Operculina turpethum (Linn.) (OT) Silva Manso belongs to the family Convolvulaceae . This review incorporates literature for the phytochemical and pharmacological profile of OT herb. Exhaustive literature survey was done using all the details on phytochemistry and pharmacology of OT available. This herb was found to be a potent source of bioactive compounds such as α- and β-turpethein, turpethinic acids (A, B, C, D, and E), coumarins, cycloartenol, lanosta-5-ene, 24-methylene-δ-5-lanosterol, α- and β-rhamnose, β-sitosterol, lupeol, scopoletin, betulin, acrylamide, stigma-5,22dien-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, β-sitosterol-β-D-glucoside (H-1), 22,23-dihydro-α-spinosterol-β-D-glucoside (H-2), and salicylic acid (CH-2), which are useful in fevers, edema, ascites, anorexia, constipation, hepatosplenomegaly, hemorrhoids, cervical lymphadenitis, fistulas, constipation, chronic gout, fever, bronchitis, ulcers, hemorrhoids, tumors, obesity, jaundice, herpes, induce lacrimation, and other skin disorders...

In recent years, the use of medicinal plants increased considerably; so that today, the use of traditional medicine, as well as medicinal plants is necessary for the aim of producing more effective drugs with fewer side effects and determining the effective doses. With the scientific name of Juglans regia , walnut plant is a medicinal plant with different properties that is considered less, despite having great therapeutic potential in the traditional medicine. The aim of this study was to review the dispersal of walnut plants, the chemical compounds, and therapeutic effects of walnuts on antioxidant activity, antidiabetic, hypolipidemic, antimicrobial, and antihypertensive activities, as well as liver protection...

Holarrhena antidysenterica (L.) Wall. ex A. DC. is a medicinal plant abundantly found in India. Its uses are mentioned in the classical Ayurvedic literature and by many folklore claims. The plant is also of extreme economic importance. Its seeds are mainly used as an antidiabetic remedy. All pharmacological and toxicological aspects of this plant are discussed in this review.

Sudan folklore medicine is characterized by a unique combination of Islamic, Arabic, and African cultures. In poor communities, traditional medicine has remained as the most reasonable source of treatment of several diseases and microbial infections. Although the traditional medicine is accepted in Sudan, to date there is no updated review available, which focuses on most effective and frequently used Sudanese medicinal plants. Thus, this review aims to summarize the published information on the ethnobotanical uses of medicinal plants from Sudan, preparation methods, phytochemistry, and ethnopharmacology...

The rhizomes of Alpinia officinarum Hance have been used conventionally for the treatment of various ailments, triggering a wide interest from the scientific research community on this ethnomedicinal plant. This review summarizes the phytochemical and pharmacological properties of the extracts and fractions from A. officinarum , a plant species of the Zingiberaceae family. Different parts of the plant - leaves, roots, rhizomes, and aerial parts - have been extracted in various solvents - methanol, ethanol, ethyl acetate, hexane, dichloromethane, aqueous, chloroform, and petroleum ether, using various techniques - Soxhlet extraction, maceration, ultrasonication, and soaking, whereas fractionation of the plant extracts involves the solvent-solvent partition method...

Pisum sativum (Family: Fabaceae), as known as green pea or garden pea, has long been important in diet due to its content of fiber, protein, starch, trace elements, and many phytochemical substances. It has been shown to possess antibacterial, antidiabetic, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antihypercholesterolemia, and antioxidant activities and also shown anticancer property. Its nonnutritive biologically active components include alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, isoflavones, phenols, phytosterols, phytic acid, protease inhibitors, saponins, and tannins...

Chromolaena odorata (Family: Asteraceae ) synonyms as Eupatorium odoratum is a traditional medicinal plant that is widely used for its wound healing property. In particular, the several parts of this herb have been used to treat wounds, burns, and skin infections. Furthermore, it has also been shown to possess anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-hepatotoxic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties. Its phytochemical components are alkaloids, flavonoids, flavanone, essential oils, phenolics, saponins, tannins, and terpenoids...

Momordica charantia (Family: Cucurbitales ), as known as bitter melon or gourd, is a daily consumption as food and traditional medicinal plant in Southeast Asia and Indo-China. It has been shown to possess anticancer, antidepressant, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiobesity, antioxidant, and antiulcer properties. Its common phytochemical components include alkaloids, charantin, flavonoids, glycosides, phenolics, tannins, and terpenoids. This plant is rich in various saponins including momordicin, momordin, momordicoside, karavilagenin, karaviloside, and kuguacin, all of which have been reported to contribute to its remedial properties including antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antiparasitic infections...

Boesenbergia rotunda (Family: Zingiberaceae ) as known as fingerroot is a daily food ingredient and traditional medicinal plant in Southeast Asia and Indo-China. It has been shown to possess anti-allergic, antibacterial, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiulcer activities and also shown wound healing. Its common phytochemical components include alkaloids, essential oils, flavonoids, and phenolics. This plant is rich in boesenbergin, krachaizin, panduratin, and pinostrobin, all of which has been reported to contribute to its remedial properties including aphrodisiac property...

The capsaicin is an ingredient that we normally mix in food in many cultural cuisines even in fresh and dried production. Because of its anticancer, anticholesterolemic, antidiabetic, antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties, capsaicin is used worldwide. Moreover, capsaicin is also used for the protection of cardiovascular and hepatic diseases. The electronic databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect were searched since 2000 to present for antiobesity term...

Bougainvillea spectabilis (Family: Nyctaginaceae), commonly referred to as Great Bougainvillea or Paper Flower, is one of the traditional medicinal plants with potential antifertility activity. The aqueous extract and decoction of this plant have been used as fertility control among the tribal people in many countries. Furthermore, it has been shown to possess anticancer, antidiabetic, antihepatotoxic, anti-inflammatory, antihyperlipidemic, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and antiulcer properties. Its phytoconstituents such as alkaloids, essential oils, flavonoids, glycosides, oxalates, phenolics, phlobotannins, quinones, saponins, tannins, and terpenoids were reported as the basis of its efficacious therapeutic properties...

Apium graveolens Linn. (Karafs) is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of the various ailments. There is a need to explore and authenticate the pharmacological profile and medicinal importance of the Karafs. In this paper, the literature and the published work on Apium were collected using online resources "Google scholar", "Web of science", "Scopus" and "PubMed". Each of the pharmacological activity was searched individually using the keywords "Apium/Karafs/Apium graveolens + individual pharmacological activity"...