Volume No : (2022) Volume: 10 Issue : 46 Year : 2022 Page No: 1
Authors : Roobal Chaudhary
Abstract :
Herbal therapies are the oldesttype of medicine in the world and recent studies indicate that these herbalremedies are very popular, particularly in underdeveloped countries, where theuse of modern and expensive medicinal system is lacking. In the earliermedicinal system of some countries, Alstonia scholaris belonging to family:Apocynaceae and is an important medicinal plant. The common name of A.scholaris is Saptaparna and devil’s tree. The plant is used in alternativemedicinal systems of Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha. In India, the therapeutic useof A. scholaris has been described in both codified and non-codified drugsystems for the treatment of malaria, jaundice, gastrointestinal troubles,cancer, and in many other ailments. Pre-clinical studies have shown that itpossesses antimicrobial, antidiarrheal, anti-plasmodial, antioxidant,anti-inflammatory hepatoprotective, nootropic, anti-stress, anti-fertility, immunomodulatory,analgesic, anti-ulcer, wound healing, anti-cancer, chemopreventive, radiation protection,radiation sensitization, and chemosensitization activities. Through qualitativeanalysis, A. scholaris is reported to contain numerous phytoconstituents suchas alkaloids, flavonoids, iridoids, saponins, tannins, and steroids; some ofthem are erythrodiol, uvaol, and betulin; oleanolic acid and ursolic; β-amyrinacetate and α-amyrin acetate; β-sitosterol and stigmasterol squalene;β-sitosteryl- 3β-glucopyranoside-6’-O-fatty acid esters; and chlorophyll, etc.Three new indole alkaloids, nareline ethyl ether, 5-epi-nareline ethyl ether,and scholarine-N (4)-oxide, in addition to nareline methyl ether, picrinine,and scholaricine were isolated from the leaf extract of A. scholaris.Thepresent study summarizes various ethnopharmacological and common uses along withthe report on phytochemical and pharmacology of A. scholaris which can behelpful to the researchers in nearby future.
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