Abstract

HOMALIUM ZEYLANICUM BENTH: AN ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL REVIEW

Tekuri Manoj Kumar, Krishna KL*, Ramesh B. Nidavani

Abstract

Plant Homalium zeylanicum Benth. (H. zeylanicum) belongs to Flacourtiaceae, of habitat evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, native to South India and Srilanka. The various parts of plant including, bark and leaf having many traditional uses, mainly in diabetes, rheumatism and wound healing. A variety of phytoconstituents are identified and isolated from the H. zeylanicum which includes mainly, homalicine, dihydrohomalicine, vacciniin, homaloside A, homaloside D, (–) 5'- methoxyisolariciresinol-3α-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, (+) lyoniresinol- 3α-O-β-D -glucopyranoside, (+) isolarisiresinol-3α-O-β-D - glucopyranoside, (–) isolarisiresinol-3α-O-β-D -glucopyranoside, icariside E5, 3-phenylisocoumarin, friedelin, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, catechol, methyl-α-arabinofuranoside, and uridine. Anthelimintic, anti-diabetic, antidyslipidemic and hepatoprotective activities are reported by various extracts of H. zeylanicum. An overview and details of the ethnobotanical, phytochemical and pharmacological investigations of H. zeylanicum is presented in this review.

Keywords: Homalium, zeylanicum, ethnomedicinal, bioactive, homalicine.