Abstract

AN ETHNOMEDICAL, PHARMACOLOGICAL AND PHYTOCHEMICAL REVIEW OF AMMANNIA BACCIFERA L.

Vasudevan Poornima, Manoharan Sharanya and Muthusamy Jeyam*

Abstract

Ammannia baccifera L. is commonly used in traditional medicine in India and China to raise blisters in rheumatism and in the treatment of scabies, ringworm, parasitic skin infections, common cold, typhoid, strangury, spinal disease, gastroenteropathy and aphrodisiac. The present review covers all the available information on Ammannia baccifera from scientific journals, books, thesis, reports and conference proceedings via academic libraries and electronic search databases accepted worldwide (Pubmed, Pubmed central, Tropicos, Google scholar, Scopus, Internet archive and Thieme). These sources were scrutinized and evaluated about its botany, traditional uses, biological aspects, chemical constituents and pharmacological relevance. The in vivo studies of extracts from Ammannia baccifera showed antitumor, antiinflammatory, antiarthritic, antianalgesic, antipyretic, antidiuretic, and wound healing pharmacological activities which can be attributed to the presence of flavonoids, tannins, polyphenols, triterpenes and sterols. The plant was evaluated and validated for the traditional medicinal activity against microorganisms and antimalarial properties using in vitro studies. Tetrolane derivatives were found to have antitubercular activity and high toxicity against brine shrimp.

Keywords: Ammannia baccifera, Phytocompounds, Pharmacology, Ethnomedical.