Abstract

WEDELIA CHINENSIS (ASTERACEAE)- AN OVERVIEW OF A POTENT MEDICINAL HERB

Bano Shamama*, Mazumder Avijit and Das Saumya

Abstract

The plant Wedelia chinensis (W. chinensis) belonging to family Asteraceae has great importance in Ayurvedic, Sidhha and Unani Systems of Traditional Medicine. in the present study an important medicinal herb Wedelia chinensis was investigated for qualitative and quantitative phytochemical screening using standard methods. Preliminary phytochemical screening of various extracts of the leaves revealed the presence of various classes of compounds such as alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins and phenols. Wedelia chinensis is one of the medicinal plants having great potency in treating certain common diseases traditionally. In view of identifying its active components responsible for its medicinal value, attempt is made for the quantitative analysis of phytochemicals by GC – MS spectoscopy. Various pharmacological activities were found in W. chinensis such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, sedative, antistress, antiulcerogenic, anticancer, antibacterial, antifungal, anticonvulsant, hepatoprotective and androgen suppressing activities

Keywords: Wedelia chinensis, Hepatoprotective, Traditional Medicine, antidiarroheal, antifungal.