CHENOPODIUM ALBUM L.- ETHNOBOTANY, PHYTOCHEMISTRY AND PHARMACOLOGY
B. Ramya Sree
Department of Biotechnology, Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College, Tirupati
Jyothi M. Joy
Department of Pharmacognosy, Sree Vidyanikethan College of Pharmacy, Tirupati
This review includes a detailed description of the morphology, ethnobotany, phytochemistry and pharmacology of Chenopodium album with a view of exploring the immense medicinal potential of this plant. C. album, commonly known as bacon-weed, is an annual herb of the family Chenopodiaceae. It is widely distributed throughout the world. It occupies an important place not only in the traditional system of medicine but also in modern medicine. It is evident from literature that the plant has been investigated phytochemically and has marked pharmacological potential. Various electronic databases such as Science Direct, Pubmed, Google scholar and Scopus and standard books were used to explore the traditional as well as scientific studies on C. album. C. album is a rich source of nutritional elements such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fibre, minerals etc. Main active constituents of the plant are phenolics, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, carotenoids, alkaloids and ecdysteroids. Many pharmacological activities viz., antioxidant, anthelmintic, antifungal, anticancer, antiulcer, aphordiasic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective etc. have been reported in different plant extracts. C. album is an important medicinal herb that serves as a good source of vital phytopharmaceuticals which may be utilised therapeutically and act as lead molecules for synthesis of novel agents. Hence characterization of bioactive phytopharmaceuticals, elucidation of mechanism of action of isolated compounds and clinical trials of the compounds are the avenues for future research on this valuable traditionally used herb.
5 , 4 , 2015
267 - 277