Mirabilis jalapa: A review of ethno and pharmacological activities

Abstract

Plants have been used for thousands of years to treat, prevent, and control a variety of diseases throughout the world. The initial benefits of using plant-derived medicine are that they are relatively safer than artificial alternatives. Mirabilis jalapa Linn. (Nyctaginaceae) is one of the plants that used for health care and medicinal purposes for several thousands of years. It is a perennial bushy herb promulgate by flowers or leaves, a native of America and commonly known as ‘four-o-clock’. It has traditionally been used in the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, muscle pain, abdominal colic, and diarrhea in ancient Mexico, Japan, China and Brazil. The literature review revealed that M. jalapa is widely used as anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-diabetic, cytotoxic, antinociceptive, and several other’s medicines. In aerial parts of the M. jalapa, triterpene and flavonoids are found. Flowers mostly contain anthocyanins and flavonoids. Carbohydrate, resin and alkaloids are found in roots. Tricosan-12-one, n-hexacosanal, β-sitosterol, and tetracosanoic were isolated from the leaves of the M. jalapa. Seeds contain β-sitosterol, β-amyrin and β-sitosterol-D-glucoside. The presence of various bioactive compounds validates the whole plant for different medicinal practitioners. It has been extensively used in almost all folklore remedies worldwide for treating a variety of conditions. It has also been used for reducing agents for the production of gold nanoparticles. The purpose of my review is to find out the areas of scope and to give the detail of the work done on M. jalapa Linn. The present review article focused on ethno-pharmacological and other essential aspects of M. jalapa Linn in an attempt to provide a direction to further research.

Keywords: Mirabilis jalapa Linn, ethno-pharmacological, biological activity, chemical constituents.

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