AIM OF THE REVIEW: The present review aims to compile an up-to-date review of the progress made in the continuous pharmacological and phytochemistry investigation of K. africana and the corresponding commercial and pharmaceutical application of these findings with the ultimate objective of providing a guide for future research on this plant.
METHOD: The scholarly information needed for this paper were predominantly sourced from the electronic search engines such as Google, Google scholar; publishing sites such as Elsevier, scienceDirect, BMC, PubMed; other scientific database sites for chemicals such as ChemSpider, PubChem, and also from online books.
RESULTS: Pharmacological investigations conducted confirm the anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant and anticancer activity of the extract of different parts of the plant. Bioactive constituents are found to be present in all parts of the plant. So far, approximately 150 compounds have been characterized from different part of the plant. Iridoids, naphthoquinones, flavonoids, terpenes and phenylethanoglycosides are the major class of compounds isolated. Novel compounds with potent antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer effect such as verbascoside, verminoside and pinnatal among others, have been identified. Commercial trade of K. africana has boosted in the las few decades. Its effect in the maintenance of skin has been recognized resulting in a handful of skin formulations in the market.
CONCLUSIONS: The pharmaceutical potentials of K. africana has been recognized and have witness a surge in research interest. However, till date, many of its traditional medicinal uses has not been investigated scientifically. Further probing of the existential researches on its pharmacological activity is recommended with the end-goal of unravelling the pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, clinical relevance and possible toxicity and side effects of both the extract and the active ingredients isolated.
AIMS: To provide an up-to-date, authoritative review with respect to the traditional uses, chemical composition, in vitro and in vivo pharmacological properties, and toxicological estimations accomplished either utilizing the crude extracts or, wherever applicable, the bioactive compounds isolated from B. glabra. Besides, a critical evaluation of the published literature has been undertaken with regards to the current biochemical and toxicological data.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Key databases per se, Ovid, Pubmed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Google scholar amongst others were probed for a systematic search using keywords to retrieve relevant publications on this plant. A total of 52 articles were included for the review depending on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.
RESULTS: The studies conducted on either crude extracts, solvent fractions or isolated pure compounds from B. glabra had reported a varied range of biological effects comprising antibacterial, antifungal, antidiabetic, cytotoxic, analgesic, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities. Phytochemical analysis of different parts of B. glabra unveiled 105 phytochemicals, belonging to phenolic, flavonoid, betacyanin, terpenoid, glycoside and essential oils classes of secondary metabolites.
CONCLUSION: Most of the pharmacological activities of crude extracts from this plant have been reported. A very few studies have reported the isolation of compounds responsible for observed biological potential of this plant. Moreover, the toxicity studies of this plant still need to be explored comprehensively to ensure its safety parameters. Additional investigations are recommended to transmute the ethnopharmacological claims of this plant species in folklore medicines into scientific rationale-based information.
KEY FINDINGS: The phytochemical investigations of Ferulago species revealed the presence of coumarins as the main bioactive compounds, including daucane derivatives, sesquiterpenes aryl esters, phenol derivatives, flavonoids and essential oils. Moreover, the therapeutic potentials of the pure compounds isolated from the genus Ferulago possess promising properties namely anticholinesterase, antimicrobial, anticoagulant, antileishmanial, antioxidant, antibacterial and antiproliferative.
SUMMARY: Today, significant advances in phytochemical and biological activity studies of different Ferulago species have been revealed. The traditional uses and reported biological results could be correlated via the chemical characterization of these plants. All these data will support the biologists in the elucidation of the biological mechanisms of these plants.