CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
In the present review of literature, attempts have been made to discuss the work of earlier
workers on these aspects.
Medicinal Plants Scenario
Lozoya (1994) reported that nearly 95% of the plants used traditionally as ingredients in
crude drugs are collected from forests and other natural sources.
Khare (2007) has made an effort in his book about the rationalising the therapeutic
coverage of Indian medicinal plants.
Rawal et al., (2009) reported that based on plant species having more active biochemical
compounds which are curing numerous diseases, possesses commercial and economic value as
high valued medicinal plants.
Ankita Kataky and Handique (2010) stated that the high valued medicinal plants are
those with wide biological activities, higher safety of margin than the synthetic drugs, lesser cost
and pharmaceutical application or food supplements or food preservation in order to promote
growth of the live stock and to increase the nutritional value of different foods and diet.
SreeLatha Devi and Basha (2012) made Comparative amino acid profiling of
Pterocarpus santalinus and Boswellia ovalifoliolata barks.
Tsai et al.,(2012) documented a systematic literature review on evaluation of
documented drug interactions and contraindications associated with herbs and dietary
supplements.
Mahesh et al.,(2013) proved that Boswellia ovalifoliolata Bark and Leaf attenuates Doxorubicin-
induced Cardiotoxicity in Mice
Subramoniam (2014) documented the present scenario, challenges and future
perspectives in plant based medicine development and opined that biotechnological
intervention) and development of commercially successful plant based healthcare
products will substantially contribute towards multidimensional Socioeconomic progress.
27
Savithramma et al.,(2014 a,b,c) made histochemical studies, Isolated and identified some
phenolic compounds from Boswellia ovalifoliolata and proved that these compounds have
radical scavenger activity. Evaluation of biologically synthesized silver nanoparticles from gum
extract of Boswellia ovalifoliolata were done by these research team.
Lateef et al., (2008) created a database named Database on Endemic plants of Tirumala
Hills (DEPTH) in an attempt to communicate data of endemic plants of Tirumala hills
(Boswellia, ovalifoliolata, Cycas beddomei, Pimpinella tirupatiensis, Pterocarpus santalinus,
Shorea thumbuggaia, Syzygium alternifolium,Terminalia pallida) to the scientific community in
which data on scientific name, vernacular name, family name, morphological description,
economic importance, known medicinal compounds and medicinal importance are provided.
Yugandhar and Savithramma (2015 a & b) developed a fast, eco-friendly and cost
effective green method for synthesis of stable silver nanoparticles (SNPs) from aqueous leaf
extract and stem barks of Syzygium alternifolium and an endemic medicinal plant to Southern
Eastern Ghats and these nanoparticles are characterized by using UV-VIS spectroscopy, FTIR,
XRD, AFM, SEM with EDAX and TEM which proved to be potent antibacterial agent.
In a survey made by Atanasov et al.,(2015), a brief outline of historical development is
provided together with a comprehensive overview of used approaches and recent developments
relevant to plant-derived natural product drug discovery and critically discussed the associated
challenges and major strengths of natural product-based drug discovery.
Pradhan (2015) reviewed and summarized the current trends on plant based medicines in
the present scenario.
Ethnomedicobotanical studies in India
Majumdar (1927) made a scrutiny of literature on Indian medicinal plants.
Janaki Ammal (1954) worked on ethnobotanical findings in the tribal areas of North
Eastern states, the Western Ghats and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Jain (1963) recorded the tribal medicinal plants of Madhya Pradesh. He also reported
(1965) on 101 medicinal plants used by various tribes in Bastar area. Later Yoganarasimhan and
Dutta (1970) worked on medicinal plants of Orissa.
28
Jain et al., (1973) investigated the medicinal and wild edible plants used by various tribes
in Andhra Pradesh.
Raghunadhan (1976 a,b,c) reported some medicinal and economic plants used by the
tribes of Nilgiris, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Ladakh region.
Janaki Ammal and William Jabhadas (1978) enumerated 60 plants used by Kanikaras of
Southern India. Studies on ethnomedicinal plants of Rattan Mahal hills of Gujarath have been
described by Bedi (1978).
Maheswari et al., (1980) studied the medicinal uses of 62 plant species used by Tharu
tribes in Uttar Pradesh.
Jain (1981a) compiled a book on Glimpses of Indian ethnobotany, which deals with
medicinal properties of plants used by various communities.
Hemadri (1981) studied on the use of medicinal plants in effective treatment of
rheumatism from Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Orisssa.
Rao (1981) reported the commonly used plants with their vernacular names by tribals in
Meghalaya. Shah et al., (1981a,b) reported the traditional uses of 133 plants from Gujarat.
Ramachandran and Nair (1981) enumerated 138 medicinal plants used by Irula tribes in
Tamilnadu. Oomoachan and Khan (1981) reported the anti-fertility drug plants of Madhya Pradesh.
The use of plants by Soara tribes in Orissa as oral contraceptives was described by Prem Kishore et
al., (1982).
The medico-ethnobotanical importance of 143 species along with their details on locality,
vernacular names and chemical constituents were reported by Yoganarisamhan
et al., (1982) from Turnkur district of Karnataka.
Chandra and Pandey (1983) described ethno-medicobotanical studies of 137 plants of
Uttara Kashi area of Uttar Pradesh. Kumar and Niteswar (1983) reported some folklore claims of
Addateegala in Andhra Pradesh.
Yoganarasimhan et al., (1984) described the medicinal properties of 210 species in the
Andaman and Nicobar islands.
29
The ethno-medicobotanical investigation on 79 plant species was described by
Pushpangadan and Atal (1984) from tribals of Western Ghats in Kerala.
Yoganarasimhan et al., (1985) described the Ayurvedic therapeutic properties, a few
selected preparation and their use in some diseases of 50 plants from Mysore.
Vasudevan Nair et al., (1986) worked on 33 plant drugs with their chemical constituents
and therapeutic properties from Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Das and Misra (1987) enumerated 20 species from Deomali area of Koraput district.
Nayak et al., (1988) enumerated 18 medicinal plants and their pharmacological and
therapeutic properties from South Kanara flora. Ethno-medicobotany of Coimbatore and Palghat
districts were carried out by Sankaranarayanan (1988).
Ved Prakash and Mehrothra (1988) presented the household remedies for the treatment of
various ailments like chronic fever, whooping-cough and carbuncle found in Kanpur district of
Uttar Pradesh. Varma et al., (1998) reported ethonobotanical spectrum of Santhal Pargma tribes and
their cultural traits. Rawat et al., (1998) worked on the ethonomedicobotany on Nishi and Apatani
tribes of Arunachala Pradesh. Singh and Pandey (1998) worked on ethnobotany and discussed
the plants is folk songs, proverbs, auspicious and inauspicious plants in detailed from Rajasthan.
Cooper et al., (1996) reported that there are at least 3000 edible plant species known to
man, with merely 30 crops contributing to more than 90% of the world’s calorie intake and only
120 crops are economically important on a national scale. According to Arora and Pandey (1996)
there are 1532 edible wild food species in India mostly from Western Ghats and Himalayan region.
Ethnobotanical studies of aborigines of Andaman and Nicobar Islands were discussed
and described by Dadgar & Dagar (1999). Studies on medicinal uses of 36 species belonging to 35
genera from Nagaland have been described by Jamir et al., (1999).
Ali (1999) enlisted 45 medicinal plants used in veterinary medicine from Moradabad district
of Uttar Pradesh.
Changkija (1999) concluded that much of the traditional medicine today, based on the
Ayurveda, Unani, She Nung and Shi Zenli system, has its discoveries.
30
According to Kala (2003) tribal people generally recorded their experiences and history
with medicine in oral traditions from one generation to the next because of illiteracy among
them.
Singh and Kumar (2000) described plants used by Gaddi tribes as food, medicine, fibre,
oil, gum and resin from the Western Himalayas. A common medicinal plants of India by
Brahmananda (2000) is the book dealing with medicinal plants and it was complete guide on
home remedies.
Sood et al., (2001) reported the ethnomedicinal uses of plants of cold desert tribes of
Lahoul-Spiti in North-West Himalayas. Rajiv Krishna and Shweta Sinha (2001) described
traditional herbal medicines on the future Materia Medica of the civilization.
Fourty five medicinal plants used by the Kunabi tribe in the preparation of herbal
remedies and recipes were enumerated by Harsha et al., (2002). Singh et al., (2002) worked on
medicinal plants of Manipur and he described 375 traditional herbal plants used by different
people in the state.
According to Pal (2002) a new system known as comparative and alternative medicine
(CAM) has emerged and a lot of weightage is being given to the traditional medicine systems to
the world. Stein (2004) also concluded that alternative remedies were gaining popularity.
Ashraf (2000) and Nalawade et al., (2003) suggested that medicinal plants are sources of
important therapeutic aid for alleviating human ailments. With increasing realization of the
health hazards and toxicity associated with the indiscriminate use of synthetic drugs and
antibiotics, interest in the use of plants and plant-based drugs has revived throughout the world.
Chaudhari et al., (2002) studied the ethnomedicobotanical information on some plants used
by Melghat tribes of Amaravati district of Maharashtra.
Savithramma (2003) reported that floristically Eastern Ghats region being very rich with
more than 2000 species known so far of flowering plants which constitute about 13% of the flora
of India. Tiwari and Yadav (2003) made ethnobotanical investigations in Naouradehi wildlife
sanctuary of Madhya Pradesh. Dixit and Kumar (2003) studied the plants used by local people in
human welfare.
31
Deokule and Mokat (2004) surveyed the ethnomedico-botany of Ratnagiri district of
Maharashtra.
Kala (2005) reported that in India the ethnobotanical practices are seen throughout the
country and so far about 8000 species of angiosperms, 44 species of gymnosperms and 600 species
of pteridophytes have been reported in the Indian Himalaya, of these 1748 species are known as
medicinal plants.
Gupta et al., (2005) gave ethnobotanical importance of common aquatic and marshy plants
of Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh. Dubey (2005) conducted ethnobotanical studies of Bilaspur
district. Dutta and Dutta (2005) overviewed ethnobotanical studies in North East Asia.
Deokule and Avchar (2006) studied ethnomedicinal plants of Baramati region of Pune
district. Saikia (2006) studied the ethnomedicinal plants from Gohpur of Sonitpur district of
Assam. Das et al., (2006) studied medicinal plants of North Kamrup district of Assam used in
primary healthcare system.
Anzar et al., (2007) studied ethnomedicinal plant species of Kashmir Himalaya. Survase
(2007) studied some medicinal plants in Marathwada region.
Shrivastav and Tripathi (2008) carried out studies on traditional uses of Calotropis procera
(Ait.) [Link].
Dalvi et al., (2008b) carried out ethnomedicinal studies of some rare plants used in local Unani
system of Nanded district of Maharashtra. Jagtap et al., (2008a) studied ethnobotanical uses of
endemic and RET plants by Pawra tribe of Nandurbar district, Maharashtra.
Jagtap et al., (2008b) studied ethnomedicobotanical uses of endemic and RET plants
utilized by the Korku tribe of Amravati district, Maharashtra. Dalvi et al., (2008b) also reported
morpho-taxonomic and ethnomedicinal properties of some rare plant species of Mahur hills of Nanded
district.
Saikia et al.,(2010) studied the medico-ethobotany of Bodo tribals in Gohpur of Sonitpur
district, Assam.
In India for dog bite, snake bite and jaundice most of the people depend on herbal
medicines. Bhamare (1998) worked on traditional knowledge of plants for skin ailments of Dhule
and Nandurbar districts, Maharashtra (India).
32
Deokule et al.,(2000) carried out pharmacognostic studies on Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr.
Valentin, et al., (2000) studied antiplasmodial activity of plant extracts used in West African
traditional medicine.
Deokule and Kabnoorkar (2003) studied biodeterioratio of drug ‘Punarnava’ (Boerhavia
diffusa L.) under influence of different relative humidity. Harsha et al., (2003) worked on
ethnomedicobotany of Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka, India. Katewa (2003) studied the
contribution of some wild food plants from forestry to the diet of tribals of Southern Rajasthan. He
observed that the traditional knowledge on wild food plants is on sharp decline. Rawat et al., in
2005 studied some wild plants used as substituting food by tribals of Noradehi Wildlife Sanctuary,
Sagar (M.P.) He also reported that the aboriginals inhabiting the forests are consuming a number of
wild plants which are unknown and necessible to the urban elite.
Kumar et al.,(2004) studied anticancer and immunostimulatory compounds from
Andrographis paniculata (Burm.f.) Wall. ex Nees in Wall. Chander et al., (2004) studied
antidyslipidemic and antioxidant activities of different fractions of Terminalia arjuna (Roxb. ex DC.) Wt.
& Arn. stem bark. Nayak et al.,(2004) carried out the ethnomedico-botanical survey of Kalahandi
district of Orissa. Tirkey et al., (2004) studied medicinal plants used in the treatment of indigestion
in Raigarh district of Chhattishgarh.
Balakrishnan et al.,(2005) reported medicinal plants used for abortion by Irulas of
Coimbatore district. Dharmani et al., (2004, 2006) reported some plants for their anti-ulcer
properties. Rathor and Kagne (2005) worked on bio-prospecting of some traditional medicinal
plants as antifungals against skin infections. Verma and Baksh (2005) studied some solutions of
broncho-dilatory problems through plants.
Mukharjee and Wahil (2006) studied the integrated approaches towards drug development
from Ayurveda and other systems of medicine. Dwivedi et al., (2006) reported the medicinal plants
used for gastrointestinal diseases and disorders. Verma and Chauhan (2006) carried out studies in
ethno-medico-botany of Kunihar forest division of Himachal Pradesh. Uniyal et al.,(2006) studied the
traditional use of medicinal plants among the tribal communities of Chhota Bhangal in Western
Himalaya. Govindrajan et al.,(2006) studied antiulcer and antimicrobial activity of Anogeissus
latifolia (Roxb. ex DC.) Wall. ex Guill. & Perr. Kumari (2006) worked on etiology and healing
practices in primitive societies of Jharkhand. Ushanandini et al.,(2006) showed the anti-snake
33
venom properties of Tamarindus indica L. seed extract. Dharmani and Palit (2006) highlighted
some of the important plants reported for their ulcer healing properties.
Tripathi et al., (2007) studied the medicinal plants of Northern hill region of Chhattisgarh
and their uses. Sidhu and Kaur (2007) emphasized maternal health care through medicinal plants.
Deepthi et al., (2007) studied the effects of plants extracts and acetone precipitated proteins from six
medicinal plants against virus infection.
Kamble et al.,(2008) studied plants used by the tribes of Northwest Maharashtra for the
treatment of gastrointestinal disorder. Badgujar and Patil (2008) reported ethnomedicine for jaundice
from tribal areas in North Maharashtra. Badgujar et al.,(2008) also reported on traditional practice
of oral health care in Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, India. Mahapatra and Sahoo (2008) carried
out an ethno-medico-botanical study of Bolangir, Orissa, India for native plant remedies against
gynaecological diseases. Goel et al.,(2008) studied ethnobotanical heritage on traditional drug
practices relating to diabetes in Magadh region (Bihar). Singh and Brij Lal (2008) studied
ethnomedicines used against four common ailments by the tribal communities of Lahul-Spiti in
Western Himalaya. Bhalla and Bhalla (2008) carried out anti-inflammatory study of two
ethnomedicinal herbal plant species of Central India. Sajem et al., (2008) worked on traditional tribal
knowledge and status of some rare and endemic medicinal plants of North Cachar hills of Assam.
According to Huma et al., (2009) the world’s worst weed plant, Echhornia crassipes (Mart.)
Solms.-Lauh. as the safe cancer medicine. Patil (2009) described plants used in rheumatism by
tribal people of Nandurbar. Patil and Suran (2009) studied gastroprotective effect of Eranthemum
roseum (Vahl.) R. Br. root extracts. Saxena (2009) during the course of medico-ethnobotanical survey
of Banda district (U.P.), found some Lodhas treating the bone fractures with herbs. Chopda and
Mahajan (2009) described the wound healing activity of Terminalia arjuna stem bark in albino
rats.
Ramnath and Kalaichelvan (2009) studied the local anesthetic activity of Calotropis
gigantea (L.) R. Br. in frog.
Khyade et al., (2010) gave ethnobotanical reports about few important diseases from Akole
Tehasil of Ahmednagar of Maharashtra. Rout et al., (2010) reported the traditional medicinal
knowledge of the Zeme (Naga) tribe of North Cachar hills district of Assam, on the treatment of
diarrheoa.
34
Pant and Pant (2011) studied the status and conservation management strategies for
threatened plants of Jammu and Kashmir. Dash and Murthy in 2011 reported status of wound
healing activity of Helitropium indicum L. leaves on rats. Sandeep et al., (2011) described Aegle
marmelos (L.) Correa, a potential source of phytomedicine.
Pundir and Singh (2002) studied ethnobotanical wild food plants of Jaunsar Bawar
(Western Himalaya), Uttranchal. Perumal et al., (2008) carried out ethnobotanical survey of folk
plants for the treatment of snake bites in Southern part of Tamilnadu.
Sivaraj et al.,(2017) reviewed the Ethnic Medicinal Plant Wealth of Eastern Ghats and
Status, Knowledge Systems, Conservation and suitable management strategies proposed for the
conservation of folklore medicinal plant species
Research carried out by Dey et al.,(2017) investigated Sixty five traditional medicine
men reported 47 traditional formulations involving 58 plant species and 17 animal species used
against 13 neurological and psychological disorders and as pro-cognitives in the Chota Nagpur
Plateau, India.
Ethnomedicobotanical studies in Andhra Pradesh
Hemadri and Rao (1984) explored medicinal plants used in the treatment of jaundice by the
tribals of Dandakaranya.
Twenty one medicinal plants commonly used by the Chenchu tribes in Nallamalai forests
of Andhra Pradesh were described by Reddy et al., (1988). Raja Reddy (1988) reported the use of
medicinal plants in curing jaundice from Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.
Keshavamurthy and Yoganarasimhan (1990) described 315 plants used as
Ayurvedic drugs and 272 plants as Siddha drugs.
The data on 501 species used by 13 predominant tribes in habitating 9 districts were dealt
by Rama Rao and Henry (1996). Vedavathy et al., (1997) described some species belonging to
different families used by various tribal and rural people in Chittoor district. Sudhakar and
Madhava Chetty (1998) were investigated some angiospermic weeds used by the rural people of
Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh.
Gorter et al., (1995) reported that mothers had more confidence in folk logic treatments that
they themselves or the traditional healers applied, than the service offered at health centres. In
35
India and China 60% of the people affected with cholera and malaria are treated with herbal
medicines.
Jeevan Ram and Raju (2001) found out certain potential crude drugs used by tribals of
Nallamalais of Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh for skin diseases. Vermani and Garg (2002)
showed some herbal medicines for sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS.
Reddy et al., (1996) explored ethnobotany of less known tuber-yielding plants from Andhra
Pradesh.
Greeshma et al., (2006) also reported that native tribal people in India depend mostly on
the wild and cultivated plants for their various food preparations. Reddy et al., in 2007 studied the
traditional knowledge on wild food plants in Andhra Pradesh and warned unless efforts are made
to educate the younger generation about importance of wild food plants, it may be lost in near
future.
Dixit et al., (2007) carried out ethnobotanical studies of South India. Krishnaraju et al.,
(2006) has done biological screening of medicinal plants collected from Eastern Ghats of India.
Muralidhara and Pullaiah (2007) carried an ethnobotanical studies on some rare and endemic floristic
elements of Eastern Ghats. Jeevan Ram et al., (2007) studied the rare and little known medicinal
plants from Nallamalais of the Eastern Ghats.
Reddy (2008) reviewed the Ethnobotany of Andhra Pradesh (Before Bifurcation 2014)..
Jyothi et al.,(2010). Made an ethno-medicobotanical survey of plants used in the treatment of
dermatogenic diseases in Chittoor District which revealed that 24 plant species belonging to 18
families and 21 genera are commonly used in the treatment of skin ailments.
Basha et al.,(2011) made ethnobotanical Study of Mamandur Forest (Kadapa- Nallamali
Range) in eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, India and opined that phytoresources available
showed great potential for generating income for tribal communities.
Sekhar et al., (2011) reported ethnic information on treatments for snake bites in Kadapa
district of Andhra Pradesh. Koteswara Rao et al., in 2011 studied Ethnobotany of stem bark of
certain plants of Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh.
Basha and Reddy (2017) documented Ethnobotanical plants of Veligonda Hills, Southern
Eastern Ghats, Andhra Pradesh, India.
36
Ethnomedicobotanical studies in and around Tirumala Hills
Hemadri (1985) reported the medicinal plant wealth of Chittoor district. Rajareddy &
Sudarshanam (1987) reported the veterinary medicinal plants of Chittoor district while Chettty &
Rao (1989) studied the ethnobotany of Sarakallu and adjacent areas of the district. Nagaraju &
Rao (1990 a &b) enlisted the locally scarce and endangered medical plants of Tirumala hills and
the plant crude drugs of Rayalaseema while Thammanna & Rao (1990) enumerated the common
medicinal plants of Tirumala.
Vedavathy & Rao (1989,1991) published a work on Nephroprotectors-folkmedicine of
Rayalaseema and Antipyretic activity of six indigenous medicinal plants of Tirumala hills while
Vedavathy et al. (1991) prepare a note on folklore information from Rayalaseema region for
family planning and birth control.
Vedavathy et al.(1994,1995) and Rao and Naidu (1979) worked on herbal folk medicine
of Tirumala and Tirupati region and for birth control and ante post-pastrum treatments of chittoor
district. Rao et al. (1996) reported the ethnomedicinal plants of Tirumala hills for dental
disorders. Vedavathy et al. (1997) published a book on Tribal medicine of Chittoor district.
Seshachalam hills in Cuddapah district.
Rao et al.,(2006) made Ethno-Medico-Botanical Studies From Rayalaseema Region Of
Southern Eastern Ghats, Andhra Pradesh and suggested that the video graphic documentation is
more useful in identification of plant species in the field and it may also useful for conservation
strategies. Chemotyping studies and biological assays are necessary to develop and discovering
new drugs by using this Ethno-medicinal plants data
Recently, Ganesh and Sudarsanam (2013) documented the Ethnomedicinal Plants used
by Yanadi Tribes in Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve Forest of Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh
India and the prescription of medicinal plants are in the form of paste, powder, juice, decoction,
infusion and also in crude form, with other additives like ghee, sesame oil and goat milk to
relieve from different ailments.
Savithramma et al.,(2013) reported 35 ethnobotanical medicinal plant species belonging
to 23 families used to treat 31 types of ailments in Tumburu Theertham,a sacred grove of
Tirumala hills, Andhra Pradesh, India
37
Silambarasan and Ayyanar (2015) conducted ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants in
Palamalai region of Eastern Ghats, India and reported a total of 118 plant species belonging to 95
genera and 55 families.
Upasani et al., (2016) had put effort to assemble information on medicinal plants that are
grown and used for snakebite treatment in India with a compiled emphasis on the plants, family,
parts used, depending on the availability of information with 523 plant species belonging to 122
families that act as antidotes against snakebites.
Garnatje et al.,(2017) proposed a new term, ‘ethnobotanical convergence’, to refer to the
similar uses for plants included in the same node of a phylogeny.
Britoa et al., (2017) stated several factors appear to account for this change, such as:
decrease in biological and cultural diversity, modernization, urbanization, economic
development and language barriers. However, the vast majority of works usually evaluates
indirectly the processes of knowledge loss, regardless of the current standards of intracultural
variability.
Phytochemical Studies
Many eminent earlier workers (Plouvier, 1963; Price, 1963; Shorland,
1963; Swain, 1963; Leone, 1964; Bell, 1966; Hegnaver, 1966; Harborne, 1968;
Sorensen, 1968; Brehm, 1969; Kooimann, 1969; Heywood, 1971; Radford et al.,
1974 and Harborne and Turner, 1984) were contributed much to the discovery of
new plant based drugs and their important role in the field of phytochemistry.
Each plant consists number of phytochemicals which may have different actions. Thus the
screening for phytochemicals is of paramount importance in identifying their new sources of
drugs. Alkaloids are plant bases and are used in controlling blood pressure, leukaemia, pains,
fevers etc., (Govindachari, 1977; Atal and Kapur, 1982). The non-steroidal alkaloid races, occur
in Datura sanguinea Ruiz. & Povan, Duboisia myoporoids [Link]., D. rhopwoodii (F. Muell.) F.
Muell., Papaver fugax Poir. in Lam., P. armemiacum L., Thalictrum minus L., Ephedra
distachya L.f., Strychnos sps., Rauwolfia sps., Cephaelis ifecacuanha Sur. (Groeger von, 1975,
Hegnaver von 1975, Datta and Samanta 1978, Phillipson et al., 1981, Trease and Evans 1985).
The phenolic compounds have been found to possess commercially importance and are used in
burns, haemorrhage and diarrhoea. Saponins are also useful commercially in the production of
38
steroidal drugs (Chhabra et al., 1984) and they showed pharmacological activity (Banerji et al.,
1982; Luo et al., 1993; Garg and Oswal, 1993). Essential oils consist of antimicrobial, laxative
actions and local anaesthetic (Nigam and Misra, 1989).
Leach (1986) opined that tannin is a phenolic compound which is soluble in water,
alcohol and acetone, and gives precipitates with protein. The similarity in the antimicrobial
activity of both the aqueous and acetone extracts suggest that these extracts may have high total
tannin content.
Nagaraju (1992) attempted the biochemical studies on some Medicinal plants of Rayalaseema
Region.
Djipa et al., (2000) stated that antimicrobial activity seemed to depend on the contents of
tannin in the plant extracts.
Jain et al., (2000) studied LC analysis of hepatoprotective diterpenoids from
Andrographis paniculata. Praveen et al., (2009) studied the production of andrographolide from
adventitious root cultures of Andrographis paniculata. Shukla and Bhaskar (2009) studied GC-
MS analysis of terpenoids from Eranthemum roseum. Gomathinayagam et al., (2009) showed
ABA and GA3 affect the growth and pigment composition in Andrographis paniculata an
important folk herb. Chougale and Dhumal (2010) reported regional and seasonal phytochemical
constituents of Tit-Berry, Allophyllus cobbe (L.) Raeusch. Kulkarni and Patel (2010) reported
occurrence of colchicine like compounds in some members of Liliaceae and Amaryllidaceae.
Dandekar and Gogle (2010) carried out a study of secondary metabolites in some medicinal
plants. Neeraja and Golatkar (2010) worked on phytochemical analysis of Lantana camara L.
and Parthenium hysterophorus L. Fahimeh
Okello and Segawa (2007) studied medicinal plants used by communities of Ngai
subcounty, Apac district of Northern Uganda. Abdallah et al., (2007) studied the use of
medicinal plants for maternal care in villages around Zaraninge Forest Reserve in Bagamoyo,
Tanzania.
Kamatenesi et al., (2008) studied the medicinal plants used in the treatment of fungal and
bacterial infections in and around Queen Elizabeth Biosphere Reserve, Western Uganda. Patric
39
et al., (2008) studied the diversity and conservation of medicinal plants in the Bomma
community of the Brong Ahafo region, Ghana.
Okigbo et al., (2008) studied the conservation of medicinal and aromatic plants in Africa.
El-Wahab et al., (2008) described the diversity and distribution of medicinal plants in North
Sinai of Egypt. Gibbons (2008) noted the Scope of exploiting phytochemicals in dealing with
drug-resistant bacteria.
Kandati et al.,(2012) evaluated the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity (by both in-
vitro and invivo) of both chloroform and methanol root extracts of Syzygium alternifolium (wt)
Walp. and proved as analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent.
Jain et al., (2012) carried out research on phytochemistry, pharmacology, and
biotechnology of Withania somnifera and Withania coagulans.
Cragg and Newman (2013) outlined important drugs from natural sources that
revolutionized treatment of serious diseases.
Chen et al.,(2014) summarized recent key advances in the DNA barcoding of medicinal
plant ingredients (herbal materia medica) as a contribution towards safe and efficacious herbal
medicines.
Atanasova (2015) reviewed the discovery and resupply of pharmacologically active
plant-derived natural products and presented a snapshot of the advanced plant-derived natural
products that are currently in actively recruiting clinical trials.
Public health care is an important issue around the world (Saleh et al., 2014), and DNA
barcoding may contribute to the field in developed and developing countries. DNA barcoding for
the fast and effective identification of herbal materials for human use has seen rapid
developments in recent years (Newmaster et al., 2013; chen et al., 2014).
Pradhan (2015) reviewed and summarized the current trends on plant based medicines in
the present scenario.
Efferth et al.,(2016). presented an overview of the legal frameworks, discussed some
exemplary cases of biopiracy and bioprospecting as excellent forms of utilization of natural
resources.
40
Venkatesan and Chakravarthula (2016) reviewed the overview of Ethnobotany,
phytochemistry and pharmacology of Boswellia ovalifoliolata documented the traditional and
ethnobotanical uses of this plant which include the treatment of dysentery, inflammation, joint
pains, ulcers, arthritis, hydrocoel and amoebic dysentery. In addition this plant possess analgesic,
anti-inflammatory, antiadipogenesis, anti hyperlipidemic, anti-microbial, cardiotoxic, cytotoxic,
hepatoprotective and anti-diabetic activity.
In a very recent study conduct by Yugandhar and Savithramma (2017) different
spectroscopic (UV-Vis, FT-IR, ICP-OES) and chromatographic techniques (GC-MS) are used to
identify versatile phytochemical and mineral contents in different parts of Syzygium alternifolium
by qualitative and quantitative means. For qualitative phytochemical screening a total of 16 types
of different primary and secondary metabolites are extracted in 07 different solvents, among
them 15 types of metabolites out of 16 are identified in methanol extract.
Jaiswal and Williams (2017) opined that the intersection of the affluent acquaintance
from different traditional systems of medicine can escort to new avenue in herbal drug
innovation process.
Fitchett and Atun, (2016) stated that Antimicrobial resistance heightens the prospect of
readily curable infections becoming pathogens with pandemic potential. Although in high-
income settings progress has been made to curb the rise of resistance,the scarcity of new
antimicrobial drugs remains a challenge
Wilkie and Szeto (2017) opined that it had been largely recognized that most of the
currently available antimicrobials which are mainly synthetic are almost inefficient and most of
these agents elicit terrible effects to recipients and resistance is increasing.
In our recent study (SreeLatha Devi and Basha, 2017a&b), a total of 20
ethnomedicobotanical claimed drugs and medicinal plants of tirumala hills reported a wide
number of flavonoids and phenols. Paper chromatography technique were used for the detection
by using Rf values and colour reactions with chromogenic spray reagents in different
propositions.
41
Biological Activity- Antimicrobial Activity
Touani et al., (2014) and Santiago et al., (2015) opined that phytochemicals modulate or
modify resistance mechanisms in bacteria, suggesting that phytochemicals can be used in
combination with antibiotics to increase the activity and decrease the doses of antibiotics .
Balouiri et al., (2016) reported an exhaustive list of in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility
testing methods and detailed information on their advantages and limitations.
Mickymaray et al.,(2016) evaluated the antibacterial efficacy of five Indian medicinal
plants such as Acalypha indica L. (A. indica), Aerva lanata (L.) Juss. ex Schult. (A. lanata),
Clerodendrum inerme (L.) Gaertn., Pergularia daemia (Forsk.) Chiov. and Solanum surattense
Burm. f. against opportunistic bacterial pathogens Escherichia coli (E. coli), Pseudomonas
aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi and Serratia marcescens from Gram-negative group and
Staphylococcus aureus from Gram-positive group were isolated from HIV infected patients for
the potential phytoconstituents in plant extracts.
Barbieri et al.,(2017) summarised data from the available literature regarding the
antibacterial effects of the main phytochemicals belonging to different chemical classes,
alkaloids, sulfur-containing phytochemicals, terpenoids, and polyphenols and claimed that Some
phytochemicals, besides having direct antimicrobial activity, showed an in vitro synergistic
effect when tested in combination with conventional antibiotics, modifying antibiotic resistance.
Mishra et al., (2017) studied the In vitro antibacterial activity of crude extracts of 9
selected medicinal plants (Anogeissus acuminata, Azadirachta indica, Bauhinia variegata,
Boerhaavia diffusa, Punica granatum, Soymida febrifuga, Terminalia chebula, Tinospora
cordifolia and Tribulus terrestris) against Urinary tract infection (UTI) causing MDR bacteria.
Dholvitayakhun et al., (2017) investigated the antibacterial mechanism of action of the
Annona squamosa Linn., using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Bacillus cereus
and Campylobacter jejuni were used as representative Gram-positive and Gram-negative
pathogens and suggested that A. squamosa extract inhibits bacterial growth by disrupting
peptidoglycan formation, with cell death probably occurring due to loss of the wall’s mechanical
strength and osmotic lysis.
42
Semeniuca et al.,(2017) compared the antibacterial effects of several essential oils (EOs)
alone and in combination against different Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria associated
with food products. Parsley, lovage, basil, and thyme EOs, as well as their mixtures (1:1, v/v),
were tested against Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa,
Escherichia coli, and Salmonella typhimurium.
43