Abstract

A REVIEW ON SOME SPECIES OF MARCHANTIA WITH REFERENCE TO DISTRIBUTION, CHARACTERIZATION AND IMPORTANCE

Subash Kumar Gupta*, Anand Sharma and Saurav Moktan

ABSTRACT

Species of Marchantia are cosmopolitan in distribution. The thalli of Marchantia commonly thrive upon moist rocks in shady places, open wood lands or near the banks of streams. Some species of Marchantia are used in medicine. The species of Marchantia are used in traditional Chinese medicine and have been extensively used to treat tumefaction of skins, protect liver and treat hepatitis and also used as antipyretic in countryside. Extracts from M. convoluta are used for the treatments of liver tumour in human. Flavonoids extract from M. convoluta also shows the antimicrobial activity. The presence of phenolic compound makes them a potent free radical scavengers thereby acting as a natural antioxidant. Thallus contained 22,23-dihydrostigmasterol, stigmasterol and n-hexadecanoic acid, octadecanoic acid as the major sterols and chemical compounds. Many isoprenoid biosynthesis enzymes are also present. They are a potent source of many unsaturated fatty acids. They have a role in sustainable environment and have ethnobotanical use. The objective of this paper is to study the characteristic, distribution with the aim to give the detailed approach of its economic value in terms of chemical constituents, pharmacological and ethno medicinal use.

Keywords: Marchantia, Gemma cup, Flavonoid, Tumour, Phytol.