Abstract

REVIEWS ON ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY, PHYTOCHEMISTRY, AND PHARMACOLOGY OF MENIRAN (PHYLLANTHUS NIRURI L.)

Rizki Meilani, Ridho Asra and Harrizul Rivai*

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this review is to provide basic knowledge about meniran (Phyllanthus niruri L.) as one of the traditional medicinal plants used by the community as a traditional medicine to treat several diseases. Methods for conducting limited open searches in English from the Scopus, Web of Science, Mendeley, Google Scholar, and Pubmed databases for all available literature from 2000 - 2020, using terms related to the ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, and pharmacology of Phyllanthus niruri L. The results show that meniran is a traditional medicinal plant used by the community as a traditional medicine to treat several diseases, such as antitumor, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and malaria. Meniran plants have several chemical substances that have essential roles in treating conditions such as flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, lignans, polyphenols, tannins, coumarins, and saponins. Pharmacologically, this plant has anti-hepatitis, antihyperurosemic, antihyperalgesic, diabetes mellitus, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, gastroprotective, antibacterial, antimalarial, immunomodulatory, and analgesic activity. The conclusion is that Phyllanthus niruri L., which is used traditionally to treat various diseases, has chemical properties that may be useful for developing new therapies.

Keywords: Meniran, Phyllanthus niruri L., ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacology.