Abstract

A REVIEW ON RAUVOLFIA SERPENTINA: A POTENTIAL MEDICINAL HERB

Alisha A. Sayyed* and Dattaprasad N. Vikhe

ABSTRACT

Rauvolfia serpentina (Apocynaceae) is used among rural Indian communities to treat arthritis, skin cancer, burns, eczema, psoriasis, digestive problems, high blood pressure, sedative and diabetes, despite very little supporting scientific evidence. Due to increased interest by both the scientific community and industry regarding the medicinal uses of this plant species, we identified, quantified and compared the phytochemical contents and antioxidant capacities of extracts of Rauwolfia serpentine. Each medicinal plant and the specific plant part used as crude drug material contain active or major chemical constituents with a characteristic profile that can be used for chemical quality control and quality assurance. So the increasing demand for herbal medicines has inevitably led to maintaining the quality and purity of herbal raw materials and finished products. A sensitive and reproducible reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method using photodiode array detection is established for the simultaneous quantitation of important root alkaloids of Rauvolfia serpentina, namely, reserpine, ajmaline, and ajmalicine. Rauvolfia serpentina plant species is used since ancient time. Now days it has been became endangered plant species in India due to climacteric changes and increased demand in drug industry. Hence comparative physiochemical analysis of wild and cultivated species is necessary. The TLC analysis of all the samples, including roots, leaves and callus, showed that roots are rich in reserpine and they also contain other alkaloids besides reserpine.

Keywords: Rauvolfia serpentina, Medicinal herbs, Phytochemicals, Pharmacognosy, Pharmacological activities.