Abstract

A BRIEF REVIEW ON PHARMACOGNOSY, PHYTOCHEMISTRY AND THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL OF TERMINALIA CHEBULAL.

Palaksha M.* and Aditya D. M.

ABSTRACT

Traditional system of medicine consists of large number of plants with various medicinal and pharmacological importance and hence represents a priceless tank of new bioactive molecules. Terminalia chebula belongs to Family. Combretaceae is highly regarded as an universal panacea in the Ayurvedic medicine. It is one of the most versatile plants having a wide spectrum of medicinal activities. This versatile medicinal plant is the unique source of various types of compounds having diverse chemical structure. The plants were rich in flavonoids, tannins, steroids, cardiac glycosides and alkaloids. A drug development programme should be undertaken to develop modern drugs with the compounds isolated from Terminalia chebula. Although crude extracts from fruit part of Terminalia chebula have medicinal applications from time immemorial, modern drugs can be developed after extensive investigation of its bioactivity, mechanism of action, pharmacotherapeutics, toxicity and after proper standardization and clinical trials. As the global scenario is now changing towards the use of nontoxic plant products having traditional medicinal use, development of modern drugs from Terminalia chebula should be emphasized for the control of various diseases. The main idea regarding the creation of this review paper is to highlight the medicinal importance of different parts of the plant of Terminalia chebula and it may give a good revision for further studies on different parts for future researcher.

Keywords: Terminalia chebula, Folklore uses, Chemical constituents, Pharmacological activity.