The Potential Medicinal Value of Barleria lupulina: A Mini Review
Published: 2024-09-19
Page: 228-234
Issue: 2024 - Volume 7 [Issue 2]
A.T. Herath *
Department of Botany, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Open University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka.
T. S. Wattegedara
Department of Botany, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Open University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka.
K.O.L.C. Karunanayake
Department of Botany, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Open University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Medicinal plants are a major source of numerous valuable natural chemicals and medicines. Therefore, they have been in use for thousands of years against varying diseases, and even at present around 80% of the world population depends on plant derived medicines. Barleria lupulina Lindl. widely known as “Ranwan Katukarandu” in Sri Lanka is a plant which has been used widely in traditional plant derived medicines, as it includes numerous phytochemicals with potential biological properties. B. lupulina has been tested for its many phytochemical constituents such as, flavonoids, phenylethanoid glycosides, quinones, iridoids, immunostimulant proteins, antibiotics, alkaloids, starch, tannin, reducing sugars, protein, amino acids, glycosides, steroids etc; which have been found to possess antioxidant, antimicrobial, larvicidal, antidiabetic, immunomodulatory and antiarthritic properties. In future, extensive scientific research needs to be conducted on these phytochemicals to produce natural, effective and alternative medicines in place of synthetic medicines. This review gives a report on existing literature, phytochemistry and biological activity of the species Barleria lupulina.
Keywords: Barleria lupulina, phytochemicals, biological properties, medicinal plants