ArticlePHARMACOLOGICAL AND BOTANICAL PROFILE OF CALOTROPIS PROCERA-A MULTI-POTENTIAL PLANT TO HUMANKIND (original) (raw)

2024, World Journal of Pharmaceutical and life sciences

Medicinal plants are a rich source of pharmaceuticals; in fact, the majority of drugs on the market are derived from various types of plants or herb species. Many crude products not only provided the basis for many medicines, but they also had significant therapeutic effects. Calotropis procera Linn is an ayurvedic plant that has long been used to make traditional medicines to treat a wide range of diseases. It is regarded a medicinal plant belonging to the Asclepiadaceae family, which is distributed throughout India and other tropical areas. The collected product from roots, barks, leaves, flowers, and other parts has a variety of therapeutic properties that are extremely beneficial. C.procera possess a wide range of pharmacological activities such as anticancer, antidiabetic, analgesic, anti- inflammatory, anthelmintic, antimicrobial, antidiarroheal, anticonvulsant, hepatoprotective, antioestrogenic, antiulcer, antimalarial, anti-fertility etc. The phytochemical constituents of this plant revealed that it includes cardiac glycosides, triterpenoids, flavonoids, cardenolide, tannis, saponins, resins. Latex of C.procera contain a powerful bacteriolytic enzyme called calactin, which is a cardiotoxin and a robust nontoxic proteolytic enzyme called calotropin. Calotropis procera's macroscopic and microscopic features, as well as its general phytochemical constituents and pharmacological action, are the subject of the current review.