Abstract

A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW ON PHYTOCHEMISTRY AND PHARMACOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF ACHYRANTHES ASPERA LINN- A TRADITIONAL MEDICINAL HERB

Ritu Jaiswal and Veena B. Kushwaha*

ABSTRACT

Achyranthes aspera, also known as "Chirchita" in Hindi and "Prickly Chaff Flower" in English, Amaranthaceae family, is a medicinal perennial, erect, 0.3-0.9m, tall herb that grows as a weed along roadsides in India. Traditionally, roots, shoots, leaves, and seeds are used for medicinal purposes in different medical practices like Ayurveda, Siddha or Unani. In Indigenous system this plant is used for the treatment of dysentry, diarrhoea, haemorrhoids, rheumatitis, asthma, skin problems, for improving appetite and several other gastric disorders, toothache leprosy, antifertility, cough. It is also used to treat hydrophobia, snake bites, bleeding piles, cutaneous and ophthalmic disease. Plant is known to possess several secondary metabolites like alkaloids, carbohydrates, saponins, tannins and phenolic compounds, proteins, free amino acids, flavonoids and lignin that are responsible for the different biological activities like antioxidant, antidiabetic,antihelminthic, spermicidal, antifertility, antipyretic, wound healing, gastroprotective, anticancerous, antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, diuretic, hepatoprotective. This review aims to summarize the phytochemical, and pharmacological activities of A.aspera as documented in published studies to assist researchers in future work.

Keywords: Achyranthes aspera, Botanical, Phytochemical, Pharmacological activity.