Abstract

BRIDGING TRADITIONAL USES WITH MODERN SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE – WITHANIA SOMNIFERA L. (ASHWAGANDHA), A MAGICAL PLANT

Udayan Shil, Rankita Bera, Amitesh Chakraborty, Santanu Giri, Shubhadeep Hazra and Ananya Chandra*

ABSTRACT

Plants have always been the constant source of remedy of every disease that have ever invaded mankind. Different plant part in different form, either raw, or powder, or maceration, decoction, boiled or churna shows health benefit against different diseases. This raises the quest to investigate the cause of the benefits. Ashwagandha, Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal which belongs to Solanaceae family, is a widely used plant used in Ayurveda specially for its anxiolytic and sleep-inducing activity. This article focuses on bridging the gaps of traditional knowledge and scientific explanation of the uses of Ashwagandha. Over 100 papers from Scopus, PubMed and Elsevier were referred to, in order to collect information. It was found that steroidal lactones Withanolide and its derivative are main unique component of this plant. This plant shows very unique property of ameliorating Alzheimer disease and have potential anti-cancer activity. It activates parasympathetic nervous system and act as muscle relaxanttoo. Ashwagandha surprisingly have hepatotoxic property which has not yet been established. In future, this plant can be incorporated to nutraceuticals in form of extract for its parasympathomimetic activity.

Keywords: Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal, Solanaceae, Anxiolytic, Anti-stress, Withanolide, Withanoside.