Commiphora wightii (Arn.) Bhandari. Review of Its Botany, Medicinal Uses, Pharmacological Activities and Phytochemistry

Abstract

The oldest remedies identified to mankind are herbal medicines. India is recognized worldwide for its Ayurvedic treatment. As only little studies are done on this plant, the purpose of current review is to make accessible up-to-date information on, botany, morphology, ecological biodiversity, medicinal uses, phytochemistry and pharmacological activities on diverse parts of Commiphora wightii (Arn.) Bhandari (C. wightii). This review was assembled using scientific literature from electronic search engine such as Springerlink, BioMed Central, PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Scielo, Medline and Science domain. Supplementary literatures were obtained from books, book chapters, dissertations, websites and other scientific publications. C. wightii (Syn. Commiphora mukul Hook. ex. Stocks) or Guggulu tree. C. wightii is a shrub or small tree belonging to Burseraceae family. C. wightii contains volatile oil, gum resin, gugulipids, guggulsterones, guggulsterols, mukolol and other steroids. Guggulu is very much used in Ayuvedic system of medicine as astringent, anti-septic, expectorant, aphrodisiac, carminative, anti-spasmodic, emmenagogue. In Ayurveda, it is the best among herbs that are used for Medoroga and Vata disorders. It is widely used for obesity and it is also known as fat burning agent all over the world. It helps to lower cholesterol and triglycerides level. It is very effective in rheumatoid arthritis, gout and sciatica. It is also one of the most important Rasayana of Ayurveda. In addition it treats sluggish liver, stimulates libido, nervous diseases, bronchial congestion, cardiac and circulatory problems, weak digestion, wounds, abscess, foetid ear, fractures, gynaecological problems and various skin diseases. C. wightii is a very important and trustworthy herb in Ayurvedic medicine. This alternative system of medicine is gaining increasing fame universal. There is a required to isolate active constituents, their biological test, molecular mechanisms, experimental defense and legalization of therapeutic uses of C. wightii. The collected information will be obliging to locate up study protocol for current drugs and Ayurvedic formulation extension in remedial and luxury a variety of ailments. 

Characterization of Commiphora wightii based bioactive edible film and its efficacy for improving the storage quality of meat products

“…This might be attributed to the bioactive compounds and phytochemicals present in C. wightii such as terpenoids, steroids, lignans, flavonoids, guggultetrols, guggulsterones, and phenolic acids (Bhardwaj & Alia, 2019;Chandran et al, 2020;Khaliq et al, 2020). This was expected and similar to the increase in total phenolic and total flavonoid contents of the edible films incorporated with plant bioactive ingredients that have been reported by several studies and has been attributed to the bioactive phenolic compounds and phytochemicals (Akcan, Estevez, & Serdaroglu, 2017).…”

“…Significantly (p < .05) lower pH values were observed for the samples wrapped in C. wightii films (T 1 , T 2 and T 3 ) and the pH showed a decreasing trend with increasing level of C. wightii (T 1 > T 2 > T 3 ). This decrease in pH might be due the phenolic acids present in the extract such as benzoic, 4-hydroxybenzoic, protocatechuic and cinnamic acids (Bhardwaj & Alia, 2019;Khaliq et al, 2020). Significantly lower pH values have been reported for the pork samples coated with film containing grape seed extract at the end of the storage time compared to control samples (Xiong et al, 2020).…”

“…The mean TBARS values of the products packaged in T 2 and T 3 films were significantly (p < .05) lower than control on Day 0 whereas the TBARS values of T 1 and control samples were comparable (p > .05). This effect on the lipid oxidation might be attributed to C. wightii present in the films that contains high amounts of phenolic compounds and other phytochemicals which have potential to inhibit the chain reactions of lipid oxidation by furnishing hydroxyl groups and directly neutralizing the free radicals (Bhardwaj & Alia, 2019;Chandran et al, 2020). The C. wightii extract is a rich source of compounds with antioxidant properties such as flavonoids, guggultetrols, guggulsterones, terpenoids, phenolic acids such as benzoic, 4-hydroxybenzoic, protocatechuic, and cinnamic acids (Bhardwaj & Alia, 2019;Khaliq et al, 2020).…”

“…This effect on the lipid oxidation might be attributed to C. wightii present in the films that contains high amounts of phenolic compounds and other phytochemicals which have potential to inhibit the chain reactions of lipid oxidation by furnishing hydroxyl groups and directly neutralizing the free radicals (Bhardwaj & Alia, 2019;Chandran et al, 2020). The C. wightii extract is a rich source of compounds with antioxidant properties such as flavonoids, guggultetrols, guggulsterones, terpenoids, phenolic acids such as benzoic, 4-hydroxybenzoic, protocatechuic, and cinnamic acids (Bhardwaj & Alia, 2019;Khaliq et al, 2020). Previous studies and present research suggest that extracts containing high phenolics are beneficial in reducing TBARS values in meat products.…”

“…scavengers (Bhardwaj & Alia, 2019;Chandran et al, 2020;Khaliq et al, 2020), its use as an active ingredient in food packaging is highly justifiable.…”