Cytogenetic Studies in Indian Drimia Jacq. (Urgineoideae: Hyacinthaceae)

Drimia (synonym Urginea) plants are bulbous plants belonging to the family Asparagaceae (formerly the family Hyacinthaceae) and are distinctive, powerful medicinal plants. Just some species are indigenous to South Africa and have been traditionally utilized for centuries to cure various diseases and/or ailments. They have been recognized among the most famous and used medicinal plants in South Africa. Traditionally, the plants are used for various illnesses such as dropsy, respiratory disease, bone and joint complications, skin disorders, epilepsy and cancer. A number of studies have reported biological properties such as antiviral, antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and anticancer activities. Their bulbs are a popular treatment for colds, measles, pneumonia, coughs, fever and headaches. However, some plant species are regarded as one of the six most common poisonous plants in Southern Africa that are toxic to livestock and humans. Due to the therapeutic effects of the Drimia plant bulb, research has focused on the phytochemicals of Drimia species. The principal constituents isolated from this genus are cardiac glycosides. In addition, phenolic compounds, phytosterols and other phytochemical constituents were identified. This study constitutes a critical review of Drimia species’ bioactive compounds, toxicology, biological properties and phytochemistry, advocating it as an important source for effective therapeutic medicine. For this purpose, various scientific electronic databases such as ScienceDirect, Scopus, Google Scholar, PubMed and Web of Science were researched and reviewed to conduct this study. Despite well-studied biological investigations, there is limited research on the toxic properties and the toxic compounds of certain Drimia species. Searching from 2017 to 2021, Google Scholar search tools retrieved 462 publications; however, only 3 investigated the toxicity and safety aspects of Drimia. The aim was to identify the current scientific research gap on Drimia species, hence highlighting a thin line between poisonous and healing compounds, dotted across numerous publications, in this review paper.

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“…are deciduous, apomorphic, short-lived flowering plants growing from perennial bulbs. Their seeds are usually black and winged [ 19 , 20 ].…”

Section: Botanical Characteristics and Geographical Distribution Of Drimiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Drimia spp. are widely distributed throughout Africa [ 1 ], Madagascar, the Mediterranean area, southeast Asia and India [ 20 ]. Studies have recorded that Drimia spp.…”

Section: Botanical Characteristics and Geographical Distribution Of Drimiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Bulbous Plants Drimia: “A Thin Line between Poisonous and Healing Compounds” with Biological Activities

et al. 2021

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“…The fruits are round, 1.5–2.0 cm in diameter with 6–8 flat seeds inside [8,17,18]. Cytogenetical studies have revealed the presence of 2 n = 20 diploid chromosome numbers in D. indica [19].…”

Section: Botanical Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drimia indica: A Plant Used in Traditional Medicine and Its Potential for Clinical Uses

et al. 2019

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Drimia indica (Roxb.) Jessop (Asparagaceae) is a reputed Ayurvedic medicine for a number of therapeutic benefits, including for cardiac diseases, indigestion, asthma, dropsy, rheumatism, leprosy, and skin ailments. The present work aimed to critically and extensively review its traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, and taxonomy together with the mechanisms of action of selected extracts of D. indica. A systematic literature survey from scientific databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science as well as from some textbooks and classical texts was conducted. The plant, mainly its bulb, contains various bioactive constituents, such as alkylresorcinols, bufadienolides, phytosterols, and flavonoids. Various scientific studies have proven that the plant has anthelmintic, anticancer, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and wound healing activities. The present work concludes that D. indica has the potential to treat various diseases, mainly microbial infections. This review also suggests that bufadienolides, flavonoids, and steroids might be responsible for its bioactive potential.

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“…(Deb & Dasgupta, 1987). Moreover, (Dixit and Yadav, 1989;Yadav and Dixit, 1990;Lekhak et al, 2014;Lekhak et al, 2017) (Yadav et al, 2019) classified U. govindappae and U. nagarjunae as separate species. However, a recent taxonomic revision by (P. B.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review on the Comprehensive Phylogenetic Relationship among Indian Species of Drimia: An Ethno-medicinal Indigenous Crop from Tribal Forest Belt

Shit¹,

Kumar²

2023

Preprint

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Indian Tribal population is known for their self-sustainability, including their robust natural health and trivial lifestyle, further traditionally relied on medicinal plants throughout history. The evolutionary history of the ethnic-medicinal bulbous geophyte has long been a contention in monocot systematics. In India, the genus is represented by a species array. Moreover, the phylogeny delimitation amongst them is poorly defined to date. Phenolics, sterols, proteins and some other phytochemicals of Drimia have also been isolated for pharmacological and clinical studies that have strongly recommended their background effect of geographical positioning. Through several in vivo and in vitro studies, extracts derived from Drimia species demonstrated biological activity, including antifungal antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory antioxidant, and insecticidal properties. This review highlights the comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of Indian spp. of Drimia and the multi-omics-based approach for species delineation, the discovery of candidate genes and the development of plant-based drugs, as well as the long-term utilisation of plant pharmaceutical resources.

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Cytogenetic Studies in Indian Drimia Jacq. (Urgineoideae: Hyacinthaceae)

Cited by 9 publications

References 46 publications

Bulbous Plants Drimia: “A Thin Line between Poisonous and Healing Compounds” with Biological Activities

Bulbous Plants Drimia: “A Thin Line between Poisonous and Healing Compounds” with Biological Activities

Drimia indica: A Plant Used in Traditional Medicine and Its Potential for Clinical Uses

A Review on the Comprehensive Phylogenetic Relationship among Indian Species of Drimia: An Ethno-medicinal Indigenous Crop from Tribal Forest Belt

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