Himalayan Aromatic Medicinal Plants: A Review of their Ethnopharmacology, Volatile Phytochemistry, and Biological Activities

Abstract

Aromatic plants have played key roles in the lives of tribal peoples living in the Himalaya by providing products for both food and medicine. This review presents a summary of aromatic medicinal plants from the Indian Himalaya, Nepal, and Bhutan, focusing on plant species for which volatile compositions have been described. The review summarizes 116 aromatic plant species distributed over 26 families.

Pharmacological properties and their medicinal uses of Cinnamomum: a review

“…[106] linalool; a-phellandrene; aterpineol. [104,106] a-terpinene; a-thujene [104,105] Anticancer, [107] antiinflammatory, [105] antimicrobial, [107,108] cytotoxic, [109] gastroprotective, [105] larvicidal [110] Abdominal disorders, [111,112] asthma, [112] bronchitis, [113] cough and cold, [114,115] diabetes, [63] dizziness, [106] dysentery, [114] dyspepsia, [112] gonorrhoea, [111] infestation, [63] head ache, [116] kidney trouble, [63] nausea, [116] oral, [40] pneumonia, [55,113] pyrexia, [55] respiratory problems, [112] rheumatism, [55] shivering, [116] snake bite, [112] tooth ache, [117] wounds [117]…”

“…[118] Aldehyde: Heptanal; hexanal. [104] Terpinenes: (E)-Nerolidol; limonene; linalool [104,118] ; [104] ; (Z)-citral; (Z)-b-ocimene; bicycloelemene; borneol; camphene; caryophyllene oxide; farnesol; geranila; geraniol; germacrene-D; Ocymene; sabinene; selina-4(15), 7(11)-diene; terpinen-1-ol; terpinen-4-ol; trans-sabinene hydrate; agurjunene; a-humulene; a-phellandrene; a-pinene; aterpinene; a-terpineol; a-terpinolene; a-thujene; bbisabolene; b-myrcene; b-selinene; c-elemene; cterpinene; d-cadinene [118] Antimicrobial, [119,120] antioxidant, [119] cytotoxicity, [109,120] larvicidal, [117] nematicidal, [117] toxicological [119] Arthritis, [119] blood circulation, [119] body aches, [117] boils, [63] bronchitis, [55,121] cough and cold, [122] eruption, [63] inflammation, [119] infestation, [117] kidney trouble, [63,117] muscles and joints complications, [119] muscular spasm, [117] myalgia, [119] pyrexia, [63] rheumatism, [119] toothache, [117,122] urinogenital diseases [40] Fruit and seed…”

“…Terpinenes: 1,8-Cineole; camphor; linalool; sabinene; bpinene; ⍺-terpineol; ⍺-thujene [119,123] ; (2)-b-ocimene; (E)-b-ocimene; camphene; carvacrol; caryophyllene oxide; geranial; geraniol; limonene; myrcene; pcymen-8-ol; p-cymene; p-elemene; spathulenol; terpinen-4-ol; terpinolene; b-bisabolene; bcaryophyllene; b-phellandrene; b-selinene; cterpinene; d-terpineol; ⍺-bergamotene; ⍺-cubebene; ⍺-humulene; ⍺-phellandrene; ⍺-pinene; ⍺-selinene; ⍺-terpinene [117] ; cis-ocimene; DL-limonene; thujene [119]…”

The Artemisia Genus: A Review on Traditional Uses, Phytochemical Constituents, Pharmacological Properties and Germplasm Conservation

“…which are reported to possess various biological activities including, antibacterial [11]. Anti-fungal [8] anti-viral [12] anti-malarial [13] antiinflammatory [14] anti-cancer [15] anti-tumor [16] anti98 helminthic [12] anti-diabetic [17][18][19] anti-spasmodic [14], hepatoprotective [20] anti-pyretic [21] anti-parasitic 5 [22] anti-oxidant [15,20,23,24] antifertility [17] acaricidal [25] anti-rheumatic [26] anti-hypertensive [27,28] trypanocidal, trichomonacidal [29] wormicidal [30] emmenagogue, diuretic, abortive [31] anti-arthritis [32] immunomodulatory [33] neuroprotective [34] menopause, premenstrual syndrome, dysmenorrhea and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [35]. Antiulcerogenic [36] analgesic (Saxena, 2015), bile stimulant [26] antinociceptive [37] anti-plasmodial [38] anti-venom [39] anti-coccidal [40] anti-leishmanial [41,42] anti-hyperlipidemic [43,44] anti-epileptic and anti-convulsant [45] anti-cholesterolemic, cholagogue, diuret...…”

Dwindling status of Epimedium elatum (Morren & Decne) and its geographical distribution in Kashmir Himalaya, India

“…Northwestern Himalayas in India is one of the hotspots of biodiversity due to extensive variation in land-scapes, ecoedaphic conditions, forest types and climatic conditions [1]. It has a rich variety of medicinal & aromatic plants (1748), known globally for their ethnobotany, phytochemical diversity, and pharmacological properties [2]. Unfortunately, continuous exploitation from the wild has depleted their natural populations over the years due to unending demand from industry and local markets [3].…”