Leptadenia reticulata (Retz.) Wight & Arn. (Jivanti): Botanical, Agronomical, Phytochemical, Pharmacological, and Biotechnological Aspects

Abstract

Leptadenia reticulata (Retz.) Wight & Arn. (Apocynaceae), is a traditional medicinal plant species widely used to treat various ailments such as tuberculosis, hematopoiesis, emaciation, cough, dyspnea, fever, burning sensation, night blindness, cancer, and dysentery. In Ayurveda, it is known for its revitalizing, rejuvenating, and lactogenic properties. This plant is one of the major ingredients in many commercial herbal formulations, including Speman, Envirocare, Calshakti, Antisept, and Chyawanprash. The therapeutic potential of this herb is because of the presence of diverse bioactive compounds such as α-amyrin, β-amyrin, ferulic acid, luteolin, diosmetin, rutin, β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, hentricontanol, a triterpene alcohol simiarenol, apigenin, reticulin, deniculatin, and leptaculatin. However, most biological studies on L. reticulata are restricted to crude extracts, and many biologically active compounds are yet to be identified in order to base the traditional uses of L. reticulata on evidence-based data. At present, L. reticulata is a threatened endangered plant because of overexploitation, unscientific harvesting, and habitat loss. The increased demand from pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and veterinary industries has prompted its large-scale propagation. However, its commercial cultivation is hampered because of the non-availability of genuine planting material and the lack of knowledge about its agronomical practices. In this regard, micropropagation techniques will be useful to obtain true-to-type L. reticulata planting materials from an elite germplasm to meet the current demand. Adopting other biotechnological approaches such as synthetic seed technology, cryopreservation, cell culture, and genetic transformation can help conservation as well as increased metabolite production from L. reticulata. The present review summarizes scientific information on the botanical, agronomical, phytochemical, pharmacological, and biotechnological aspects of L. reticulata. This comprehensive information will certainly allow better utilization of this industrially important herb towards the discovery of lead drug molecules.

Comparative GC-MS Analysis of Bioactive Phytochemicals from Different Plant Parts and Callus of Leptadenia reticulata Wight and Arn.

“…Presence of flavonoids, phytosterols, terpenes and terpenoids, fatty acids, tannins, carbohydrates, glycosides, saponins, free catechols, starches and phenolic compounds was identified by various researchers in different solvent extracts of L. reticulata. 9 This plant has multiple therapeutic activities due to presence of various bioactive phytochemicals like stigmasterol, ß-sitosterol, α-amyrin, ß-amyrin, rutin, simiarenol, apigenin, reticulin, deniculatin, leptaculatin, l-α-tocopherol, p-coumaric acid, quercetin, phytol etc. 8 Present study gives a comparative account of various phytochemicals identified by GC-MS analysis in root, stem, leaves and callus.…”

Therapeutic Applications of Curcumin Nanomedicine Formulations in Cardiovascular Diseases

“…Liposomal nanoformulations for drug delivery have been significantly increasing in pharmacology. These formulations have benefitted from the stability, biodistribution on those drugs having bioavailability or high toxicity [172][173][174][175]. While treating liposome as alone in intravenous blood stream, it got cleared by immune system due to having short half-lives [172].…”

Nanotherapeutics as promising approaches to combat fungal infections

“…About 25% of the pharmaceutical compounds available today are derived from herbal resources (Mohanty, Swamy, Sinniah, & Anuradha, 2017). About 25% of the pharmaceutical compounds available today are derived from herbal resources (Mohanty, Swamy, Sinniah, & Anuradha, 2017).…”

“…A great section of modern medicines were originally derived from herbal sources. About 25% of the pharmaceutical compounds available today are derived from herbal resources (Mohanty, Swamy, Sinniah, & Anuradha, 2017).…”