Nelumbo Nucifera (Lotus): A Review on Ethanobotany, Phytochemistry and Pharmacology

Abstract

Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn (Nymphaeaceae), a perennial aquatic plant, has been used as a medicinal herb in China and India. It has been recorded in the most famous medicinal book in China for more than 400 years. Different part of plant (leaves, seeds, flower, and rhizome) can be used in traditional system of medicine. In traditional system of medicine, the different parts of plant is reported to possess beneficial effects as in for the treatment of pharyngopathy, pectoralgia, spermatorrhoea, leucoderma, smallpox, dysentery, cough, haematemesis, epistaxis, haemoptysis, haematuria, metrorrhagia, hyperlipidaemia, fever, cholera, hepatopathy and hyperdipsia. Following the traditional claims for the use of N.nucifera as cure of numerous diseases considerable efforts have been made by researchers to verify it’s utility through scientific pharmacological screenings. The pharmacological studies have shown that N.nucifera posseses various notable pharmacological activities like amti-ischemic, antioxidant, anticancer, antiviral, antiobesity, lipolytic, hypocholestemic, antipyretic, hepatoprotective, hypoglycaemic, antidiarrhoeal, antifungal, antibacterial, antiinflammatory and diuretic activities. A wide variety of phytoprinciples have been isolated from the plant. The present review is an effort to consolidate traditional, ethnobotanic, phytochemical and pharmacological information available on N.nucifera.

Growth performance, haematology and intestinal histo‐morphology of Nile tilapia fed on Indian Lotus (Nelumbo nuciferaGaertn.) leaf powder at different concentrations

“…The results showed an improvement in the feed intake and growth performance in the fish fed on all concentrations of the Indian lotus supplemented diets with no effect on survival rate. The growth‐promoting effect of Indian lotus leaves could be linked with the active compounds present in the plant leaves as alkaloids (nuciferine, nornuciferine and roemerine) and terpenoids (neophytadiene and phytol acetate) (Ahn et al, ; Mehta et al, ). These compounds have been known by their antimicrobial, antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties (Jeyadevi, Sivasudha, Ilavarasi, & Thajuddin, ; Kim & Shin, ; Venkata Raman et al, ).…”

“…The parts of the lotus are used as food owing to their nutritional importance such as the presence of protein, starch, minerals, vitamins and dietary fibre (Moro, Yonekura, Kouzuma, Agrawal, & Rakwal, 2013;Zhong, Chen, & We, 2007). The different parts of the lotus plant are also used as therapeutics to treat cough, hematuria, metrorrhagia, improving skin condition, dysentery, lipidemia, fever and cholera (Mehta, Patani, & Shah, 2013;Sridhar & Bhat, 2007). Lotus exerts many pharmacological activities such as immunomodulatory, anti-stress, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, hepatoprotective, lipolytic and antioxidant activities (Abdel Rahman, ElHady, Hassanin, & Mohamed, 2019a;Kim & Shin, 2012;Mehta et al, 2013;Mukherjee, Khatua, Venkatesh, Saha, & Mukherjee, 2010).…”

In vitro opioid receptor affinity and in vivo behavioral studies of Nelumbo nucifera flower

“…(Nymphaeaceae), known as sacred lotus, Chinese water lily or water lotus, is widely distributed throughout South-East Asia. In many Asian countries the aquatic plant has been reported to have a wide array of traditional, medicinal and therapeutic uses (Duke et al, 2002; Mehta et al, 2013; Mitra and Kapoor, 1976; Nakamura et al, 2013). In traditional Chinese medicine, seed embryos (or plumule) of the flower are used to overcome nervous disorder, high-fever with restlessness, and insomnia (Mehta et al, 2013; Nguyen, 1999) and arrow-root prepared from the rhizome “OCE FUN“ for enhancing the mental health and quieting the spirits (Porterfield, 1951).…”

“…In many Asian countries the aquatic plant has been reported to have a wide array of traditional, medicinal and therapeutic uses (Duke et al, 2002; Mehta et al, 2013; Mitra and Kapoor, 1976; Nakamura et al, 2013). In traditional Chinese medicine, seed embryos (or plumule) of the flower are used to overcome nervous disorder, high-fever with restlessness, and insomnia (Mehta et al, 2013; Nguyen, 1999) and arrow-root prepared from the rhizome “OCE FUN“ for enhancing the mental health and quieting the spirits (Porterfield, 1951). Furthermore, N. nucifera has been utilized as ingredient for healthy beverages to treat hypertension, cancer, weakness and body heat imbalance (Saengkhae et al, 2008), and also smoking the plant create a feeling of well-being, controlling the stress and reaching a relaxing state (O’Mahony Carey, 2010).…”

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“…Nelumbo nucifera contains abundant functional components including polyphenols, flavonols, procyanidins, polysaccharides and alkaloids which relate to its pharmacological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, anti-cancer, anti-aging and anti-cardiovascular. Flavonoids and alkaloids forms the most important functional components of Nelumbo nucifera and their physiological properties have been extensively reported 5 . The various flavonoids include Flavonols, flavone, gallic acid, proanthocyanidins, anthocyanins.…”