Plant Medicines of Indian Origin for Wound Healing Activity: A Review

Abstract

Research on wound healing drugs is a developing area in modern biomedical sciences. Scientists who are trying to develop newer drugs from natural resources are looking toward the Ayurveda, the Indian traditional system of medicine. Several drugs of plant, mineral, and animal origin are described in the Ayurveda for their wound healing properties under the term Vranaropaka. Most of these drugs are derived from plant origin. Some of these plants have been screened scientifically for the evaluation of their wound healing activity in different pharmacological models and patients, but the potential of most remains unexplored. In a few cases, active chemical constituents were identified. Some Ayurvedic medicinal plants, namely, Ficus bengalensis, Cynodon dactylon, Symplocos racemosa, Rubia cordifolia, Pterocarpus santalinus, Ficus racemosa, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Berberis aristata, Curcuma longa, Centella asiatica, Euphorbia nerifolia, and Aloe vera, were found to be effective in experimental models. This paper presents a limited review of plants used in Ayurvedic medicine.

Phytochemical screening, mineral composition and in vitro antioxidant activities of Pterocarpus mildbraedii leaves

“…Different authors [12][13], have noted that consumption of fruits and vegetables help to prevent diseases such as cancer, ulcers, etc; and as well remedy disease conditions such as gastrointestinal disease, malaria, hepatitis, pile, liver cirrhosis, etc [14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Studies have shown that these fruits and vegetables are able to play these vital roles due to the presence of chemical constituents found in them, which are bioactive in nature [8][9][20][21][22].…”

Traditional uses, medicinal properties, and phytopharmacology ofFicus racemosa: A review

“…The wound healing property of F. racemosa is mentioned in different Ayurvedic texts and in a research study the ointment prepared from the powder of the leaves with petroleum jelly (15% w/w) in an 8 mm full-thickness punch wound rat model showed highly significant generation of tissue DNA (1.73 mg/g), RNA (1.17 mg/g), and total protein (16.62 mg/g) during the healing process in comparison with untreated control rats (Biswas & Mukherjee, 2003). Li et al (2004) evaluated the cytotoxic effect of ethanol extracts of F. racemosa bark using ATP-based luminescence assay in human skin fibroblasts (1BR3), human hepatocytes carcinoma (HEPG2) and human promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) of cell density 1 x 10 4 cells/ mL.…”

A Review Study of Medicinal Uses of Manjishtha (Rubia Cordifolia).

“…The root extract of R. cordifoliawas reported as an effective wound healing principle in experimental models as wound healer 28 . Ethanolic extract and the hydrogel formulation of roots were found to be effective in the functional recovery and healing of wounds and also lead to histo-pathological alterations 29 .…”