Trema orientalis Linn. Blume: A potential for prospecting for drugs for various uses

Abstract

Medicinal plants are used by traditional practitioners to treat several ailments. Ethnomedicinal studies on Trema orientalis Linn. Blume (Ulmaceae) have shown that it is used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, respiratory diseases, oliguria, and malaria. This article is aimed at providing comprehensive information on the medicinal uses, biology, phytochemical constituents, and pharmacological data available on T. orientalis. This has been done to explore its therapeutic potential for future research opportunities. This review was compiled with information obtained from databases such as Medline, Elsevier, Springer, Science Direct, Pubmed, Google Scholar, and a library search for articles published in peer-reviewed journals. Compounds present in the plant include tannins, saponins, flavanoids, triterpenes, phytosterols, and several constituents of xanthones. Some pharmacological research done on the plant has focused on, hypoglycemic activity, analgesic, anti-inflammatory activities, anti-plasmodial activity, diuretic activity, laxativity effect, anti-convulsant activity, anti-helmintic activity, anti-sickling effect, anti-oxidant, and anti-bacterial activity. This compilation strongly supports the view that T. orientalis has beneficial therapeutic properties, and indicates its potential as an effective herbal remedy for several diseases. The promising results from several research works could be further substantiated by clinical trials.

Bio-guided Fractionation of the Ethanolic Extract from Leaves of Trema orientalis Blume (Cannabaceae), a Presumed Antihypertensive Plant from Congo-Brazzaville

“…These results confirm the work done by several authors who have shown the presence of terpenoid and polyphenols in the polar extracts obtained from the leaves of the plant [21,[23][24][25][26][30][31][32][33][34][35].…”

“…As a result, we focus our interest on Trema orientalis Blume (Cannabaceae), a plant with a variety of biological activities, including arterial antihypertensive activity. This plant is used in traditional Congolese medicine to decrease blood pressure [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

Phytochemical Analysis and Antibacterial Activity of Trema orientalis (Ulmaceae) Stem Bark Extracts on Respiratory Tract Bacteria

“…The phytochemical constituents present in the stem bark extract were terpenoids, saponin, bound sugars, tannins, cardiac glycoside, flavonoids and free anthraquinones (Tables 1); this result is consistent with the result obtained by Adinortey et al, 2013. 6 The antibacterial assay of the stem bark showed activity on both gram positive and very strong activity on some gram-negative bacteria. It is noteworthy that the water extract being the solvent used traditionally for extraction of medicinal plants; inhibited the growth of two out of all the tested bacteria with zones inhibition of 9 mm for S. aureus, 10 mm for K. pneumoniae at 100 mg/mL and 13 mm for both bacteria at 200 mg/mL.…”

“…5 The leaves contain tannins, saponins, flavanoids, triterpenoid (simiarenol, simiarenone, trematol). 6 The tree has got various traditional medicinal uses in a wide range of cultures. The leaves and the bark are used to treat coughs, sore throats, asthma, bronchitis, gonorrhoea, yellow fever, toothache and as an antidote to general poisoning.…”

Herbal Medicines Used in the Treatment of Typhoid in the Ga East Municipality of Ghana

“…Blume (Ulmaceae) have shown that it is used by traditional practitioners to treat several ailments viz. diabetes mellitus, respiratory diseases, oliguria, and malaria [48,49].…”