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Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants

About: The article was published on 1956-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 5524 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Glossary.
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TL;DR: This review gives a bird’s eye view mainly on the biological activities of some of the neem compounds isolated, pharmacological actions ofThe neem extracts, clinical studies and plausible medicinal applications of neem along with their safety evaluation.
Abstract: Neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) is perhaps the most useful traditional medicinal plant in India. Each part of the neem tree has some medicinal property and is thus commercially exploitable. During the last five decades, apart from the chemistry of the neem compounds, considerable progress has been achieved regarding the biological activity and medicinal applications of neem. It is now considered as a valuable source of unique natural products for development of medicines against various diseases and also for the development of industrial products. This review gives a bird’s eye view mainly on the biological activities of some of the neem compounds isolated, pharmacological actions of the neem extracts, clinical studies and plausible medicinal applications of neem along with their safety evaluation. MEDICINAL plants are part and parcel of human society to combat diseases, from the dawn of civilization. Azadirachta indica A. Juss (syn. Melia azadirachta) is well known in India and its neighbouring countries for more than 2000 years as one of the most versatile medicinal plants having a wide spectrum of biological activity. A. indica A. Juss and M. azedarach are two closely related species of Meliaceae. The former is popularly known as Indian neem (margosa tree) or Indian lilac, and the latter as the Persian lilac. Neem is an evergreen tree, cultivated in various parts of the Indian subcontinent. Every part of the tree has been used as traditional medicine for household remedy against various human ailments, from antiquity 1–6 . Neem has been extensively used in ayurveda, unani and homoeopathic medicine and has become a cynosure of modern medicine. The sanskrit name of the neem tree is ‘Arishtha’ meaning ‘reliever of sickness’ and hence is considered as ‘Sarbaroganib arini’. The tree is still regarded as ‘village dispensary’ in India. The importance of the neem tree has been recognized by the US National Academy of Sciences, which published a report in 1992 entitled ‘Neem – a tree for solving global problems’. The advancement of neem research has earlier been documented 7,8

1,032 citations


Cites background from "Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants..."

  • ...The spermicidal activity of nimbidin and nimbin (1) was reported in rats and human as early as 1959 (refs 28, 29)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Cinnamon, clove and lime oils were found to be inhibiting both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, whereas aniseed, eucalyptus and camphor oils were least active against the tested bacteria.
Abstract: To evaluate the antibacterial activity of 21 plant essential oils against six bacterial species. The selected essential oils were screened against four gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus vulgaris) and two gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus at four different concentrations (1:1, 1:5, 1:10 and 1:20) using disc diffusion method. The MIC of the active essential oils were tested using two fold agar dilution method at concentrations ranging from 0.2 to 25.6 mg/ml. Out of 21 essential oils tested, 19 oils showed antibacterial activity against one or more strains. Cinnamon, clove, geranium, lemon, lime, orange and rosemary oils exhibited significant inhibitory effect. Cinnamon oil showed promising inhibitory activity even at low concentration, whereas aniseed, eucalyptus and camphor oils were least active against the tested bacteria. In general, B. subtilis was the most susceptible. On the other hand, K. pneumoniae exhibited low degree of sensitivity. Majority of the oils showed antibacterial activity against the tested strains. However Cinnamon, clove and lime oils were found to be inhibiting both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Cinnamon oil can be a good source of antibacterial agents.

954 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Seven plants contain antioxidant principles, that can explain and justify their use in traditional medicine in the past as well as the present, and are viewed for their historical, etymological, morphological, phytochemical and pharmacological aspects.

801 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, Methylene blue was adsorbed on an adsorbent prepared from mature leaves of the Neem tree (Azadirachta indica), and a batch adsorption study was carried out with variable adsorbate concentration, adsorbant amount, pH, and temperature.

690 citations

01 Jan 1995

677 citations