A Review About Barleria Prionitis: A Rarely Known Herb with Potential Medicinal Properties

Abstract

There are thousands of species which are known for their potential medicinal properties while many of them are Still need to be discovered as a potential drug targets and their active drug molecules. B. prionitis is one of the rarely known shrub which has wonderful medicinal properties whether its leaves, flowers, stem and whole plant. It is native to tropical East Africa and tropical and temperate Asia. The whole plant leaves, and roots are used for a variety of purposes in traditional Indian medicine. For example, the leaves are used to promote healing of wounds and to relieve joint pains and toothache. Because of its antiseptic properties, extracts of the plant are incorporated into herbal cosmetics and hair products to promote skin and scalp health. Preliminary phytochemical analysis of hydro-methanolic extract of B. prionitis whole plant indicated the presence of glycosides, saponins, flavonoids, steroids and tannins. The antidiabetic activity of alcoholic extract of leaf and root of B. prionitis was evaluated by using alloxan monohydrate. B. prionitis leaves showed significant decrease in blood glucose level, glycosylated haemoglobulin and significant increase in serum insulin and liver glycogen level. B. prionitis root showed moderate but non-significant anti-diabetic activity in experimental animals