A Critical Review on Medicinally Important Oil Yielding Plant

Simarouba glauca has a long history in herbal medicine in many countries. Simarouba glauca is one of the important herbal drug used against dysentery hence its bark is also known as dysentery bark. The bark and leaf extract of Simarouba is well known for its different types of pharmacological properties such as haemostatic, antihelmenthic, antiparasitic, antidysentric, antipyretic and anticancerous. The bark is used to cure fever, malaria, stomach and bowel disorders, haemorrhages, ameobiasis as well as leaf, fruit pulp and seeds are possessing medicinal properties such as analgesic, antimicrobial, antiviral, astringent emmenagogue, stomachic tonic and vermifuse. The crushed seeds are used as antigo against snake bites. The crude drug contents and active principles such as glaucarubin, quassinoids, ailanthinone, benzoquinone, holacanthone, melianone, simaroubidin, simarolide, simarubin, simarubolide ,sistosterol. These are mainly involved in pharmacological activities of this plant. The present review summarizes pharmacological, Ethnobotanical Phytochemical aspects as well as nursery practices of this medicinal plant. Key words; antihelmenthic, glaucarubin, pharmacological, quassinoids, simaroubidin vermifuse. I. Botanical descriptionA. About Simarouba glauca DC. A rainfed wasteland evergreen ediable oil tree, Simarouba glauca, is commonly known as ‘Laxmitaru’ or ‘paradise tree’ belonging to family Simaroubaceae. The specific name glauca means covered with bloom which refers to the bluish green foliage. It is derived from Greek word ‘glaukos’ (bluish) [ICRAF Agroforestry Tree Database, 2007 http://ecocrop.fao . org/ecocrop/srv/en/cropView? id=9785]. Synonyms for S. glauca are:-Simarouba medicinalis Endl. And Simarouba officinalis Macfad. Common names for s. glauca English: bitter ash, bitter damson princess tree, Simarouba, Paradise tree. Spanish: acajou blanc, daguilla, daguillo gavilan, juan, primero, laguilla, olivio, palo amargo. Creole: bwa blan, bwa fwenn, doliv fwenn. French: bois amer, bois blance, bois frene, bois negresse, quinquina d Europe. Trade name: Simarouba, Dysentry bark, Mountain Damson, Acituno [ICRAF Agroforestry Tree Database, http://ecocrop.fao. org/ecocrop/srv/en/cropView? i d=9785 2007, 1] B. Distribution a. Global Distribution S. glauca DC. is indigenous to Southern Florida, the West Indies and Brazil [2]. It is native to Bahamas, Costa Rica, Cuba, EI-Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Puertorico, united states of America. While exotic to India, Srilanka, Phillippines and Myanmar [ICRAF Agroforestry Tree Database, http://ecocrop.fao. org/ecocrop/srv/en/cropView? i d=9785 2007]. It grows under tropical conditions in Central America spreading from Mexico to Panama Southern Florida as well as Caribbean Islands. S. glauca was introduced in Kenya and Burundi in Africa in 1957 [3]. b. Distribution in India It was first introduced by National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources in the research station at Amravati in Maharashtra in 1966 [4, 5, 6] and to the university of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore in 1986. In India it is cultivated in Orissa, Maharashtra and also at introductory stage of plantation in other states like Anand (Gujarat) Jodhpur (Rajasthan) Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, West Bengal and Bhubaneswar (Orissa) [3]. Systematic Research and developmental activities on S. glauca began from 1992 onwards Lele Patil Manasi S et al /J. Pharm. Sci. & Res. Vol.3(4), 2011,1195-1213