The pharmacological properties of Annona squamosa Linn: A Review

Natural drug products have a special place and role in pharmacotherapy. Within them, herbs have been one of the important sources of medicinal products since the beginning of the human civilization. There is a growing demand for plant based medicines, health product, pharmaceuticals, food supplements, cosmetics etc. The present review was constructed using current medical information from abstracting systems such as PubMed, Medline and Google Scholar and other bibliographic databases. Annona Squamosa Linn. is a deciduous plant used in traditional medicines .It is reported to contain various chemical compounds such as alkaloid, isomeric hydroxyl ketones from leaf, acetogenin, samaquasine, annonacin and annonastatin from seeds, acetogenin, squamone from bark of Annona Squamosa Linn. Studies on Annona Squamosa Linn have reported the biological activity of the plant as an antibacterial, antidiabetic, antitumor, anti-malarial, anthelmintic and with anti-genotoxic potential. The present review attempts to encompass the up to date comprehensive literature analysis on Annona Squamosa Linn. with respect to its phytochemistry, pharmacognostic characters and its various pharmacological activities.