Chemotherapeutic potential of Boerhaavia diffusa Linn: A review

Article history: Received on: 13/12/2012 Revised on: 04/01/2013 Accepted on: 18/01/2013 Available online: 29/01/2012 Boerhaavia diffusa Linn. has been shown to exhibit a wide range of medicinal properties for the treatment of diabetes, inflammation, stress, hepatotoxicity, jaundice and heart failure. The extraordinary antioxidant, hepatoprotective, antibiotic, antidiabetic and anticarcinogenic properties of B. diffusa have attracted pioneers in the field of science and medicine. Moreover, the therapeutic importance of this plant, which is due to presence of polyphenols and flavanoids, makes this plant medically more important to be exploited by clinicians and scientists to gain more insight into its biological and medicinal properties. The present review on B. diffusa focuses over the chemical compositions and its ethno-medicinal uses, linked from ancient times to the present with a scope of development in future. Furthermore, a recent update on mechanistic approaches of B. diffusa has also been discussed, which could be helpful for the researchers working in this field. Eventually, based on its antioxidant and antidiabetic characteristics, it is hypothesized that B. diffusa might exhibit antiglycating properties as well.