Phytopharmacological review on flowers: Source of inspiration for drug discovery

• Published in: Biomedicine & preventive nutrition 2014-01, Vol.4 (1), p.45-51
• Main Authors: Arya, Vikrant, Kumar, Dinesh, Gautam, Manisha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Drug discovery; Flowers; Pharmacology; Plants
• ISSN: 2210-5239; 2210-5239
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bionut.2013.08.009

The utility of natural products with therapeutic properties is as ancient as human civilization. For a prolonged time, the plant, animal and mineral products were the major sources of drugs. Plant source is the primeval source of drugs as most of the medicines (http://howmed.net/pharmacology/drug/) in earliest times were discovered from plants. Almost all parts of the plants are used i.e. flowers, leaves, stem, bark, fruits and roots, rhizomes, blubs etc. in drug discovery. Flowers are the gift of nature and God kingdom to beautify the atmosphere around the globe throughout all the times. They proliferate fragrance all around along with wind and also have medicinal values. In this review, an attempt has been done to emphasize the phytopharmacological status of several medicinally important flowers such as pharmacological profile like anti-anxiety, anticancer, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, aphrodisiac, anti-arthritic, diuretic, anthelmintic, immunomodulatory, anti-microbial along with its effective dosage. We have also summarized the presence chemical constituents and extracts, which were used for the pharmacological evaluations. Flowers are beautiful creature of spiritual power and phytopharmacological review pave a way of inspiration for drug discovery from their lap of flora.