A BRIEF REVIEW ON PHYTOCHEMISTRY AND PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF XANTHIUM STRUMARIUM L.

Abstract

Xanthium strumarium Linn. is one of the medicinally valuable herb belongs to genus Xanthium of family Compositeae. The plant occurs allover Pakistan, India, China, Eurasia and also in America. The trade name is Cocklebur and Chotadhatura while generally known as Chotagokhru. Phytochemical analysis have highlighted existence of various classes of organic compounds mainly terpenes, sesquiterpenes, lactones, flavonoids, alkaloids, quinines, phenols, phytosterols, organic acids, ascorbic acid, amino acids and proteins. Plant extracts in organic solvents have been experienced in traditional medicine for the treatment of bacterial and fungal infections, allergy, fever, malaria, diarrhea, constipation, cough, headache, tuberculosis and insect bite. These medicinal properties are due to presence of pharmacological constituents such as carboxyatractyloside (hypoglycemic),caffeoylquinate and caffeic acid (anti-hyperglycemic), xanthumin (anti-microbial), xanthinin (anti-plasmodial), caffeoylquinic acid (anti-inflammatory), xanthatin, sesquiterpene xanthanolides (anti-tumor) and terpenes (anti-oxidants). Besides these X. strumariumhas potential to accumulate heavy metals from soil. Therefore it may consider to cultivate near industrial areas for phytoremediation. This review is done to explore phytochemicals and pharmacological properties in order to collect its variable properties as a medicinal agent that encourage researchers for further isolation and quantification of phytochemicals beneficial for human health. Key words: Phytochemicals, Pharmacology, Anti-microbial, Anti-hyperglycemic