Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Volume 3 (2006), Issue 2, Pages 217-222
doi:10.1093/ecam/nel018
Review Article

Streblus asper Lour. (Shakhotaka): A Review of its Chemical, Pharmacological and Ethnomedicinal Properties

Subha Rastogi,1 Dinesh K. Kulshreshtha,2 and Ajay Kumar Singh Rawat1

1Pharmacognosy and Ethnopharmacology Division, National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, 226001, India
2Medicinal Chemistry Division, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, 226001, India

Received 20 December 2005; Accepted 16 March 2006

Copyright © 2006 Subha Rastogi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Streblus asper Lour is a small tree found in tropical countries, such as India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. Various parts of this plant are used in Ayurveda and other folk medicines for the treatment of different ailments such as filariasis, leprosy, toothache, diarrhea, dysentery and cancer. Research carried out using different in vitro and in vivo techniques of biological evaluation support most of these claims. This review presents the botany, chemistry, traditional uses and pharmacology of this medicinal plant.