A Comprehensive Review on Five Medicinal Plants of Bangladesh. Chemical Constituents and Uses

Since primeval times, plants have been utilized as a potent source of medicine to treat many life-threatening diseases. One of the potential ways to evaluate the importance of a medicinal plant is to identify its active chemical constituents and pharmacological activities. Thus, the present study involves a thorough discussion about the general description, phytochemistry and medicinal properties of five different plants: Gymnema sylvestre, Momordica charantia, Coccinia cordifolia, Trigonella foenum-graecum and Lagerstroemia speciosa. All five selected plants belong to different families but possess similar pharmacological activities such as anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, antioxidant, antimicrobial, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-nociceptive, hypolipidemic and so on. Here, the authors have reviewed all reported chemical constituents as well as the pharmacological activities of the examined plants.

Pritesh Ranjan Dash, R. Ph, has earned a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Pharmacy from Stamford University, Bangladesh, in 2010 and 2012 and a M. Phil Part-1 in Pharmacy from Jahangirnagar University in 2015. Currently, he is attending a PhD in Pharmacy at Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh, and teaching in the Pharmacy Department at BRAC University, Mohakhali, Dhaka. He has already published one book and more than 17 research articles on medicinal plants in reputed national and international journals.