A systematic review of pharmacological potential of phytochemicals from Rumex abyssinicus Jacq.
Augustin Ntemafack, Mohd Ayoub, Qazi Parvaiz Hassan, Sumit G. Gandhi
Abstract
Throughout history, humans have used plants and plant-derived medicines to treat different diseases. Medicinal plants are used to manage a wide range of ailments and have played an essential role in discovering new drugs. Herbal medicines have been reported as promising due to their rich secondary metabolites profile, and many registered new drugs are derived from natural products or their derivatives. Rumex abyssinicus is a flowering plant widely spread in the highlands of tropical Africa. The plant has been used in traditional medicine to treat numerous diseases and has also found applications in textile, tanning, and allied industries. R. abyssinicus is known to produce different classes of secondary metabolites with significant pharmacological effects, including anthraquinones, acids, terpenoids, ceramides, and flavonoids. Their pharmacological potential includes anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-oxidant, antiviral, antileishmanial, anti-Alzheimer, anti-diabetic, antimalarial, anti-inflammatory, wound healing, and nephroprotective effects. This review highlights the investigation carried out on Rumex abyssinicus, focusing mostly on its phytoconstituents, extraction procedure, and their reported pharmacological activities. We also discussed different parts of the plant used to prepare extracts and isolate secondary metabolites from the plant. This investigation demonstrated that R. abyssinicus, a plant widely used in herbal medicine and of pharmacological importance, has yet to be explored enough and thus constitutes an important standpoint for future research in the isolation and identification of novel phytochemicals. In addition, isolated compounds constitute potential candidates that could be explored and developed as potent drugs used in the treatment of various ailments like cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer, infectious and inflammatory diseases. Although, this medicinal plant has to be explored; “green extraction” of its high-value phytochemicals is recommended for the safety of ecosystem and conservation of the plant species.