a review on vitex negundo stronglstrong. a medicinally important plant.pdfVIP

EJBS 3 (1) ● April-June 2010: 30-42 Vishwanathan Basavaraju ● A review on Vitex negundo L. A Review on Vitex negundo L. –A Medicinally Important Plant A. S. Vishwanathan* and R. Basavaraju2 Department of Biosciences, Sri Sathya Sai University, Prasanthi Nilayam, Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh – 515 134 (India) *Corresponding author: A. S. Vishwanathan Tel: +91 8555 287235; Fax: +91 8555 86919 E-mail address: vish.sssu@ 2E-mail address: rbr.bio.psn@.in ABSTRACT Vitex negundo L. (Verbenaceae) is a hardy plant, flourishing mainly in the Indian subcontinent. All parts of the plant, from root to fruit, possess a multitude of phytochemical secondary metabolites which impart an unprecedented variety of medicinal uses to the plant. It is interesting to note that a single plant species finds use for treatment of a wide spectrum of health disorders in traditional and folk medicine; some of which have been experimentally validated. The plant is a component of a number of commercially available herbal formulations and has also shown potential as an effective bio-control agent. Employment of techniques such as cell and tissue culture would provide means of rapid propagation and conservation of the plant species and, from the point of view of phytochemistry, give scope for enhancement of the quality and quantity of the bioactive secondary metabolites occurring in the plant. Key words: phytochemical; pharmacological; bio-control; herbal formulations; in vitro culture Abbreviations: BA: 6-Benzyl Amino Purine CH: Casein Hydrolysate GA :