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Review
. 2015 Jul-Dec;9(18):107-13.
doi: 10.4103/0973-7847.162110.

Cadamba: A miraculous tree having enormous pharmacological implications

Alka Dwevedi  1 , Kuldeep Sharma  2 , Yogesh K Sharma  3
Affiliations
Review

Cadamba: A miraculous tree having enormous pharmacological implications

Alka Dwevedi et al. Pharmacogn Rev. 2015 Jul-Dec.

Abstract

The Cadamba is one of the important medicinal plants belonging to the Rubiaceae family. It is crucially significant as it has the largest number of phytochemicals and secondary metabolites (viz., cadambagenic acid, cadamine, quinovic acid, β-sitosterol, cadambine, etc.) having pharmacological and biological properties. It can be used as an alternative to various synthetic chemical compounds in the prevention as well as the treatment of several incurable diseases. More than 100 years of research has been done to discover various phytochemicals and their implications. Very few of them, i.e. ≤2% have been commercialized due to the lack of a suitable model system as well as various associated controversial issues. The solubility of phytochemicals is another major concern: Further response that will be generated due to the solvent used is also unpredictable. Moreover, the Cadamba is one of the ornamental plants with religious significance. Here we have made an effort to summarize all the phytochemicals and their significance to render the interest that would help in their commercialization.

Keywords: Anticancer; Cadamba; antioxidant; pharmacology; phytochemical.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: All authors have none to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Significance of various parts of Cadamba
Figure 2
Figure 2
Crucial parts of Cadamba secreting important phytochemicals; (a) Stem bark (b) fruits (c) leaves (d) flowers
Figure 3
Figure 3
I. Phytochemicals from stem bark of Cadamba; (a) Padmakastein (b) Tectochrysin (c) Leucocyanidin (d) Chrysophenol (e) Emodin (f) Physcion (g) Sakuranetin (h) Puddumin B (i) Taxifolin. II. Phytochemicals from the stem of Cadamba; (a) Apigenin (b) Sakuranetin (c) Prunetin (d) β-sitosterol (e) Kaempteritrin (f) Ursolic acid (g) Afzelin (h) n-octacosanol (i) Triacontane (j) n-octacosanol (k) Oleic acid. III. Phytochemicals from heartwood of Cadamba; (a) Chrysin (b) Naringenin (c) Dihydrowogonin (d) Dihydromethycitin (e) 2´-hydroxy 2, 4, 4´, 6’-tetramethoxychalcone (f) Kaempferol (g) Quercetin. IV. Phytochemicals from leaves, branches, and root bark of Cadamba; (a) Quercetin-3-rhamnoglucoside (b) Amygdalin (c) Ursolic acid (d) Stigmasterol (e) Prunetinoside. V. Commercially significant phytochemicals from Cadamba; (a) Cadambagenic acid (b) Cadamine (c) Quinovic (d) β-sitosterol (e) Cadambine (structures are drawn using Chemdraw)
Figure 4
Figure 4
Literature reporting pharmacological significance of Cadamba in various human diseases (%); (a) Diabetes (b) Cancer (c) Inflammation (d) Diarrhea (e) High-cholesterol diseases (f) Liver diseases (g) Kidney diseases (here number in Y-axis indicates % of total data available on pharmacological significance of phytochemicals found in Cadamba in treatment of specific disease)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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