Genus Parkia: Phytochemical, Medicinal Uses, and Pharmacological Properties

Abstract

The genus Parkia (Fabaceae, Subfamily, Mimosoideae) comprises about 34 species of mostly evergreen trees widely distributed across neotropics, Asia, and Africa. This review aims to provide an overview of the current status of the species from the genus Parkia in terms of its relationship between its phytochemistry and medical uses. Comprehensive information on Parkia species was retrieved from electronic databases, which were Web of Science, ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Google Scholar. This review identified nine species from genus Parkia with properties of medicinal use. They are used traditionally to treat several ailments, such as diabetes, diarrhea, wounds, hypertension, cough, chronic piles, conjunctivitis, and measles. The most common species studied are P. biglobosa, P. speciosa, P. javanica, P. bicolor, P. biglandulosa, P. filicoidea, and P. clappertoniana. A considerable number of secondary metabolites, such as terpenoids, phenolic acids, flavonoids (aglycone and glycosides), and numerous volatile compounds have been identified in this genus, which are responsible for their diverse pharmacological activities. Their extracts, pure compounds and seed lectins have been reported for their anticancer, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, antiulcer, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimalarial, hepatoprotective, and antidiarrheal activities. The information gathered in this review might be of help for future studies in terms of the current knowledge on the link between the phytochemical components and medicinal uses. This could facilitate more discoveries on its potentials particularly in the pharmacological characteristics and potential to be developed into modern medicines.

Keywords: Mimosoideae; Parkia; pharmacological activities; secondary metabolite; traditional medicine.

Figure 1

The preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis flowchart indicating the numbers of identified, screened, included and excluded articles in the review.

Figure 2

Structural formulas of polyphenolics 1–28, as previously listed in Table 2.

Figure 3

Structural formulas of polyphenolics 29–46, as previously listed in Table 2.

Figure 4

Structural formulas of terpenoids 49–59 and steroids 60–66, as previously listed in Table 2.

Figure 5

Structural formulas of cyclic polysulfides 81–93, as previously listed in Table 2.