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Review
. 2021 Jan 25;10(2):232.
doi: 10.3390/plants10020232.

Ethnomedicinal Plants Traditionally Used for the Treatment of Jaundice (Icterus) in Himachal Pradesh in Western Himalaya-A Review

Disha Raghuvanshi  1 , Rajni Dhalaria  1 , Anjali Sharma  1 , Dinesh Kumar  2 , Harsh Kumar  2 , Martin Valis  3 , Kamil Kuča  4   5 , Rachna Verma  1 , Sunil Puri  1
Affiliations
Review

Ethnomedicinal Plants Traditionally Used for the Treatment of Jaundice (Icterus) in Himachal Pradesh in Western Himalaya-A Review

Disha Raghuvanshi et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Ethnomedicinal plants have a significant role in the lives of people of rural and tribal areas. Thousands of medicinal plant species are used to treat various diseases, including jaundice, and are considered an important therapeutic resource to minimize these diseases. Jaundice (icterus) is a chronic disease that occurs when the amount of bilirubin in the blood increases. This review describes different ethnomedicinal plants used for curing jaundice by tribal and rural people of Himachal Pradesh. The study reveals 87 ethnomedicinal plant species belonging to 51 different families, which are used for treating jaundice in Himachal Pradesh. These plants are arranged in a systematic way, which includes a description of their common name, botanical name, along with its family, plant parts used, region, and mode of use in tabulated form. Some of the plant extracts have already been explored for their phytochemical and pharmacological significance and proved their potential in the preparation of new medicines or drugs against the treatment of jaundice. This review is an attempt to highlight the indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants, which are specifically used for the treatment of jaundice. The data mentioned in the present review is compiled from various sources like existing literature, books, Google Scholar, and Scopus publications. Among all the observed plant species, most used medicinal plants for the treatment of jaundice include Justicia adhatoda, Emblica officinalis, Ricinus communis, Saccharum officinarum, Terminalia chebula, Berberis aristata, Cuscuta reflexa, and Tinospora cordifolia. Plants that are mostly utilized for the treatment of jaundice need to be scientifically validated by pharmacological analysis and should be subsequently used for the preparation of new drugs, which may prove far more beneficial than the existing one.

Keywords: bilirubin; ethnomedicinal plants; hepatoprotective; jaundice; phytoconstituents.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Bilirubin metabolism or pathophysiology of jaundice [15].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Types of jaundice according to its pathophysiology [15].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Map of India, showing districts of Himachal Pradesh (district names are added in red font where maximum number of medicinal plants were reported for jaundice treatment).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Analysis of the data showing a total estimation of plant parts used for the treatment of jaundice [8,44].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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