Affiliation:
1. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Ratnapura, Sri Lanka
2. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Abstract
Abstract:
Pterocarpus marsupium (PM) (Gammalu in Sinhala) is a member of the Fabaceae family. It is a large deciduous tree, indigenous to Sri Lanka, India, and Nepal. Due to its therapeutic benefits, PM is regarded as a medicinal plant in Ayurveda and for industrial products. This narrative review focuses on the pharmacological effects of PM, its’ bioactive compounds, biological effects, and toxicity. For this, literature was gathered via Google Scholar (102), PubMed (89), ScienceDirect (22), published books, web pages, and personal communication (13). The remaining literature was selected after the elimination of 14 duplicates. Titles and abstracts were considered, and some studies were excluded due to insufficient data and irrelevance. After this screening, 133 papers were removed. A total of 66 articles were selected by reading the abstracts that report the pharmacological effects of PM. The main keywords used were PM, Gammalu, Indian kino, phytochemicals, antidiabetic, hypoglycaemic, anti-dyslipidaemic, antioxidant, anti-inflammation, anti-diarrhoeal, anti-cataract, and toxicity.