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Sansevieria roxburghiana Schult. & Schult. F., Agavaceae: phytochemistry, traditional uses and its pharmacological activities - a review

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Abstract

Sansevieria roxburghiana is a stem less evergreen perennial plant commonly known as " Indian bowstring-hemp ". It has various traditional uses and recently various pharmacological uses are pursuing. Traditionally it is used as a cardiotonic, expectorant, febrifuge, purgative, tonic in glandular enlargement and rheumatism etc. The plant is known to possess antitumor, antibacterial, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, anticancer, antioxidant and analgesic activity. It contains carbohydrates, alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, carotenoids gallic acid, palmitic acid, caftaric acid, isorahmnitin-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, buphanidine, diethyl phthalate, 6-methyl-1-octanol, 3,3-dimethylhexanal, proteins, and phytosterols. It also contains a rare homoisoflavonoid Cambodianol. Peer-reviewed articles on S. roxburghiana were acquired on Scopus, scholar, Researchgate, ScienceDirect and SciFinder, there was no specific timeline set for the search. A focus group discussion was held with different communities in satkhira to further understand ethnobotanical uses of the plant. This review is an attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of the ethnobotany, phytochemistry and biological activity of Sansevieria roxburghiana in a succinct form so that curious researchers get all about the medicinal properties of Sansevieria roxburghiana at a glance and possibly make recommendations for further research.

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... The whole plant is traditionally used as a cardiotonic, purgative, expectorant, tonic and for rheumatism, quick relief of a common cough and cold and in ear pain, The roots are used as a febrifuge in snake bite and hemorrhoids (Ikewuchi et al., 2010). Additionally, the plant showed various pharmacological activities such as antitumor, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, leaves exhibited anticancer and antioxidant property, the whole plant also possesses antioxidant, analgesic (Obydulla, 2016). Preliminary phytochemical screening of leaves extract showed the presence of many secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins. ...
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The present study was carried out to evaluate the response of the anise plant seeds to the plant growth regulator gibberellin (GA 3) and the effect of the saponins extract of Sansevieria hyacinthoides leaves on the seeds germination and seedling growth. Various plant extracts were used to improve crop yield and quality, being safe for the environment. Firstly, the toxic effect of the leaf extract was estimated using the phytotoxicity assay on radish seeds. This assay showed insignificant decrease in root length at 1000 µg/ml, whereas an increase in root growth was observed at concentrations 10 and 100 µg/ml. Similarly, stimulatory effect on the percentage of seeds germination was observed reached (100%) at 10µg/ml. Low concentrations (0.0, 1.25, 2.5, 5.0, 10.0 µg/ml) of saponin extract were applied to test the germination and growth of anise plant. Leaves extract increased the germination of anise seeds and enhanced the growth of root length significantly at 10µg/ml in comparison with control treatment (0µg/ml). The root lengths were 1.3 and 2.3cm after 4 and 7days respectively and the percent of germination reached 100% after only 7 days. The lower concentrations did not have any effect on seeds germination rate with little effect on root length. It is concluded that the saponins extracted from Sansevieria leaves are safe and has no toxic effect and possess clear activity similar to the effect of the plant growth regulator gibberellin on increasing seed germination rate and promoting seedling growth.
... Sansevieria subclade S2:-Subclade S2 is strongly supported in cpDNA analyses ( Fig. 2B; BS = 75, PP = 1.0) and moderately supported in combined analyses ( Fig. 3; BS = 52, PP = 1.0). It comprises three morphologically similar species from East Africa (S. dumetescens, S. perrotii, S. powellii) and a morphologically distant species (S. roxburghiana) from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Indonesia (Dulla 2016). The East African species are united by their paniculate branching inflorescences (S. sect. ...
Article
The evolutionary history of the dracaenoid genera Dracaena and Sansevieria (Asparagaceae, Nolinoideae) remains poorly resolved, despite long-recognised issues with their generic boundaries and increased attention paid by both horticulturalists and taxonomists. In this study we aim to: (1) elucidate evolutionary relationships within and between Dracaena and Sansevieria using molecular phylogenetic inference of both nuclear (nDNA) and plastid (cpDNA) markers, (2) examine the infrageneric classifications of each genus, and (3) revise the circumscription of the dracaenoids in light of morphological and phylogenetic evidence. In total, we sampled 21 accessions of Dracaena (ca. 19 species), 27 accessions of Sansevieria (ca. 26 species), and six outgroup taxa. Phylogenetic analyses were based on nucleotide sequences of two non-coding plastid DNA regions, the trnL-F region (trnL intron and trnL-trnF intergenic spacer) and rps16 intron, and the low-copy nuclear region At103. Phylogenetic hypotheses were constructed using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference. Individual datasets were analysed separately and, after testing for congruence, as combined datasets. We recovered instances of soft incongruence between nDNA and cpDNA datasets in Sansevieria, but general trends in the dracaenoids were congruent, although often poorly supported or resolved. The dracaenoids constitute a strongly supported monophyletic group. Dracaena was resolved as a paraphyletic grade embedded with two clades of Sansevieria, a primary clade comprising most species, and a secondary clade including S. sambiranensis, a distinctive species from Madagascar. The backbone of our phylogeny was only resolved in nDNA analyses, but combined analyses recovered strongly supported species groups. None of the previous infrageneric classifications were supported by our phylogeny, and biogeographic groupings were frequently more significant than morphology. More work is needed to resolve internal relationships in the dracaenoids, but we support a recent proposal to recognise a broadened circumscription of Dracaena that includes Sansevieria. We provide a generic description for the recircumscribed Dracaena and new combinations for several species of Sansevieria in Dracaena.
Article
Soil pollution caused by toxic and hazardous chemical contaminants is in high enough concentrations to be of risk to plants, wildlife, humans and certainly for soil to itself. Pot experiments were conducted to investigate the phytoextraction capacity of an ornamental plant Sansevieria roxburghiana cultivated in soil artificially contaminated with 200, 400, and 600 mg kg⁻¹ of zinc (Zn) treatments including control for 6 weeks. The soil was amended with garlic and cilantro extracts as the natural irrigation solutions (metal chelants). Garlic application significantly enhanced the Zn accumulation and was found to be the most efficient chelating amendment, increasing concentrations of Zn in roots from 65 mg kg⁻¹ to 423 mg kg⁻¹ dry weight (DW) soil. The phytochemical screening of acetone and ether extracts of S. roxburghiana plant samples revealed the presence of biologically active phytochemicals. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) of plant extracts revealed antibacterial efficacy against pathogenic bacterial strain. The plant samples were also characterized by thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetric technique. The use of ornamental plant and varied irrigation solutions in our present study revealed positive effects on growth and phytoextraction together with an improvement of the soil quality.
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Over-prescription of medicines leads to some crucial health issues like resistance, non-specificity, etc. Therefore, a human consumes various natural foods, therapeutics, and nutritional supplements to combat this problem. Various therapeutic properties of secondary metabolites such as anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties are important in drug discovery and medicinal application. These natural products has replaced synthetic materials, resulting in a great deal of sustainability, rational use and preservation of biodiversity. This review described the potential therapeutic applications of secondary plant metabolites found in Himalayan Indian plants. The database contains 45 plants to treat various diseases such as cancer, inflammation, and microbial infections. Besides authorized ITIS names, it includes Hindi names, family names, and active constituents. The most important information about the molecules can be found in the hyperlinks for the active constituents. It includes structures (two-dimensional and three-dimensional), names and identifiers, chemical and physical properties, spectral information, biochemistry, literature and patents. The review also references various phytochemicals responsible for preventing COVID-19. Despite several challenges in manufacturing natural products, researchers may conduct research to produce successful medicines with few side effects.
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The paper deals with some less known ethnomedicinal uses of 15 plant species belonging to 13 families. These plants are used as effective remedies by tribals of Agasthiyamalai region of southern Western Ghats. India has a glorious tradition of the arts and science of healing. The origin of Indian medicine is shrouded in 'myths' and 'inspired history'. But, organised medicine, Ayurveda emerged from folk medicine at least 2,000 yrs ago with its well developed recorded system and practices. It is reported that over 20,000 plant drug formulations are listed in Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia. In addition, nearly 60,000 are believed to be in existence in the folk and tribal knowledge and practices 1 . Our ancient literature has references of plants reputed to cure difficult and incurable diseases 2 . The maximum numbers of medicinal plants are used by folk (tribal) traditions. There are over 53 million tribal people in India belonging to 550 communities of 227 ethnic groups. They inhabit about 5,000 forested villages or lead a nomadic life in the forest. Each tribal community has a distinct social and cultural identity of its own. In Kerala, the tribal communities are nearby 40 in number. Some of them are very primitive and most are advanced. The major groups of tribes in Kerala are, Kani, Adiyar, Paniyar, Kurichiar, Koragar, Kurumar, Kattunaykar, etc 3 . Kanis mainly inhabit the forests of Kerala–Tamil Nadu border, which is located in the southern most part of Western Ghats known as Agasthyar Koodam. It is believed to be the sacred abode of the great saint Agasthya and the heaven of medicinal herbs 4 . It has one of the most diverse biological resources in the region. The knowledge about tribal medicine is on the way to extinction because of the negligence and the absence of documentation. Tribals have vast knowledge about traditional medicine for various diseases. Since the tribes have some superstitious beliefs they do not reveal the medicinal secrets to others. Thus, a particular medicinal treatment is lost with the death of the knowledge holder. Interactions with the tribal people could reveal very little information. Therefore, the study was planned to document the medicinal plants used by Kani tribes of Agasthiyamalai malai to cure various diseases.
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Sansevieria roxburghiana Schult. & Schult. f. (Agavaceae) is a herbaceous perennial plant traditionally used for coughs, rheumatism; as an expectorant, febrifuge, purgative, and tonic. To evaluate the hydroalcoholic extract of S. roxburghiana rhizome (HASR) for antitumor activity against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) in Swiss albino mice. Twenty-Four hours after intraperitoneal inoculation of tumor (EAC) cells in mice, HASR was administered at 50 and 100 mg/kg body weight for nine consecutive days. On day 10 half of the mice were sacrificed and rest were kept alive for assessment of increase in life-span. The antitumor effect of HASR was assessed by evaluating tumor volume, packed cell count, viable and non-viable tumor cell count, median survival time and increase in life-span of EAC bearing hosts. Hematological profiles and serum biochemical parameters were estimated. Further, antioxidant properties were assessed by estimating lipid peroxidation, reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). HASR showed a significant (p < 0.001) decrease in tumor volume, packed cell volume and viable cell count and increased the life span of EAC bearing mice. Hematological and serum biochemical profiles were restored to normal levels in HASR treated mice as compared to EAC control. HASR treatment significantly (p <0.001) decreased lipid peroxidation and recovered GSH, SOD and CAT towards normal as compared to EAC control. The present study demonstrates that S. roxburghiana rhizome exhibited remarkable antitumor activity in Swiss mice that is plausibly attributable to its augmenting endogenous antioxidant mechanisms.
Article
Purpose: The leaves of Sansevieria roxburghiana have been said to have antimicrobial activity. The whole plant is used as cardiotonic, expectorant, febrifuge, purgative, tonic and for other purposes.This plant predominantly occurs in eastern coastal regions of India also in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and tropical Africa. Since bio-activity of rhizomes of Sansevieria roxburghiana has not been explored earlier, an effort was made to investigate the antimicrobial effect of the ethanolic extract of rhizomes of S. roxburghiana. Methodology: The rhizomes were collected, washed, dried in shade, powdered and exhaustively extracted by maceration with ethanol (95%) for three days. After three days, ethanol layer was decanted off, the solvent was distilled off and then concentrated to dryness. The antimicrobial screening by Well Diffusion and Tube Dilution Method was carried out against 5 bacterial strains- Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhimrium and 2 fungal strains. Result: The ethanolic extract was found to have significant activity against both gram-positive and gramnegative bacteria and significant antifungal activity against Claviceps purpurea and no activity against Aspergillus niger. It was also observed that as the concentration of the ethanolic extract of the rhizomes of S. roxburghiana increased, there was significant inhibition seen in the growth of bacterial cultures. Conclusion: Thus the results indicated that the ethanolic extract showed broad spectrum antibacterial activity, showed significant antifungal activity against Claviceps purpurea and no activity against Aspergillus niger.
Article
In the present study the herb, Sansevieria roxburghiana was selected to evaluate its antioxidant properties of methanol, acetone and ethyl acetate extracts of leaves using DPPH and NO radical scavenging activity method which showed a significant percentage of inhibition in a dose dependent manner with BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) as a standard reducing agent. The result showed that the different solvent extracts of S. roxburghiana exhibited good antioxidant effect and strong free radical scavenging effects on free radicals and oxidants (DPPH, NO).
Article
The aim of the study was to investigate the antibacterial activity of chromatographically separated pure fractions of leaves of Sansevieria roxburghiana and to screen the phytochemical compounds by GC-MS method. Two fractions out of the three showed pronounced activity at 1mg/ml against gram positive and gram negative bacterias responsible for various infections. In the GC-MS analysis, 16 bioactive phytochemical compounds were identified in the methanolic extract of S. roxburghiana.
Article
Sansevieria roxburghiana (Family-Agavaceae), called Murva in Sanskrit and Hindi, Indian bowstring hemp in English is a herbaceous perennial plant with short fleshy stem and stout rootstock, occurring in eastern coastal region of India, as well as in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and tropical Africa 1,2 . In India, this plant has been traditionally used for several medicinal purposes. The whole plant is traditionally used as a cardiotonic, expectorant, febrifuge, purgative, tonic, in glandular enlargement and rheumatism 3-5 . The rhizomes are mucilaginous and used in consumptive complaints, long lasting chronic persistent coughs, for quick relief of common cough and cold, in ear pain, etc. 2,5-7 . The juice of tender shoots is administered to children for clearing viscid phlegm from throats. The roots are used as febrifuge in snake bite and hemorrhoids 6,7 . The occurrence of steroidal saponins in the genus Sansevieria is well documented 8-10 . However, a survey of the literature showed that no chemical studies have been carried out on the constituents of Sansevieria roxburghiana (Agavaceae). We, herein, report the isolation of cambodianol (1) and lupeol (2) from the carbon tetrachloride soluble fraction of a methanol extract of S. roxburghiana. The 1 H NMR spectra were recorded using a Bruker AMX-400 (400 MHz) instrument and the spectra were referenced to the residual nondeuterated solvent signal. PTLC was carried out using Merck Si gel 60 F254 on glass plates (20 cm X 20 cm) at a thickness of 0.5 mm. TLC was conducted on normal-phase Merck Si gel 60 F254 on glass plates and spots on TLC and PTLC plates were visualized under UV light at 254 nm as A homoisoflavonoid and a triterpene were isolated from the carbon tetrachloride soluble fraction of a methanol extract of the whole plants of Sansevieria roxburghiana (Agavaceae). The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated as cambodianol (1) and lupeol (2) by extensive spectroscopic studies, including high field NMR analyses. well as by spraying with vanillin sulfuric acid followed by heating for 5 min at 110 ºC. Collection of plant materials: The whole plant sample of S. roxburghiana was collected from Dhaka, Bangladesh in the month of October 2009. A voucher specimen for this collection has been deposited in the herbarium of the Depart-ment of Botany, University of Dhaka. The samples were cut into small pieces and sun dried for 7 days followed by oven drying for 24 h at 40 ºC to facilitate grinding. Extraction and isolation: The powdered material (533 g) was soaked in 2.5 L of methanol in a large conical flask for 7 days with occasional shaking and stirring. The whole mixture was then filtered off through a cotton plug followed by Whatman filter paper no.1 and the filtrate thus obtained was concentrated at 40 ºC with a rotary evaporator. A portion (10 g) of the concentrated methanol extract was fractionated by the modified Kupchan partitioning protocol 11 which afforded pet-ether (4.0 g), carbon tetrachloride (2.1 g), dichloromethane (2.1 g) and aqueous (0.8 g) soluble materials. An aliquot of the carbon tetrachloride soluble partitionate (2.1 g) was fractionated by gel filtration chromatography (GFC) over Sephadex LC-20 using of a mixed solvent system of pet-ether: dichloromethane: methanol (2:5:1) followed by mixtures of methanol and dichloromethane of increasing polarity and finally only with methanol. A total of 100 fractions were collected, each 2 mL. Preparative thin layer chromato-graphy (PTLC) of column fractions eluted with 2:5:1 n-hexane:dichloromethane:methanol (column frations 39-42) over silica gel using toluene-ethyl acetate (65:35) afforded
Article
Objective: To investigate the crude methanolic extract of whole plant part of Sansevieria roxburghiana Schult. and Schult. f. (Agavaceae) and the possibility of analgesic, cytotoxic and antioxidant activities. Methods: The analgesic activity was assessed by acetic acid induced writhing test in mice. The cytotoxic activity was evaluated by brine shrimp lethality bioassay while antioxidant effect was measured by 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay. Results: The ethyl acetate soluble fraction of the crude extract was found to have significant (P<0.001) analgesic activity at the oral dose of 100 mg/kg body weight. In brine shrimp lethality bioassay, the aqueous soluble fraction exhibited maximum toxicity towards the shrimp with LC50 value of 0.735 毺g/mL compared to 0.544 毺g/mL exhibited by standard vincristine. The crude methanolic extract along with its all partitionates revealed mild to moderate free radical scavenging activity. Conclusions: These primary findings suggest that the extract might possess some chemical constituents that are responsible for analgesic, cytotoxic and antioxidant activities.
Article
The present study evaluated antidiabetic activity of hydroalcoholic extract of Sansevieria roxburghiana rhizome (HASR) in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Hyperglycemia was induced in rats by streptozotocin (STZ, 65 mg/kg body weight). Three days after STZ induction, diabetic rats received HASR orally at 50 and 100 mg/kg body weight daily for 15 days. Glibenclamide (0.5 mg/kg, orally) served as reference. Blood glucose levels were measured on every 5th day during 15 days. Serum biochemical parameters viz. SGPT, SGOT, SALP, cholesterol, triglycerides, and total protein were estimated. Hepatic and renal lipid peroxidation, reduced glutathione (GSH) and catalase (CAT) were also assessed. HASR significantly (P<0.001) and dose dependently normalized blood glucose levels, serum biochemical parameters; decreased lipid peroxidation and recovered GSH and CAT as compared to those of STZ controls. Therefore, S. roxburghiana rhizome demonstrated remarkable antidiabetic activity in STZinduced diabetic rats. The potential antidiabetic action is plausibly due to its modulation of endogenous antioxidant status.
Article
A new homoisoflavonoid, named cambodianol (1), together with the two known flavanes, (2S)-7,3'-dihydroxy-4'-methoxy-8-methylflavane (2) and (2R)-7,4'-dihydroxy-8-methylflavane (3), were isolated from the stems of Dracaena cambodiana. Their structures were determined based on HR-ESI-MS and spectroscopic techniques (UV, IR, 1D-, and 2D-NMR). Compound 1 exhibited significant cytotoxic activities against K562 and SGC-7901 with the IC(50) values of 1.4 and 2.9 microg/ml, respectively.
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