Vascular Epiphytic Medicinal Plants as Sources of Therapeutic Agents: Their Ethnopharmacological Uses, Chemical Composition, and Biological Activities
Authors
Ari Nugraha
Drug Utilisation and Discovery Research Group, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Jember, Jember, Jawa Timur 68121, Indonesia; [email protected]
Bawon Triatmoko
Drug Utilisation and Discovery Research Group, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Jember, Jember, Jawa Timur 68121, Indonesia; [email protected]
Phurpa Wangchuk
Centre for Biodiscovery and Molecular Development of Therapeutics, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD 4878, Australia; [email protected]
Paul Keller
School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience and Molecular Horizons, University of Wollongong, and Illawarra Health & Medical Research Institute, Wollongong, NSW 2522 Australia
Keywords:
epiphytes, medicinal plants, phytochemistry, pharmacology, drug leads
Abstract
This is an extensive review on epiphytic plants that have been used traditionally as medicines. It provides information on 185 epiphytes and their traditional medicinal uses, regions where Indigenous people use the plants, parts of the plants used as medicines and their preparation, and their reported phytochemical properties and pharmacological properties aligned with their traditional uses. These epiphytic medicinal plants are able to produce a range of secondary metabolites, including alkaloids, and a total of 842 phytochemicals have been identified to date. As many as 71 epiphytic medicinal plants were studied for their biological activities, showing promising pharmacological activities, including as anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer agents. There are several species that were not investigated for their activities and are worthy of exploration. These epipythes have the potential to furnish drug lead compounds, especially for treating cancers, and thus warrant indepth investigations.
Keywords: epiphytes, medicinal plants, phytochemistry, pharmacology, drug leads
Click on "Archives" to access the full archive of scientific preprints. You may use the categories and the search functionality to find select preprints you're interested in.
