Executive Summary
Chemical Constituents and Biological Activities of Fagonia indica Burm F, Study Shows
Department of Pesticides, Faculty of Agriculture, Menoufiya University, Shebin El-Kom 32511, Egypt
Fagonia indica Burm F. (Mushikka or white spine) is a plant distributed in the deserts of Asia and Africa. It is used in folk medicine for cancer as well as most of the disorders considered to be due to poisons. Fagonia indica Burm F. plant collected from UAE desert was found to contain a moderately high percentage (3%) of flavonoid. The study provides some pharmacological rationale for the traditional use of Fagonia indica Burm F as analgesic and antitumor in folk medicine.
The alcoholic extract of the whole plant possesses analgesic action which is probably mediated through both central and peripheral mechanisms and does not seem to involve opioid receptors.
Researchers found the antitumor and the antimicrobial activities of the alcoholic extract and its fractions were also documented. These results provide some pharmacological rationale for the traditional use of the plant as analgesic and antitumor in folk medicine.
The health promotive, disease preventive and rejuvenation approach available in the Indian systems of medicine like >Ayurveda is gaining greater attention and popularity in many regions of the world. Several Indian medicinal plants (rasayana) have been extensively used in the Ayurvedic system of medicine for the management of neurodegenerative diseases mentioned earlier (Satpute et al., 2009).