PhytoPharmacological Aspects of Bisehri Booti (Aerva Lanata) and its Uses in Unani System of Medicine - A Review
Nighat Anjum, Neelam Quddusi and Misbahuddin Azhar
Hippocratic Journal of Unani Medicine
Hippocratic Journal of Unani Medicine July – September 2017, Vol. 12, No. 3, Pages 51-64
Abstract
This review article is an attempt to explore the origin and history of use of Bisehri Booti (BB) (Aerva Lanata (Linn.) in Unani system of medicine and to establish the fact that the drug is in fact a part of the rich documentation of the Unani system of medicine. It also recapitulates the action and uses of BB mentioned in Unani classical literature along with the morphology, phytochemistry and pharmacological aspects to provide a direction for further research. The review reveals that the plant, as part of folk medicine, has been used by some Unani Physicians of western Uttar Pradesh, India for cough, strangury (slow to be and painful discharge of urine), headache and Urolithiasis. Further, the authors in this article based on the review suggest that BB has many phytochemical constituents for example; alkaloids, flavanoids, tannic acid etc. in addition to activities like diuretic, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic, anti-diabetic, antiparasitic, antimicrobial, hepato-protective, anti-urolithiasis, anti-asthmatic,
antifertility and hypolipidemic.