Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry and Biological Activity of Inula Racemosa Hook. F: A Review

Abstract

Inula racemosa Hook. F (Asteraceae) commonly known as Pushkaramula is a well documented Indian medicinal plant. Pushkarmula is one of the herbs mentioned in all Ayurvedic scriptures. It possesses various synonyms like kasari-an enemy of cough, sulahara -pain killer, sughandhikafragrant etc. The great sage Charaka has categorized it as hikkanigrahanastops hiccup and svasaharaalleviates the breathlessness, asthma. It is also best medicament for pleurisy along with cough and asthma. Pushkarmula is highly acclaimed to be the drug of choice for pleurisy (parsvasula). It has also anti-inflammatory, cardiovascular, hypoglycemic, antianginal, analgesic and antibacterial properties. Many of these ethnomedicinal properties have been experimentally proven in different animal models. This article is an attempt to collect and review all the data concerning systemic scientific study of ethnopharmacology of I. racemosa, its isolated phytoconstituents and bioactivity of extracts as well as isolated compounds from the plant.

An Integrative Transcriptional Network Revealed Spatial Molecular Interplay Underlying Alantolactone and Inulin Biosynthesis in Inula racemosa Hook f.

“…The Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) is a rich source of diverse pharmaceutically important medicinal plant species. The pharmaceutical attributes of “pushkarmula” ( Inula racemosa ) are associated with its ability to accumulate sesquiterpene lactones (SLs), secoiridoids, and inulin [ 1 ]. Comprehensive organ-specific transcriptional analysis of the phyto-pharmaceutically important specialized metabolites including alantolactones (SL and inulin) can assist in devising strategies towards plant metabolic engineering.…”

“…The Inula racemosa Hook. f. (Pushkarmula; family: Asteraceae), is a high-altitude perennial herb having its natural habitat in the cold, arid western alpine region of the Himalayas (2700–3500 m) [ 1 ]. According to Indian ayurvedic scripture, I. racemosa is among the most important ornamental, aromatic, and pharmaceutically important plant species of the genus Inula [ 2 ].…”

“…The roots of Pushkarmula were used by ancient mankind for treatment of cardiovascular, liver diseases, and respiratory tract disorders in east Asia and Europe [ 5 ]. Interestingly, various medicinal attributes of the plants, viz., antispasmodic, antitussive, analgesic, hypotensive, hepatoprotective, fungicidal, and antiseptic properties, have been experimentally proven in different animal models [ 1 , 6 ].…”

Comparative study between the five different species belongs to Inula genus as inhibitors of pancreatic lipase

“…IC50 is the concentration of different plant extracts at which 50% lipase inhibition was observed at different concentrations of plant extract ranging from 50 to 500 µg/mL From the data obtained from the experiment the IC50 was calculated from regression analysis and the curve of IC50 was plotted against percentage inhibition using Microsoft excel (Zheng et al, 2010;Firdous et al, 2018).…”

Isolation, Characterization of Active Constituent and Evaluation of Hepatoprotective Activity of Inula Racemosa Hook. F. Roots

“…Pushkarmula is an important herb, mentioned in various Ayurvedic literature 7 . This herb possesses various attributes like kasari-an enemy of cough, sulahara-pain killer, sughandhikafragrant etc 8 . The great sage Charaka has categorized it as hikkanigrahana-stops hiccup and svasahara-alleviates the breathlessness, asthma 7 .…”