PHYTOCHEMISTRY AND MEDICINAL ATTRIBUTES OF A. SCHOLARIS: A REVIEW

The plant Alstonia scholaris has been used in different system of traditional medicine for the treatment of diseases. The extract of the plant showed pharmacological activities ranging from anti-malarial to anticancer properties. Alstonia scholaris is such plant who have medicinal activity against many of the ailments. In recent times, there is an upsurge of interest and focus on the importance of medicinal plants and traditional health systems in solving the health care problems of the world. In India, the bark of Alstonia scholaris is used solely for medicinal purposes, ranging from malaria and epilepsy to skin conditions and asthma. In Ayurveda, it is used as a bitter and as an astringent herb for treating skin disorders, malarial fever, urticaria, chronic dysentery, diarrhea, in snake bite. The Milky juice of the tree is applied to ulcers. An ethanol extract of the bark of Alstonia scholaris enhanced the anticancer activity of berberine in the carcinoma-bearing mice. This extract also showed cytotoxic activity. It contains echitamine and loganin as major compounds and could potentially be used as an anti-irritation agent. The methanolic extract of the bark has the analgesic activity. The bark extract also exerted a strong inhibitory effect on epididymides, seminal vesicle and prostate gland as evinced by decrease in their weights. This review complies a report on phytochemistry and pharmacological aspects of plant Alstonia Scholaris. The plant is used in traditional, Ayurvedic, Unani, Homoeopathy and Sidhha/Tamil types of alternative medicinal systems against different ailments