A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW ON THE GENUS LEEA (FAMILY LEEACEAE) WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON THE INDIAN SPECIES

The genus Leea distributed majorly in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, and Madagascar, belongs to the family Leeaceae. It comprises 36 species that are used worldwide for different medicinal purposes. In this decade, research interests in the genus Leea have grown in the fields of systematics, phylogenetic studies, analytical chemistry, identification and isolation of active metabolites, pharmacology, and phytochemistry. A wide range of phytochemicals with a variety of pharmacological activities were found to be possessed by different species of the Leea family, flavonoids, phenolics, triterpenoids, and tannins being the major ones. Different plant parts are claimed to be used for the treatment of human and animal ailments. Unlike members of Vitaceae, Leeaceae members (Leea species) do not form tendrils and include erect herbs, shrubs and trees but have shared features such as raphides, minute droplets of plant sap called pearl glands, phloem plastids, common corolla-stamen primordia, as well as similar wood and testa anatomy similar to Vitaceae family. This review reveals new insights on the genus Leea and the potential use of species in the genus as medicinal plants, with Leea indica and Leea macrophylla being the most important species, whose roots, leaves, and whole plants possess various pharmacological actions as they are rich in flavonoids, triterpenoids, and tannins.