A REVIEW ON NATURAL CHALCONES AN UPDATE

Plants are a valuable source of secondary metabolites. Many phytochemicals are obtained from the plant sources that are used as valuable medicinal agents. Chalcones are one of the important secondary metabolites obtained from many edible plants like foods, vegetables, tea, spices and natural foodstuffs. Chalcones considered as obligate intermediated in flavonoid biosynthesis but they do not accumulate to an appreciable degree in most plants. Chalcones are a group of plant-derived polyphenolic compounds belonging to the flavonoids family that possess a wide variety of cytoprotective and modulatory functions, which may have therapeutic potential for multiple diseases. The largest number of natural chalcones has been isolated from species of the Leguminosae, Asteraceae and Moraceae families. Chalcone accumulating plants have often been used in traditional medicine and These chalcones and their derivatives have shown important antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-mycobacterial, antimalarial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-tumor, antileishmanial, anticancer properties. The purpose of this review is to summarize the various naturally occurring chalcone compounds which have been isolated from different plants and to describe the recent efforts of scientists in a pharmacological screening of chalcones, studying importance of chalcones and their biological activities.