BOSWELLIA SERRATA ROXB. A TRADITIONAL HERB WITH VERSATILE PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITY: A REVIEW

Boswellia serrata Roxb. is known as kundur in Unani medicine, belongs to the family Burseraceae. The plant is widely distributed in India, it occurs in dry hilly forests of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Assam, Orrisa, central peninsular regions of Andhra Pradesh etc. In ancient times Hindus, Babylonians, Persians, Romans, Chinese, Greeks and the people of old American civilization used its resin primarily for embalming and for its incense in cultural functions. This herb is mentioned in traditional Unani texts as an effective remedy for bronchitis, asthma, cough, cardiovascular diseases, diarrhea, dysentery, ringworm, boils, fevers (antipyretic), skin and blood diseases, mouth sores, vaginal discharges, etc. The qualitative phytochemical study of this plant extract indicates the presence of tannin, pentosans, lignin, holocellulose, β-sitosterol, and both volatile and non-volatile oils. The volatile oils of resin such as cadinene, eleneol, gereniol, linalool, β-pinene, phenols, terpenyl acetate, bornyl acetate etc and non votalie oils like  diterpene alcohol serratol, α- and β-amyrin and eight triterpenic acids, viz., Boswellic acid. It chiefly possesses anti-arthritic, anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-cancer, hypoglycaemic, anti-asthmatic, analgesic, hepato-protective etc activities. This article is a comprehensive review to explore the correlation between the traditional uses proven by recent researches and furthermore, other researches are also highlighted, which are not reported in classical texts.