PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF MUNTINGIA CALABURA: AN OVERVIEW OF THE LAST LUSTRUM

Background: In honor of a dutch botanist, Abraham Munting, the tree was named Muntigia calabura L. The Jamaica cherry, M. calabura is a shrub or tree which is native to Jamaica, Brazil, Mexico, and North America. M. calabura is a well-known, fast-growing tree clasped with different medicinal and health benefits. Different parts of the tree are being used for various ailments in different parts of the world. Objective: To summarize updated information regarding the pharmacological activities of Muntingia calabura L. Materials and Method: Few databases like Google Scholar, Science Direct, and Pub Med were used for the literature survey. Google and Bing search also carried out using the common and scientific names of the plant as keywords. For reviewing, articles that are related to ecology and agriculture are excluded. And articles that were not in the English language were also excluded. Results: Above mentioned search engines yielded 47 articles. Among them, 17 articles which were published between 2015 and 2019 were selected for inclusion in this review. From the literature survey, we found that M. calabura contains significant pharmacological properties like antinociceptive, antiulcer, anticancer, antispasmodic, antihyperuricemic, hepatoprotective, antidiabetic activity. Conclusion: It is evident from the literature that M. calabura possesses a significant medicinal property and requires further and in-depth research. This review is therefore intended to give baseline information for future researchers.