Gmelina asiatica: exploring traditional uses, pharmacological insights, and phytoconstituents—a comprehensive review (1961–2023)

 Gmelina asiatica is one of the medicinal plants that has a great significance in traditional Indian medicines; Siddha and Ayurveda in particular. It is also used in traditional Chinese medicine.  The few reports conducted on the pharmacological activities of this plant scientifically support some of its traditional uses. These activities have been shown to include anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antihyperglycemic, antipyretic, nematicidal, anxiolytic, neuroprotective, anti-microbial, hepatoprotective, nephroprotective and analgesic activity. Gmelina asiatica is rich in furofuran lignans and flavonoids and contains many other secondary and primary metabolites.

In order to conduct a comprehensive review of Gmelina asiatica, a scientific study entitled: “Gmelina asiatica: exploring traditional uses, pharmacological insights, and phytoconstituents—a comprehensive review (1961–2023)” was conducted in the Faculty of Pharmacy, Damascus University, in cooperation with the Indian Institute of Technology, BHU India.

The current review aims to provide the published information on Gmelina asiatica, its features, traditional uses, ethnobotanical uses by different tribes, pharmacological activities, and reported phytoconstituents, from 1961 to September 2023, which was collected from books and online databases such as Scopus, Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, SpringerLink, and Wiley Online Library. ChemDraw software was used to draw different chemical formulas.

The study aims to prepare a detailed report on "Gmelina asiatica" based on the scientific literature available from 1961 to 2023, highlight the medical importance of the plant and evaluate some of the popular uses and gaps that need to be addressed, in addition to providing ideas for recommended future research to optimize the plant's medical properties.

The results of the study concluded that the biological activities of "Gmelina asiatica" were scientifically proven. The most important of these activities were: anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, antihyperglycemic, antipyretic, nematicidal, anxiolytic, neuroprotective, anti-microbial, hepatoprotective, nephroprotective, analgesic and others.