ABSTRACT
Acacia nilotica Linn commonly known as Babul is a multipurpose tree. As the world is turning back towards the herbal drug, it is the need of the hour to re-evaluate the knowledge of traditional medicine through vast review. In the Unani traditional system of medicine, all parts of the plant have been used as a remedy for various diseases and are imputed for their medicinal properties. Hence, this review presents an overview of the medicinal properties of different parts of A. nilotica L. used in Unani medicine, its phytochemical constituents, and diverse pharmacological activities. The information related to this drug was retrieved using the classical Unani sources viz., Al-Qanun fi’l Tibb (Canon of Medicine), Iksir-i-A‘zam, Al Hawi fi’l Tibb (Continens Liber), Tarjuma Kamil al-Sana‘a al-Tibbiyya, Dhakhira Khawarizm Shahi, Biyaz-i-Kabir and Tibb-i-Akbar for medicinal properties used in Unani Medicine. Further for other traditional uses, phytoconstituents and pharmacological activities, different search engines like PubMed, Medline, Google Scholar, Ovid, Science Direct and Scopus were also browsed. A. nilotica possesses various medicinal properties as per classical Unani texts such as astringent, tonic, wound healing, aphrodisiac, expectorant, resolvent, and antispasmodic. In vivo, in vitro, and clinical studies from the published articles validate the fact that A. nilotica is a potential source of various bioactive compounds having various pharmacological properties and therapeutic uses. The various pharmacological activities are anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antibacterial, anticancerous, antidiabetic and antihypertensive properties. This review concludes that the Unani medicinal effects of A. nilotica are proven by scientific studies.