A review on plants of genus polygonatum.

Plants of genus Polygonatum (Ruscaceae) are widely used in traditional medicine to cure many diseases such as ageing, antioxidative action, insecticidal, antiherpetic, antinociception and aphrodisiac. A variety of phytoconstituents has been isolated from the Polygonatum species which include lignans, flavonoids, coumarins, steroids, terpenes, fatty acids and aliphatic long chain compounds. Anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antidiarrhoeal, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antimalarial and insecticidal activities have been reported in the extracts of these plants and their phytoconstituents. An overview of the ethnobotanical, phytochemical and pharmacological investigations on the Polygonatum species is presented in this review.