Research progress on medicinal plants of Flemingia Roxb. ex W. T. Ait / 中草药

ABSTRACT

The genus Flemingia Roxb. ex W. T. Ait. (Leguminosae) was originally recorded in "Zhiwu Mingshi Tukao", written by WU Qi-jun in Qing Dynasty. Its abundant sources were widely used for multi-nationalities in a long history of application. This review mainly focused on the general applied situations, chemical constituents and pharmacological effects, thus provided a basis for further investigation of genus Flemingia Roxb. ex W.T. Ait., and offered a better understanding of its developing market potential. So far, 197 compounds have been separated and identified from genus Flemingia Roxb. ex W.T. Ait., including flavonoids, saponins, anthraquinones, triterpenes, volatile oil, etc. Moreover, modern pharmacological studies have shown that several pharmacological effects have been found from the extracts and individual compounds (mainly flavonoids), including analgesia and anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antifungal, estrogen, skin protection, neuroprotection, hepatoprotective effect, and so on. The genus Flemingia Roxb. ex W.T. Ait. is rich in resources and promiscuous in germplasm resources, which results in the remarkble differences in regions, time as well as the different parts of the content chemical composition,and there is no standardized control index of quality. With the development of modern separation and identify techniques, the determination of multiple chemical components has been widely accepted for quality control of genus Flemingia Roxb. ex W.T. Ait. On the whole, these achievements will further expand the existing market potential of the plants in the genus and provide a beneficial support to its further clinical use in modern medicine.