01. Podophyllum hexandrum: An endangered medicinal plant from Pakistan
Abstract
Podophyllum hexandrum Royle syn P. emodi Wall. ex Hook. F & Thoms is an important medicinal plant. It is categorized as globally rare plant in IUCN red list. In Pakistan it is found at higher elevations of Himalaya, Gilgit, Chitral, Azad Kashmir. Plant body contains about 8% of podophylloresin from which several lignans have been isolated. Among them the most important is podophyllotoxin which has cytotoxic and anticancerous properties. Total synthesis of podophyllotoxin is an expensive process and availability of the compound from natural resources is an important task for pharmaceutical companies that manufacture these drugs. In Pakistan, Podophyllum hexandrum is on the verge of being endangered due to overexploitation for pharmaceutical purposes. This article briefly reviews botanical, medicinal, phytochemical, pharmacological and molecular attributes of this plant species along with its conservation strategies.
