Medicinal & Aromatic Plants
Open Access

Abstract

Biological Activities of Salvadora persica L. (Meswak)

Hilal Ahmad and Rajagopal K

Salvadora persica L., commonly known as the Meswak tree, occurs in shrub savannah. From northwestern India to Africa, the plant has been valued for its important biological and chemical perspectives and its use in as oral hygiene has been documented in ethno botanical reports. The present review gives a comprehensive summary of the chemical constituents and biological effects (antibacterial and antifungal) of this species. A comprehensive account of the chemical constituents with their biological activity is also included. The extracts prepared with and compounds isolated from this species have been found to possess a broad spectrum of biological and pharmacological effects, such as antidepressant effects, wound-healing, antiviral and antimicrobial activity. Moreover, the extracts and preparations from the plant, which are hopefully safe as is evident from its ethonobotanical studies, exhibited various additional biological effects like antigingival irritation, hypoglycemia, antioxidant, antifever, anti-ulcerogenic, anti-caries and antiplatelet-agression effect. The antibacterial activity of crude extracts can be related to the use of the herb as an oral hygiene in ancient times. The available literature indicates that it has a higher antibacterial activity against oral bacteria, and aqueous extracts were shown to possess more pronounced activity than alcoholic extracts (methanolic/ethanolic). Based on the chemical and pharmacological characteristics of S. persica, we concluded that this species has beneficial therapeutic properties, and has the potential for use as an effective adaptogenic herbal remedy.