Wrightia tinctoria R. Br.-a review on its ethnobotany, pharmacognosy and pharmacological profile

Different parts of Wrightia tinctoria R. Br. (Apocynaceae) (W. tinctoria), have been extensively used in Indian systems of medicine such as Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani for the treatment of jaundice, malaria, psoriasis and many other ailments. The present review has been primed to describe the existing data on the information on the traditional uses, botany, pharmacognosy, phytochemical constituents, pharmacological activities and toxicology of W. tinctoria. The information was gathered via electronic search (using Google Scholar, NOPR, Pubmed, Elsevier, Medline Plus and Web of Science) and library search for the books on traditional medicine as well as the articles published in peer-reviewed journals. The plant is rich in compounds containing alkaloids, saponins, indoxy yielding O-glycoside(s), phenolics, flavonoids, isatin tryptanthrin, anthranillate, rutin, β-isatin, tryptophan, indigotin, indirubin, wrightial and sterols. The vast number of literature found in database revealed that the extracts of different parts of W. tinctoria showed significant pharmacological actions. Clinical studies indicated a broad range of applications in the treatment of psoriasis and other skin diseases. We suggest that there is a need for further investigations to isolate active principles that confer pharmacological action. Therefore, identification of such active compound is useful for producing safer drugs in the treatments of various ailments