Azadirachta: Biodiversity and its Impact on Health
Dev Dutt Patel, Nisha Bilkhiwal, Ronit Parashar, Shivani Jangeer, Garima Sharma, Priyadarshi Meena; Mahesh Kumar Meena and Ritu Kamal Yadav
Department of Zoology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur - 302004 India *Corresponding author: monarajkamal@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Azadirachta is a genus from family Meliaceae; several plants from this genus found throughout the world including neem, Indian lilac, pride of India, chinaberry tree, bead-tree, Cape lilac, syringa berry tree, Persian lilac, and white cedar. It flourishes extensively in desert, tropical, and subtropical regions of the world. The plant parts such as leaf, blossom, seed, bark, and root all contain a variety of medicinal bioactive compounds like Azadirachtin, Catechin, Cyclic Trisulphide, Cyclic Tetrasulfide, Isomargolonone, Gedunin, Gallic acid, Nimbin, Nimbidin, Nimbolide, NB-II peptidoglycan, Mehmoodin, Margolone, Margolonone, Polysaccharides GIA, Polysaccharides GIB, Polysaccharides GIIA, Polysaccharides GIIIA, Polysaccharides, Sodiumnimbidate and Salanin. These phytoconstituents have been shown various biomedical applications like Antioxidant, Anticancer, Antiinflammatory, Antidiabetic, Antimicrobial, Antimalarial, Antinephrotoxicity, Growth-promoting and immunomodulatory effects, hepatoprotective activity and neuroprotective effects. The current review will provide a brief summary of the global biodiversity, importance, and medicinal potentials of genus Azadiracta