"Ziziphus oxyphylla": Ethnobotanical, ethnopharmacological and phytochemical review

Ziziphus oxyphylla (ZO) is distributed mainly in tropic and warm temperate regions in the world. Pakistan owns six (06) indigenous species of genus Ziziphus out of which ZO is widely used for traditional treatment of different ailments such as diabetes, jaundice and liver diseases.

The present review aims to provide in-depth and comprehensive literature overview, regarding botanical, chemical and biological characteristics of the plant alongwith phytochemical isolation and mechanistic studies to support its folklore and traditional uses.

The literature search and relevant information were collected through authentic resources using data bases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Science Direct, peer reviewed articles, books and thesis.

The phytochemical characterization as well as color tests confirmed the presence of diverse chemical groups presents in the plant such as alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds and tannins. In-vivo and in-vitro pharmacological activities for the crude extracts and its fractions revealed potent antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antioxidant, antibacterial as well as acetyl choline esterase and lipoxygenase inhibitory activity. Majority of the isolated compounds belonged to class of Cyclopeptide alkaloids for which the genus is already very famous. Compounds from alkaloids and flavonoids chemical class were isolated and evaluated with a role as antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-glycation and advanced glycation end products inhibitors. No toxicity was observed during cytotoxicity (MRC-5 cell lines), insecticidal and brine shrimp lethality studies.

The review article supports the folklore uses of this plant in the aforementioned diseases. The plant due to its diverse biological nature may be further studied for mechanistic studies, its anticancer effects as well as its potency and toxicity studies for safe use in human beings.