Cressa cretica Linn: An Important Medicinal Plant – A Review on Its Traditional Uses, Phytochemical, and Pharmacological Properties
Sangeeta Rani1*, Sudhir Chaudhary1, Pradeep Singh1, Garima Mishra1, K. K. Jha1, R. L. Khosa
Department of Pharmacognosy, Teerthanker Mahaveer College of Pharmacy, Teerthanker Mahaveer University, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, 244001.
Department of Pharmacy, Bharat Institute of Technology, Partapur Bypass, Delhi Road, Meerut.
Abstract
The importance of medicinal plants in traditional health care practices, providing clues to new areas of drug research and biodiversity conservation, is now well recognized. Cressa cretica (Linn) belonging to the family Convolvulaceae, commonly known as Rudravanti, is an erect, small, dwarf shrub that usually grows in sandy or muddy saline habitats. Though almost all of its parts are used in traditional systems of medicines, leaves and roots are the most important parts that are used medicinally. The present article gives an account of updated information on its phytochemical and pharmacological properties.
The review reveals that wide numbers of phytochemical constituents have been isolated from the plant, which possesses activities like antibacterial, antifungal, antitussive, testicular functions, antifertility activities, and various other important medicinal properties. It is known to possess flavonoids, heavy metals, lead, copper, zinc, and nickel present in Cressa cretica. It contains terpenic compounds, syringaresinol-β-ddeglucoside, triacontanoic acid, stigmasterol, ursolic acids, β-amyrin, and edible fixed oil. It also contains quercetin, n-octacosanol, scopoletin, and umbelliferone.
Keywords: Cressa cretica, Rudanti, pharmacological properties, scopoletin
In the last few years, there has been an exponential growth in the field of herbal medicine, and these drugs are gaining popularity both in developing and developed countries because of their natural origin and fewer side effects. Many traditional medicines in use are derived from medicinal plants, minerals, and organic matter. [1]
A number of medicinal plants, traditionally used for over 1000 years named rasayana, are present in herbal preparations of Indian traditional healthcare systems. [2] In Indian systems of medicine, most practitioners formulate and dispense their recipes. [3]
Plant-based drugs have been in use against various diseases since time immemorial. The primitive man used herbs as therapeutic agents and medicament, which they were able to procure. [4]
Scholar Research Library
Sangeeta Rani et al., J. Nat. Prod. Plant Resour., 2011, 1 (1): 91-100
Easily, nature has provided abundant plant wealth for all living creatures, which possess medicinal virtues. [4] The important values of some plants have long been published, but a large number of them remain unexplored as yet. So, there is a necessity to explore their uses and to conduct pharmacognostic and pharmacological studies to ascertain their therapeutic properties. [5] Herbal medicines have a strong traditional or conceptual base, and the potential to be useful as drugs in terms of safety and effectiveness, leads to treating different diseases. The World Health Organization has made an attempt to identify all medicinal plants used globally and listed more than 20,000 species. [6] According to the WHO, more than 80% of the world’s population relies on traditional herbal medicine for their primary healthcare. [7]
Although herbal medicine has existed since the dawn of time, our knowledge of how plants actually affect human physiology remains largely unexplored. A number of plants are claiming various medicinal uses, and many researches are going on in this view. India is one among the 25 hotspots of the richest and highly endangered eco-regions of the world. [8] Cressa cretica (Linn), belonging to the family Convolvulaceae, commonly known as Rudravanti, is an erect, small, dwarf shrub, [9] usually growing in sandy or muddy saline habitats along with the species Suaeda maritima, Salicornia europaea, Salsola soda, Limonium vulgare subsp. Serotnum, and Crypsis aculeate. [10] Variation in Cressa has been handled in two ways: extreme lumping into the single species C. cretica or extreme splitting of every morphological variant into 19 species. [11-15] Those in the New World represent C. nudicaulis and C. truxillensis. [16-18] The two in the Old World, however, are still being placed in a single species, C. cretica. [15-21]
Taxonomic classification:
Kingdom – Plantae Phylum – Angiosperms Class – Magnoliatae Subclass – Asteridae Order – Polemoniales Family – Convolvulaceae Genus – Cressa Species – Cretica
Synonyms:
Sanskrit – Rudanti Hindi – Rudravanti Oriya – Dahna Bengali – Rudravanti Tamil – Uppusanaga Telugu – Uppugaddi, Uppusenaga Kannada – Mullumaddugida Konkani – Chaval Malayalam – Azhukanni Marathi – Lona, Rudravanti
Scholarly Research Library
Sangeeta Rani et al. J. Nat. Prod. Plant Resour., 2011, 1 (1): 91-100
Geographical Source C. cretica is a remarkable salt-tolerant plant common in coastal areas [22] and usually occurs in monospecific stands along the landward edge of marshes [23]. This plant is distributed throughout India, Timor, and Australia (Western Australia, Northern Territory, Southern Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria).
Morphology C. cretica L. is an erect, small, dwarf shrub [24] up to 38 cm in height. Roots are horizontal, geminate, with lateral branches leading upward to produce above-ground parts. It is a perennial subshrub or herb, usually much-branched. Stems are at first erect and then become decumbent, apparently short-lived, gray appressed pilose to sericeous. Leaves on main branches are often larger than those on branchlets, the blade 1-12 mm long, lanceolate, ovate or elliptic- to scale-like, sessile, and peduncle lengths, stamen lengths, filament pubescence, and ranges distinguish [25, 28].
Flowers are solitary, white or pink, axillary, 5-8 mm long, sessile, or on short peduncles, bracteates, in spicate to head-like clusters at tips of branchlets, bracteoles unequal in length. Sepals ovate to obovate imbricate. Corolla salver form, the limb 5-lobed, the lobes mostly ovate, imbricate, spreading to reflexed. Stamens exserted; filaments filiform; styles exserted. Ovary 2-locular, 4-ovulate; styles 2, distinct to the base; stigmas capitate. Fruit is capsular, ovoid, unilocular, 2-4-valved, and usually one-seeded. Seeds are 3-4 mm long, glabrous and smooth, and shining to reticulate, dark brown [26, 27, 28].
Fig. Leaves & Flowers of Cressa cretica
Traditional Uses Traditionally, the plant is used in diabetes and asthma. It is used as an expectorant, stomachic, antibilious, and alternative [29]. The plant has anthelmintic, stomachic, tonic, and aphrodisiac purposes enriches the blood and is useful in constipation, leprosy, asthma, and urinary discharges [30]. It is reported to be antibilious, antitubercular, and expectorant [31, 32]. The plant is traditionally used in Bahrain as an expectorant and antibilious agent [32]. Dry leaves of C. cretica crushed with sugar are used as an emetic in Sudan [33].
Phytochemistry Bahar Ahmed (1998) reported that the alc. ext. of fruits of Cressa cretica Linn. has afforded a new coumaranochromone glycoside, designated as cresoside. It has been characterized as 7,4′-dihydroxy-5-methoxycoumaranochromone-7-O-β-D-glucoside on the basis of spectral and chem. methods [34]. Ramidi Ramachandran et al. (2003) isolated eight acyclic terpenic compounds, namely cressanyl 93.
