Barleria prionitis: Journey from Ayurveda to Modern Medicine

Natural products are a rich source of chemical constituents with wide structural diversity, along with tremendous therapeutic potential. So that the medicine derived from natural sources such as plants, microorganisms, marine, etc. are the endowments of nature for the endurance of life. Barleria prionitis (BP) is one of the medicinal plants, used by people for curing various ailments from the ancient time. According to literature, almost 300 species of Barleria are known; among them Barleria prionitis is one of the important species distributed worldwide. Barleria prionitis is an ayurvedic medicinal plant, eminently known as “Vajradanti” and “Procupine flower” member of the Acanthaceae family. Barleria is a prickly shrub, found to be enriched with a diverse class of secondary metabolites such as anthraquinones, terpenoids, flavonoids and iridoid glycosides. Almost every part of this plant has been screened for various pharmacological activities viz. antiseptic, antifertility, antihypertensive, diuretic, hepatoprotective and so on. Barleria prionitis is one of the vital ingredients of many herbal teeth formulations. This review gives insight into the botany, ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological activities, clinical study, quality control, and formulations of Barleria prionitis. A compilation of these data might be helpful to the scientists working on this plant. There are few untapped parameters of Barleria, like pharmacokinetics and molecular level mechanism studies that can be an important area of research.