A Comprehensive Review on Pharmacognostical and Pharmacological Characters of Anchusa azurea

Abstract

Anchusa azurea (Syn. Anchusa italica) belong to the Boraginaceae family and were distributed in the temperate, especially in Mediterranean regions. Chemical studies showed that A. azurea contains mainly triterpenes and polyphenols. A. azurea possessed many pharmacological effects; these included anticancer, antioxidant and antiviral effects etc. The aim of this review article is to gather information about A. azurea which is currently scattered in form of various publications PubMed, Science Direct and Elsevier etc. Through this review article we tried to attract the attention of people for therapeutic potential of A. azurea. The present review comprises upto date information of traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of A. azurea. Some progress has been made, but still consistent efforts are required to explore the individual compounds isolated A. azurea to validate and understand its traditional uses and clinical practices. This review article provides preliminary information and gives a direction for the basic and clinical research on A. azurea.