Ethnomedicinal Uses, Antidiabetic, Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Activity of Gmelina arborea Roxb. and Its Bioactive Compounds: A Review

Gmelina arborea Roxb. (Family: Verbenaceae) is a medicinal plant that has been used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus (DM) since ancient times. Decoctions prepared from various parts of G. arborea are used in traditional systems of medicine as a remedy against DM and various other diseases. The present review describes the antidiabetic, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of G. arborea extracts and their bioactive phytoconstituents that are likely to contribute to antidiabetic properties and their therapeutic importance in the management of diabetes. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using PubMed, ScienceDirect, Semantic Scholar and Google Scholar databases. Studies published from 1970 to 2021 were considered in this review. Out of the 157 results, 34 articles were excluded being duplications and 58 articles were excluded being outside the scope of this review. The remaining 65 articles were considered in this review. The in vitro and in vivo assays reveal the therapeutic potential of G. arborea in terms of antidiabetic, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, indicating that the plant is a valuable source for developing non-toxic herbal formulations to manage DM.