Conspectus on Tephrosia purpurea: An Introduction

Tephrosia purpurea, which is also termed as sharpunkha in Ayurveda, is a wild herb of family Fabaceae. Geographically it is found at an altitude between 400 m to 1300 m in countries like India, Sri Lanka, China and Australia. Natural habitat of Tephrosia purpurea is in dry, sandy or rocky soil. It is seen growing along the roadside and places where waste are dump. Phytochemical investigations on Tephrosia purpurea shows the presence of constituents such as carbohydrates, protein, amino acid, tannins, saponins, terpenes, flavanones, rotenoids, chalcones, isoflavones, glycosides, alkaloids, flavanols, and sterols. It has also shown the presence of lupeol, lanceolatins A and B semiglabrin, rutin, sitosterol and pongamole. Flavonoids such as (+)-tephrosin A and B, (+)-tephrosone, isoflavone, 7, 4' dihydroxy-3', 5'-dimethoxyflavone and a chalcone, (+)-tephropurpurin were present in the whole plant and that was isolated from it. Different parts of the whole plant has shown variety of pharmacological actions ranging from anti-inflammatory to antitumor along with activities such as antiulcer , hepatoprotective, antioxidant, antimicrobial and antiallergic. Moreover it has also shown insect repellent activity. This review has summarized the literature related to phytochemical and pharmacological study of Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers. till August 2012. Tephrosia purpurea is regarded as folk medicine due to several therapeutic properties like anti-daibetic, anticancer, antipyretic. It also has pharmacological importance due to the potent chemical constituent.