PHARMACOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL OVERVIEW ON CALOTROPIS GIGANTEAN: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

Abstract

Calotropis gigantea (Asclepiadaceae) is a glabrous or hoary, laticiferous shrubs or small trees, commonly known as “the swallow-wort or milkweed”. Calotropis is used as a traditional medicinal plant. C. gigantea contain chemical constituents are cardenolides, flavonoids, terpenes, pregnanes and a nonprotein amino acid. The latex , leaves, flowers, bark, root is also used as caustic, acrid, expectorant, depilatory, antihelmintic, useful in leprosy scabies ring worm of the scalp, piles, eruptions on the body, asthma, enlargement of spleen and liver, dropsy applied to painful joint swellings. This review gives a brief idea about its phytochemistry and pharmacological activity.