Genus Erythrophleum: Botanical description, traditional use, phytochemistry and pharmacology

Genus Erythrophleum belongs to family Fabaceae, which is commonly found in Asia, Africa, and Australia. Erythrophleum species have been employed as digitalis-related drugs because of its various effects on the heart. Medicinal plants from this genus also bring positive results when employed as agents to invigorate and promote blood circulation, and as emetic drug, anesthetic, anthelmintic, anti-malaria, analgesic, disinfectant, dermatitis, convulsion, inflammation, cardiac problems, venom intoxication, headaches, oedemas, gangrenous wound, and rheumatism. This account is an overview of almost isolated compounds from this genus, along with their biological evaluations. The literature databases for this current manuscript were obtained from literature published from the 1960s to now, utilizing data from ACS journals, Taylor Francis, Springer, IOP Science, SCI-finder, Chemical s, the Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, Pub Med, and Google Scholar. In addition, books about herbal medicines and Ph.D. dissertations were used in relating to taxonomy and chemical components. Genus Erythrophleum contains the various classes of compounds, consisting of alkaloids, terpenoids, phytosterols, saponins, flavonoids, and their derivative glycosides. Many in vitro and in vivo pharmacological results, such as cytotoxicity, anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-convulsant, anti-inflammation, anti-cancer, anti-angiogenesis, sedative activity, cardiac activity, and toxicity indicated that the extracts, fractions, and isolated compounds of Erythrophleum species can become valuable resources for developing natural new drugs. Particularly, E. fordii species, with the high content of alkaloids, showed potential use for toxicological drugs. No account has been conducted for a general view about this genus. Further researches on isolating bioactive compounds and determining basic mechanisms are necessary.