A comprehensive review on phytopharmacological investigations of Acacia auriculiformis A.Cunn. ex Benth

Acacia auriculiformis A. Cunn. ex Benth. is a perennial shrub having a wide range of medicinal potentials and is widely distributed throughout the world. It is being used traditionally to overcome various medical complications like sore eyes, aches, rheumatism, allergy, itching, and rashes. Besides, Acacia auriculiformis has been proven for many pharmacological activities like central nervous system depressant activity, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antimalarial, anti-filarial, cestocidal, antimutagenic, chemopreventive, spermicidal, wound healing, hepatoprotective and antidiabetic activity due to its low toxicity (LD50 = 3 741.7 mg/kg) and high efficacy. In addition, various phytochemical investigations reveal the presence of chief constituents as flavonoids (Auriculoside) and triterpenoid saponin glycosides (acaciasides- acaciaside A & B) in different parts of this plant. Since many years researchers have been carrying out various studies on this medicinal important shrub to elicit the various biological activities. This review attempts to highlight the pharmacognostical, phytochemical and pharmacological observations from 1965 to 2018 retrieved from SciFinder, Scientific journals, books, Google Scholar, and botanical electronic database websites. The various plant extracts evaluated for different pharmacological activities showed significant efficacy. Bioactive phytoconstituents isolated from various parts of the plant are highlighted. Pharmacognostical standardization of the plant done with various standard parameters is also reported. The low toxicity of this plant and the presence of major bioactive phytoconstituents like flavonoids and triterpenoid saponin glycosides are responsible for a therapeutic remedy for various diseases and pharmacological activities respectively. This review provides exhaustive information about the pharmacognostical, phytochemical, and pharmacological investigations of Acacia auriculiformis till date.