Traditional uses, chemical composition and pharmacological properties of genus Crotalaria

The plants of genus Crotalaria are widely employed in traditional folk medicine to address various ailments. Extracts from these plants have been reported to exhibit diverse pharmacological properties, including cytotoxic, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-trypanosomal, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antibacterial, antitumor, purgative, thrombolytic, antidiabetic, antifungal, antimalarial, anti-urolithiasis, anthelmintic, enzymatic, and anti-giardia activities. There are many categories of bioactive compounds, such as pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), which are commonly found in many Crotalaria species. This review centers on the traditional uses, chemical composition, and pharmacological properties of 48 Crotalaria species, highlighting potential avenues for future exploration. The data were compiled from various sources, including books and searches on platforms such as PubMed, Science Direct, SciELO, and Google Scholar, from 1961 to 2024. The most commonly reported activities among these species include cytotoxic, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory effects. In ethnomedicinal practices, leaves are predominantly used for therapeutic applications. However, the germplasm of the genus Crotalaria remains inadequately collected, and genomic resources are limited. Consequently, we advocate for further investigations into the clinical and medicinal refinement, as well as the identification of the most antibacterial activities of Crotalaria for the treatment of diverse infectious diseases.