Paederia foetida L., Rubeaceae is one of the medicinal plants that has been extensively employed in the traditional healing system of Asia, including Ayurveda, the Chinese system of medicine, and tribal medicine practiced in various Asian countries. The aim of this review is to provide information regarding ethnomedicinal significance, botanical description, phytochemical screening, and pharmacological activity of this medicinal herb. The herb is rich in various bioactive compounds, including iridoid glycosides, flavonoids, terpenoids, and essential oils, which render it a storehouse of various health-promoting activities. The pharmacological activities of the plants have been scientifically proven, including anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, analgesic, gastroprotective, hepatoprotective, and anti-cancer activity. In the review, the methods of the process of extracting and evaluating these activities are also presented, and the need for standardization of the process is emphasized, as it is a known fact that standardization is the need of the hour for the further development of drugs. This review, which combines traditional knowledge with the present-day pharmacological evidence of the effectiveness of the said drugs, thus emphasizes the potential of the use of P. foetida as a promising source of phototherapeutics of the future.
Islam et al. (Thu,) studied this question.