A Review on the Efficacy of Latex-Producing Plants in Wart Removal: A Comparative Study of Euphorbia Hirta and Calotropis Gigantea

Warts are often considered to be non-threatening, but they still can cause a lot of discomfort, disgrace the appearance of a person, and consequently cause psychological distress.1 The warts are easily treated with the use of cryotherapy, electrosurgery, and application of keratolytic agents, but they come with a lot of drawbacks, such as pain, being more expensive, taking longer to treat and reoccurrence and scarring risk is also high. Therefore, the quest for safer, inexpensive, and plant-based alternatives that are derived from traditional medicine is gaining momentum.2 The latex-producing medicinal plants have been used for the treatment of warts in Ayurvedic, Siddha, and folk medicine due to their combined properties, such as keratolytic, caustic, antiviral, and antimicrobial effects, for a long time. The two plants that stand out in this context are Euphorbia hirta and Calotropis gigantean for their traditional use in wart elimination. Through this review, a detailed and comparative analysis of these two raw latex-producing plants will be provided, where the emphasis will be on their phytochemical composition, modes of action, traditional uses, effectiveness, and safety profiles.3 In summary, the review provides evidence of considering the two plants, Euphorbia hirta and Calotropis gigantea, for their management through herbals. It is pointed out that scientific validation through research is needed, and then clinical formulation development to ensure safe, standardised and clinically acceptable plant-based therapies for wart treatment.3