Phytochemical Constituents and Pharmacological
Activities of Calendula officinalis Linn (Asteraceae):
A Review
BP Muley*, SS
Khadabadi and NB Banarase
Govt.
College of Pharmacy, Kathora Naka, Amaravati,
Maharashtra State, India- 444 604.
*Corresponding author: Email:
muley.b@gmail.com ;
nbanarase7@gmail.com
Received: 11 April
2009
Revised accepted: 10 September 2009
Tropical
Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, October 2009; 8(5):
455-465
Abstract
Calendula officinalis Linn. (Asteraceae) is used
medicinally in Europe, China and India amongst several
places in the world. It is also known as “African
marigold” and has been a subject of several chemical and
pharmacological studies. It is used in traditional
medicine, especially for wound healing, jaundice, blood
purification, and as an antispasmodic. Chemical studies
have underlined the presence of various classes of
compounds, the main being triterpenoids, flavonoids,
coumarines, quinones, volatile oil, carotenoids and
amino acids. The extract of this plant as well as pure
compounds isolated from it, have been demonstrated to
possess multiple pharmacological activities such as
anti-HIV, cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective,
spasmolytic and spasmogenic, amongst others. In this
review, we have explored the phytochemistry and
pharmacological activities of C. officinalis in order to
collate existing information on this plant as well as
highlight its multi-activity properties as a medicinal
agent. This is as a result of the worldwide cultivation
of the plant and increasing published reports on it.
Keywords:
Calendula officinalis, Asteraceae, Phytochemical
constituents, Pharmacological activities,
Contraindications.
