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Review
. 2021 Dec 10;10(12):2717.
doi: 10.3390/plants10122717.

Tragia L. Genus: Ethnopharmacological Use, Phytochemical Composition and Biological Activity

Rodrigo Duarte-Casar  1   2 , Juan Carlos Romero-Benavides  2
Affiliations
Review

Tragia L. Genus: Ethnopharmacological Use, Phytochemical Composition and Biological Activity

Rodrigo Duarte-Casar et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Tragia L. is a genus of plants belonging to the Euphorbiaceae family with worldwide intertropical distribution, composed of more than 150 species. In this literature review, 26 species of the genus used as medicinal plants were found, mainly in East Africa and the Indian subcontinent, with a variety of uses among which antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and reproductive health are most common. Research has been done on a few of the species, mostly those of the Old World, with emphasis on four of them: Tragia involucrata Linn., Tragia spathulata Benth., Tragia benthamii Baker and Tragia plukenetii Radcl.-Sm., confirming several ethnomedicinal claims. Moreover, a variety of active phytochemicals have been isolated, mainly ethers, hydrocarbons, flavonoids and sterols. There is ample field for the evaluation of the activity of Tragia extracts and essential oils and the identification of their active compounds, particularly of the New World species, for which there is still very little research.

Keywords: Euphorbiaceae; Tragia; biological activities; ethnopharmacology; phytochemicals.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Tragia involucrata leaves, left. Tragia ramosa showing leaf and stem, covered by long, rough Scheme 3.0 license; right, Stan Shebs, GDFL license.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Worldwide Tragia species distribution, by country.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Publications containing the word Tragia since the year 2000 in Medical and Health sciences and in Chemical sciences. Data source: [18].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Ethnomedicinal uses for Tragia spp. The circle diameter is proportional to the uses reported for each country.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Summary of in vitro activity of Tragia species.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Summary of in vivo activity of Tragia extracts.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Compounds identified in Tragia extracts and oils.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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