Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

A Study of Phytochemical Analysis and Pharmacological Activities of Withania somnifera

Nandini Premkumar

Asian Journal of Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · pp. 24–37 · Published 6 Sep 2023

10.9734/ajbgmb/2023/v15i2330

Abstract

Ashwagandha roots (Withania somnifera L. Dunal) have a history of utilization in Ayurveda to address conditions such as fever, asthma, arthritis, rheumatism, inflammation, tuberculosis, mental disorders, and male sexual issues. Through phytochemical analyses, it has been determined that the plant predominantly contains alkaloids (such as withanine, sominiferine, tropine, isopelletierine, and anaferine) and steroidal lactones (including withanolides A-Y, withaferine A, withasominiferols A-C, withanone, and sitoindosides) as the active compounds. These constituents and extracts exhibit various pharmacological effects, encompassing antioxidant, antitumor, antimicrobial, antivenom, and anti-parkinsonian properties. This review provides an up-to-date overview of ashwagandha, focusing on its phytochemistry and pharmacology. The plant and numerous secondary metabolites have displayed efficacy in ameliorating diverse human ailments. Nonetheless, additional research is imperative to ascertain the precise mechanisms underlying their actions.

Withania somnifera ashwagandha phytochemical analysis pharmacological activities medicinal plants traditional medicine ecological significance

Cited by 2

2 citations reported by external sources — individual citing-article records aren't available to list yet.

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

0

Page views

0

PDF downloads

0

Outbound clicks

2

Citations

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

No views recorded yet.

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

No traffic recorded yet.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.