The Genus Melodinus (Apocynaceae): Chemical and Pharmacological Perspectives

Abstract

The plants of the genus Melodinus (Apocynaceae) are widely distributed, and have long been used in folk medicine for the treatment of various ailments such as meningitis in children and rheu-matic heart diseases, hernia, infantile malnutrition, dyspepsia and testitis. Over 100 alkaloids to-gether with flavonoids, lignans, steroids, terpenoids and coumarins have been identified in the genus, and many of these have been evaluated for biological activity. This review presents com-prehensive information on the chemistry and pharmacology of the genus together with the tradi-tional uses of many of its plants. In addition, this review discusses the structure-activity relation-ship of different compounds as well as recent developments and the scope for future research in this aspect.