Health Benefits, Utilization and Characterization of Rhododendron arboreum (Ericaceae)

Abstract

Rhododendron arboreum is a small tree, mostly found in the mountain areas with pale pink or deep pink flowers, widely spread throughout the world. It is a member of the Ericaceae family, and it is well-known for its lovely flowers. R. arboreum species is distributed widely among the 80°N and 20°S latitudes and is designated as ‘State flower’ of Himachal Pradesh (India) and ‘National flower’ of Nepal. Due to its many inherent phytochemical properties, it is used as a treatment for various diseases such as bacterial infection, diarrhoea, and headache, infamy, and fungal infections. The people living in the mountainous area historically use the flowers of this plant to make variety of products viz.  juice, squash, jelly, syrup, pickle, honey. R. arboreum have several important polyphenolic and bioactive compounds such as saponins, flavonoids and steroids. This review highlights Rhododendron's nutritional properties, potential properties and medicinal properties and various products developed, which boost livelihoods of the rural tribal community for sustainable growth and treatment of various diseases.