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Abstract

Aim: To provide update knowledge on phytochemistry and pharmacology of Persea americana.

Study Design: Multidisciplinary advanced bibliographic surveys, utilization of ChemBioDraw software package and dissemination of the resulted knowledge.

Methodology: A literature search was conducted to get information about the phytochemistry and pharmacognosy of P. americana from various electronic databases (PubMed, PubMed Central, Science Direct, Scileo, DOAJ and Google scholar). The scientific name of this plant species was used as a keyword for the search, along with the terms phytochemistry and pharmacognosy. The chemical structures of P. americana naturally occurring compounds were drawn using ChemBioDraw Ultra 12.0 software package.

Results: Findings from different studies revealed that this plant is commonly and traditionally used as an edible fruit. P. americana is reported to possess various biological virtues like antiviral, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antihyperglycemic, analgesic, antiulcer, hypertensive, antihepatotoxic, anticonvulsant, vasorelaxant and have an effect on body weight and different toxicological studies carried out demonstrated satisfactory results. These properties are due to the presence of numerous naturally occurring phytochemicals like tannins, alkaloids, phenols, saponins and flavonoids. P. americana is also rich in biologically important fatty acids like oleic acid and palmitic acid, minerals and vitamins, which makes it a healthful food. While Lutein is the most predominant carotenoid found in his fruit.

Conclusion: The present review can therefore help inform future scientific research towards the development of novel drugs of relevance from P. americana for the improvement of human health and wellbeing.

 

Keywords: Traditional Medicine Persea americana Phytochemicals Scientific validation Biodiversity valorization.

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How to Cite

Ngbolua, K.- te-N. (2019). A mini-review on the Phytochemistry and Pharmacology of the medicinal plant species Persea americana Mill. (Lauraceae). Discovery Phytomedicine - Journal of Natural Products Research and Ethnopharmacology, 6(3). https://doi.org/10.15562/phytomedicine.2019.99
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