Ficus racemosa linn:A boon for ailments of human kind

The medicinal plants are widely used by the traditional medical practitioners for curing various diseases in their day to day practice. In traditional systems of medicine, different parts (leaves, stem, root, fruit, seeds, latex and even whole plant) of Ficus Racemosa Linn (commonly known in all over India as udumbara, gular fig.) have been recommended for the treatment of diarrhea, diabetes, hypertension, gastric ulcer, wound healing etc. Ficus Racemosa Linn. Showed a wide range of pharmacological actions like hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, renal anti-carcinogenic, anti-diuretic, anti-tussive, hepatoprotective, radioprotective, anti-ulcer, anti-inflammatory, anti-diarrhoel and anti-fungal. β-sitosterol, glauanol acetate, the active constituent present in Ficus Racemosa L., has been found to be largely responsible for the therapeutic potentials of gular. Although because of its great therapeutic potentials and wide occurrence in India the practitioners of traditional systems of medicine have been using Ficus Racemosa L. for curing various ailments, a rational approach to this traditional medical practice with modern system of medicine is, however, not much available. In order to establish the therapeutic uses of Ficus Racemosa L. in modern medicine, in last few decades several Indian scientists and researchers have studied the pharmacological effects of ethanolic, methanolic & aqueous extracts of various parts of gular plant. These pharmacological studies have established a scientific basis for therapeutic uses of this plant. Thereby, the objective of this review is an attempt to provide a detailed survey of literature on traditional uses and pharmacological properties of the plant as a boon for ailments of human kind.