Vascular Epiphytic Medicinal Plants as Sources of Therapeutic Agents: Their Ethnopharmacological Uses, Chemical Composition, and Biological Activities

Nugraha, Ari Satia; Triatmoko, Bawon; Wangchuk, Phurpa; Keller, Paul A.

doi:10.3390/biom10020181

Open AccessReview

Vascular Epiphytic Medicinal Plants as Sources of Therapeutic Agents: Their Ethnopharmacological Uses, Chemical Composition, and Biological Activities

¹

Drug Utilisation and Discovery Research Group, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Jember, Jember, Jawa Timur 68121, Indonesia

²

Centre for Biodiscovery and Molecular Development of Therapeutics, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD 4878, Australia

³

School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience and Molecular Horizons, University of Wollongong, and Illawarra Health & Medical Research Institute, Wollongong, NSW 2522 Australia

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Biomolecules 2020, 10(2), 181; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom10020181

Submission received: 17 December 2019 / Revised: 17 January 2020 / Accepted: 21 January 2020 / Published: 24 January 2020

(This article belongs to the Collection Pharmacology of Medicinal Plants)

Download

Browse Figures

Versions Notes

Abstract

This is an extensive review on epiphytic plants that have been used traditionally as medicines. It provides information on 185 epiphytes and their traditional medicinal uses, regions where Indigenous people use the plants, parts of the plants used as medicines and their preparation, and their reported phytochemical properties and pharmacological properties aligned with their traditional uses. These epiphytic medicinal plants are able to produce a range of secondary metabolites, including alkaloids, and a total of 842 phytochemicals have been identified to date. As many as 71 epiphytic medicinal plants were studied for their biological activities, showing promising pharmacological activities, including as anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer agents. There are several species that were not investigated for their activities and are worthy of exploration. These epipythes have the potential to furnish drug lead compounds, especially for treating cancers, and thus warrant indepth investigations.

Keywords: epiphytes; medicinal plants; phytochemistry; pharmacology; drug leads

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Nugraha, A.S.; Triatmoko, B.; Wangchuk, P.; Keller, P.A. Vascular Epiphytic Medicinal Plants as Sources of Therapeutic Agents: Their Ethnopharmacological Uses, Chemical Composition, and Biological Activities. Biomolecules 2020, 10, 181. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom10020181

AMA Style

Nugraha AS, Triatmoko B, Wangchuk P, Keller PA. Vascular Epiphytic Medicinal Plants as Sources of Therapeutic Agents: Their Ethnopharmacological Uses, Chemical Composition, and Biological Activities. Biomolecules. 2020; 10(2):181. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom10020181

Chicago/Turabian Style

Nugraha, Ari Satia, Bawon Triatmoko, Phurpa Wangchuk, and Paul A. Keller. 2020. "Vascular Epiphytic Medicinal Plants as Sources of Therapeutic Agents: Their Ethnopharmacological Uses, Chemical Composition, and Biological Activities" Biomolecules 10, no. 2: 181. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom10020181

APA Style

Nugraha, A. S., Triatmoko, B., Wangchuk, P., & Keller, P. A. (2020). Vascular Epiphytic Medicinal Plants as Sources of Therapeutic Agents: Their Ethnopharmacological Uses, Chemical Composition, and Biological Activities. Biomolecules, 10(2), 181. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom10020181

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

Vascular Epiphytic Medicinal Plants as Sources of Therapeutic Agents: Their Ethnopharmacological Uses, Chemical Composition, and Biological Activities

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI