Medicinal values of a Saiva ritual plant-Bauhinia tomentosa L

Bauhinia tomentosa L. is a small tree that belongs to the Fabaceae family and it is distributed in Asia, Africa, North America, and Oceania. ‎B. tomentosa is used to treat some diseases including liver inflammation, abscess, tumors, wounds, and hyperlipidemia in ethnomedicines in Asia and Africa. Compounds like phytone, β-cubebene, β-caryophyllene, 3-O-methyl-d-glucose, and phthalic acid have been isolated from leaves of this plant species. This review article aims to analyze, document, and summarize the reported bioactivities of this plant species. A literature review was conducted using electronic databases like the Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Science Direct to identify the relevant published studies from the year 1900 to November 2020. Various parts of B. tomentosa exhibited bioactivities such as analgesic, anti-anxiety, antibacterial, anticatatonic, anticonvulsant, antidepressant, antidiabetic, antifungal, anthelminthic, antihyperlipidemic, antinociceptive, antioxidant, antipyretic, anti-ulcerative colitis, motor coordination, nephroprotective, nootropic, and wound healing activities in various assays and animal models. However, no bioactive compound has been isolated from this plant species. It was observed that a daily dose of 3000 mg/kg was safe in animal models. Hence, further phytochemical and bioactivity studies should be conducted to explore more about this plant species. This work analyzed, documented, and summarized the reported bioactivities of B. tomentosa that will be very useful for further phytochemical and bioactivities related researches.