PHYTOCHEMICAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL PANORAMA OF CATHARANTHUS ROSEUS

Madagascar periwinkle Catharanthus roseus is an important tropical medicinal plant, found as a popular ornamental plant in gardens and homes across the warmer parts of the world, also known as “an anticancerous drug yielding plant” is a tropical and subtropical plant belonging to the family Apocynaceae. The plant accumulates an array of diverse compounds comprising over 130 different MIAs. It is a seasonal to perennial garden plant and the exclusive source of the anticancer drugs vincristine and vinblastine. Apart from these, its leaves and roots hyper-accumulate the other terpenoid indole alkaloids, which are required for the economic production of pharmaceutical molecules vindoline, catharanthine, ajmalicine and serpentine. the plant have been used for various other medicinal valued like anti-diabetic, anti-ulcer, anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant and antidiarrheal properties. The review describes phoarmacological applications and phytochemicals of C. roseus. Key words: Alkaloids, antioxidant, antibiotic, anticancer, Catharanthus roseus, Vincristine, Vinblastine.