Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com Introduction Mother earth, a bionetwork enriched with plethora of remarkable plants holding numerous benefcial chemical compounds, which play an integral role in maintaining the lives stealth and safe. Betulin lup20 (29)–ene–3ß, 28–diol, a pentacyclictriterpene alcohol with a lupane skeleton is one of such chemical compounds contributing towards the advancement in feld of medicine. 1–3 It is obtained from outer bark of Birch trees. 4–6 As described in Figure 1: Betulin has a pentacyclic ring structure and hydroxyl groups in positions C 3 and C 28 . 7–9 Betulin in presence of acid agents undergoes rearrangement to form allobetulin. 10 It is acknowledged that plants with lupine series are helpful in curing various diseases for this one relies on betulin which on conversion tobetulinic acid, the alcohol group replaced by a carboxylic acid group has more biological activity. 2,7,10,11 The alcohol group cannot join with stationary phase because two groups are located on opposite sides of compound. 1 Betulinic acid, the more bioactive compound exhibits choleritic, antihelmintic, powerful prophylactic, anti–HIV, antimutageneagent, antiviral, anti–fungal, anti–leukemia, anti–leishmanial, anti–infammatory, immunomodulator. 7,12–15 Adding on it acts as anti–parasitic against Plasmodium falciparum and Trypanosomabruceirhodesiense, anti–microbial, anti–obesity by improving the lipid profle, also stabilizes atherosclerotic plaques. 15,16–20 Betulin is also used as plaster for sterilization of wounds, acts as liver protectant in chronic hepatitis therapy, antirachitic, antitrypanosomal also supports apoptosis i.e. self–destruction of tumor cells. 2,7,21,22 As betulin is found in various other plants so people of vernacular regions take numerous benefts depending on the necessity. Infusion of red alder is used in lymphatic disorders and tuberculosis. Native Americans use it to mediate insect bites, poison oak, digestive tract infections and skin infammation. 23–26 Rather than possessing pharmacological activities, due to elegant bark of Birch trees they are considered choice of trees for landscape too. The substantial Birch trees grows well in all soils due to which they are used as screen or window break. Moreover, due to hard bark they are also used in carpentry and aquatic industry. It is also used in cosmetic products. The birch bark extract may be used in hair conditioners and shampoos. 27–29 Physical properties of betulin Standard betulin has weak water solubility, thus it requires modifcation for better cellular uptake and desired activity however its derivatives like betulin diacetate (BDA) and betulin dipropionate (BDP) possess greater water solubility as compared to betulin. 32,33 Therefore, betulin still remains relevant in synthesizing compounds with higher solubility pattern that are considered more biologically active (Table 1) (Figure 1). 34 Figure 1 Represents the preparation of betulinic acid from betulin. 7–11 Open Access J Trans Med Res. 2017;1(2):53‒59 53 © 2017 Boparai et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially. Betulin a pentacyclic tri–terpenoid: an hour to rethink the compound Volume 1 Issue 2 - 2017 Amritveer Boparai, 1 Junaid Niazi, 1 Neha Bajwa, 2 Preet Amol Singh 3 1 Bahra Institute of Pharmacy, Rayat Group of Institutions, Patiala–147001, Punjab, India 2 GVM, College of Pharmacy, Haryana, India 3 Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technology, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University, Bathinda, Punjab, India Correspondence: Preet Amol Singh, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technology, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University, Bathinda, Punjab, India, Pin code 151001, Tel +91– 8437000234, Email preetnabha67@gmail.com Received: October 01, 2017 | Published: October 18, 2017 Abstract Betulin a pentacyclic triterpenoid member of lupane family occurs widely in numerous plants. Betulin, unlike most other constituents is easily isolated that it can be utilized for various pharmacological actions. It is interesting to know that betulin can be easily extracted from bark, stem, leaves, flower, roots etc. of plant. This review summarizes plethora of reliable pharmacological activities like anti–inflammatory, anti–ulcer, anti–diabetic, anti–bacterial, anti–microbial, anti–malarial, anti–viral, anti hyperlipidaemic, anti–cancer and anti HIV exhibited by betulin and its derivatives. For this it can be utilized in herbal as well as synthetic pharmaceutical industries because of its promising efficacy and low levels of toxicity. Although betulin possess a wide range of pharmacological activities, there is still lack of awareness of its proper utilization in the field of medicine. So, need of the hour is to refocus on naturally occurring betulin and its derivatives to avoid side effects caused by synthetic compounds utilized in treating various ailments. Therefore, the aim of the present review is to re–explore the potential of betulin, as an alternative to the compounds possessing higher side effects. Keywords: betulin, pentacyclic triterpenoid, betulinic acid, lupine, pharmacological activities Open Access Journal of Translational Medicine & Research Mini Review Open Access HO H OH H H Betulin CrO 3 / H 2 SO 4 acetone/ 0 0 C O NaBH 4 THF OH O HO OH O Betulinic Acid