Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2022 Feb 21; 10(F):97-103. 97 Scientifc Foundation SPIROSKI, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences. 2022 Feb 21; 10(F):97-103. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2022.8481 eISSN: 1857-9655 Category: F - Review Articles Section: Narrative Review Article Medicinal Properties of Ant Nest Plant (Myrmecodia Genus): A Comprehensive Review Septriyanto Dirgantara 1,2 , Muhamad Insanu 1 *, Irda Fidrianny 1 1 Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, School of Pharmacy, Bandung Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia; 2 Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Cenderawasih University, Jayapura, Indonesia Abstract BACKGROUND: The Myrmecodia genus belongs to the Rubiaceae family, which has the characteristic of an epiphytic plant. This genus spread from Malaysia, through the Philippines, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, New Guinea (Papua), Cape York to the Solomon Islands and Pacifc region. It has been empirically proven to treat gout, infammation, muscle pain relief, strengthen the body’s immunity, and cancer treatment. AIM: This article reviewed the scientifc work about the Myrmecodia genus concerning their traditional uses, phytochemical compounds, and pharmacological activities of Myrmecodia. METHODS: The sources were from the scientifc literature online database, including Science Direct, PubMed, and Google Scholar between 1978 and 2021. Furthermore, 112 articles were collected, while 61 full-text were assessed for eligibility. RESULTS: The Myrmecodia extract has many pharmacological activities, namely antioxidant, antibacterial, cytotoxic, and anticancer. CONCLUSION: Moreover, this review may be used as scientifc literature for the next investigations on the genus Myrmecodia, especially regarding pharmacological properties such as in vitro and in vivo studies and isolation of the active compounds. Edited by: Sinisa Stojanoski Citation: Dirgantara S, Insanu M, Fidrianny I. Medicinal Properties of Ant Nest Plant (Myrmecodia Genus): A Comprehensive Review. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2022 Feb 21; 10(F):97-103. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2022.8481 Keywords: Myrmecodia; Ant nest plant; Phytochemistry; Pharmacological activities *Correspondence: Muhamad Insanu, Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, School of Pharmacy, Bandung Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia. E-mail: insanu@fa.itb.ac.id Received: 03-Jan-2022 Revised: 07-Feb-2022 Accepted: 11-Feb-2022 Copyright: © 2022 Septriyanto Dirgantara, Muhamad Insanu, Irda Fidrianny Funding: This study was supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture Research and Technology Republic of Indonesia for fnancial support Domestic Postgraduate Education (BPPDN) scholarships Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist Open Access: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) Introduction Natural therapy has been utilized since long ago, where the knowledge is obtained through generations so that it is known as traditional medicine in the community for local wisdom [1]. Nowadays, most of the world’s population still relies on traditional medicines for healthcare purposes. Plants, in particular, are always used as herbal medicine, as they contain have a wide range of therapeutics for the treatment of diseases. Indonesia, a country in Southeast Asia, has a diverse fora that potential as medicinal plants from nature. One of the selected plants is the ant nest plant (sarang semut locally name). The ant nest plant Myrmecodia is an epiphytic plant of the Rubiaceae family [2]. Five known genera are belonging this family with hypocotyl and epiphytic plants such as Myrmecodia, Hydrophytum, Anthorrhiza, Myrmephytum, and Squamellaria. Only two of them are associated with ants, Myrmecodia and Hydrophytum. The Myrmecodia genus is the second most divine species in the world, after the genera Hydrophytum. The number of species of Myrmecodia genera is known 26 species. Myrmecodia is distributed from Malaysia through the Philippines, Sumatera, Borneo, Java, New Guinea (Papua), Cape York to the Solomon Islands, the Pacifc region. The greatest diversity of Myrmecodia species is found on the island of Papua-Indonesia and Papua New Guinea [3]. Sarang semut (Ant nest) were used as folk medicine by local people in Indonesia, especially in the Papua region, to treat various diseases empirically [4]. This study is a comprehensive review, using and collecting the scientifc literature online database on Science Direct, PubMed, and Google Scholar of Myrmecodia genus which is basically based on some criteria. The search keywords included “Myrmecodia,” “Myrmecodia for anticancer,” “Myrmecodia and phytochemical,” and “Myrmecodia and pharmacological activity.” Based on ethnomedicinal properties, only several species of the Myrmecodia genus are evaluated from scientifc evidence-based medicine. In this articles, 112 articles were collected and identifed from the scientifc literature online database, between 1978 and 2021, while 61 full-text were included. This comprehensive review aims to determine the scientifc evidenced base medicine of Myrmecodia