15 A Review on Semecarpus anacardium L.: An Anticancer Medicinal Plant T. GOUTHAMAN 1 , M.S. KAVITHA 1 , BAKRUDEEN ALI AHMED 1 , T. SENTHIL KUMAR 2 AND M.V. RAO* Abstract Semecarpus anacardium L. is a well known medicinal plant in Ayurvedic and Siddha medicine. It has been found to have a lot of medicinal Properties, particularly for its anti-cancerous activity. The present review deals with distribution, phytochemical and pharmacological aspects of S. anacardium. Furthermore, the safety evaluation of Siddha preparation of S. anacardium nut extract has been discussed. Plant improvement studies (seed germination and in vitro propagation) of S. anacardium are also discussed. Key words : Semecarpus anacardium, Medicinal plant, Phytopharma- ceuticals, Anticancer activity, Seed germination, In vitro propagation Introduction Plants have been used in traditional medicine for a long time. About 13,000 plant species have been used as drugs throughout the world and approximately 25 % of our current materia medica is derived from plants (Kutchan, 1996). Eighty percent of the world population relies on the plant- 1. Department of Plant Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli 620 024, Tamilnadu, India. 2. Department of Industry University Collaboration, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli 620 024, Tamilnadu, India. * Corresponding author : E-mail: mvrao_456@yahoo.co.in PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com Edited by Foxit Reader Copyright(C) by Foxit Software Company,2005-2008 For Evaluation Only.