*Corresponding Author Address: Tajamul Islam Shah, Jawaharlal Nehru Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Bhopal-India; E mail: taju.zoology@gmail.com World Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences ISSN (Print): 2321-3310; ISSN (Online): 2321-3086 Published by Atom and Cell Publishers © All Rights Reserved Available online at: http://www.wjpsonline.com/ Review Article Juglans regia Linn: A Phytopharmacological Review Tajamul Islam Shah 1* , Ekta Sharma 2 , Gowhar Ahmad 3 1 Jawaharlal Nehru Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Bhopal-India 2 Department of Botany, Banezeer College Bhopal-India 3 Department of Zoology, Banezeer College Bhopal-India Received: 07-11-2013 / Revised: 07-02-2014 / Accepted: 10-03-2014 ABSTRACT In the last few decades there has been an exponential growth in the field of Herbal medicine. It is getting popularized in developing and developed countries owing to its natural origin and lesser side effects. One such medicinal plant is Juglana regia (Juglandaceae) , which is commonly known as walnut. All parts of plant are important viz. bark, leaves, flowers, seed, oil etc. Oil of this plant is extensively used in ayurveda, unani, homeopathic and allopathic system of medicines. Traditionally the plant is used as laxative, purgative, fertilizer and fungicide etc. whereas the plant possess beneficial effects such as anti-oxidant, antihistamic, antinociceptive, antiasthmatic, antiulcer, immunemodulatory, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, antifertility, anti inflammatory, antimicrobial, central nervous system stimulant, lipolytic, wound healing, insecticidal and larvicidal and many other medicinal properties. This activity of the plant possess due to the important phytochemical constituents like flavonoids, saponins, glycosides, alkaloids and steroids etc. The aim of this paper is to explain the details of phyto-pharmacological properties of Juglans regia for the future research work. KEYWORDS: Juglans regia, phytoconstutents, traditional uses, bioactivity, clinical trial. INTRODUCTION Walnuts are the oldest tree food known to man, dating back to 7000 B.C. The Romans called walnuts Juglans regia , “Jupiter’s royal acorn.” Early history indicates that English walnuts came from ancient Persia, where they were reserved for royalty. Thus, the walnut is often known as the “Persian Walnut.” Walnuts were traded along the Silk Road route between Asia and the Middle East. Caravans carried walnuts to far off lands and eventually through sea trade, spreading the popularity of the walnut around the world. English merchant marines transported the product for trade to ports around the world and they became known as “English Walnuts.” England, in fact, never grew walnuts commercially. The outer shell provided a natural protective layer helping to maintain the quality of the nut. Today the nut trade continues to be a well-established, ordered, and structured business, and the California walnut is well known as the top quality walnut for the world. MORPHOLOGY Juglans regia is a large, deciduous tree attaining heights of 25–35 m, and a trunk up to 2 m diameter, commonly with a short trunk and broad crown, though taller and narrower in dense forest competition. It is a light-demanding species, requiring full sun to grow well. The bark is smooth, olive-brown when young and silvery-grey on older branches, and features scattered broad fissures with a rougher texture. Like all walnuts, the pith of the twigs contains air spaces; this chambered pith is brownish in color. The leaves are alternately arranged, 25–40 cm long, odd-pinnate with 5–9 leaflets, paired alternately with one terminal leaflet. The largest leaflets are the three at the apex, 10– 18 cm long and 6–8 cm broad; the basal pair of leaflets are much smaller, 5–8 cm long, with the margins of the leaflets entire. The male flowers are in drooping catkins 5–10 cm long, and the female flowers are terminal, in clusters of two to five, ripening in the autumn into a fruit with a green, semifleshy husk and a brown, corrugatednut (Fig. 1). The whole fruit, including the husk, falls in