Vol 11, Issue 12, 2018 Online - 2455-3891 Print - 0974-2441 TREATMENT OF VARIOUS DISEASES BY CANNA INDICA L. - A PROMISING HERB VANITA KANASE*, SUNITA VISHWAKARMA Department of Pharmacology, Oriental College of Pharmacy, Sanpada, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Email: vanita.kanase@gmail.com Received: 02 July 2018, Revised and Accepted: 21 August 2018 ABSTRACT In recent years, ethnobotanical and traditional application of natural compounds, principally of plant origin established much attention as they are well tested for their effectiveness and generally believed to be non-toxic for human use. Canna indica L. is a tropical herb belonging to the family Cannaceae. It has been extensively used in a traditional remedy for the treatment of many complaints. The phytochemical analysis of C. indica exhibited that it contained various phytochemicals including alkaloids, cardiac glycosides, anthocyanin pigments, flavonoids, steroids, terpenoids, tannins, phlobatannins, saponins, carbohydrates, proteins, oils, and many other chemical compounds. The pharmacological studies showed that this plant exerted anthelmintic, antibacterial, antimicrobial, antiviral, antidiabetic, antidiarrheal, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, cytotoxic, hemostatic, hepatoprotective, molluscicidal, and other effects. This review attempts to illuminate the available literature on C. indica (L.) with respect to ethnobotany, chemical constituents, and summary of numerous pharmacological activities. Every part of C. indica has valuable properties that can serve humanity so the whole plant can be broadly studied for further research aspects. Key words: Canna indica, Pharmacognosy, Chemical constituents, Pharmacology. INTRODUCTION Indian therapeutic plants are the elixir of Ayurveda and Ayurvedic treatments. Healing with medicinal plants is as old as mankind itself. When used wisely and clocking with the basic principles, they produce miraculous effects [1]. Nature’s wealth utilization for health aids and the remedy, prevention, and treatment of diseases plays a big role in human civilization, with a reliance of many human populations particularly in developing countries [2]. The fact that the majority of plants from which many of the present day drugs have been derived have been sourced not only from ethnobotanical leads but also from the materia medica of the ancient “rishis” and shamanic traditions of tribal “medicine men” that dates back to thousands of years when man roamed the forests as hunter-gatherers [3]. Phytochemicals may safeguard human from a host of diseases. Phytochemicals are non- nutritive plant chemicals that have defensive or disease anticipatory properties. A plant yields these chemicals to protect itself, but recent research demonstrates that many phytochemicals can protect humans against diseases[4]. Plants have the potential to synthesize an ample variety of chemical compounds that are used to execute major biological functions and to shield against attack from predators such as insects, fungi, and herbivorous mammals [5]. Canna indica L. (canna lily, even though not a true lily) commonly known as Keli, the name Canna arises from the Greek word for a cane or reed. Canna is the only genus in the family Cannaceae and 19 species of flowering plants. The species have large, eye-catching foliage and horticulturists have turned it into a large-flowered and bright garden plant. In addition, it is a horticultural plant and is one of the world’s richest starch sources. It extensively used as a nutritive agent and has a number of valuable pharmacological activities [6]. PLANT PROFILE Synonyms Canna coccinea Mill, Canna edulis Ker-Gawl, Canna lutea Mill, Canna achiras Gilles [7]. Vernacular Names [8] Languages Names English African arrowroot, Canna lily, Canna Indian shot, Wild canna Spanish Chupa flor French Balisier comestible Andes Achira Arabic name Canna Hindi, Muzwardi, and Muzfahal Kannada Kalahu Telugu Krishna Tamara Tamil Puvalaikalvalai Hindi Sarvajjaya, Saka Siri, Devkali Sanskrit Vankelee, Devakuli Marathi Kardal Konkani KelePhool Bengali Sarbajaya, Kalaboti Manipuri Laphoorit Taxonomical hierarchy [9] Kingdom Plantae ‑ Plants Subkingdom Tracheobionta - Vascular plants Super division Spermatophyta - Seed plants Division Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants Class Liliopsida - Monocotyledons Subclass Zingiberidae Order Zingiberales Family Cannaceae - Canna family Genus Canna L. - canna Species Canna indica L. - Indian shot HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION The Canna genus is native tropical and sub-tropical regions of Southern United State and South to Northern Argentina and the Philippines in settled areas, occurring in wet places and near tikas Canna settlements. © 2018 The Authors. Published by Innovare Academic Sciences Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4. 0/) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22159/ajpcr.2018.v11i12.28219 Review Article