REVIEW A review on phytochemical, biological screening and importance of Wild Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) Indra Rai 1 & R. K. Bachheti 1,2 & C. K. Saini 1 & Archana Joshi 1 & R. S. Satyan 3 Received: 11 May 2015 /Accepted: 1 November 2015 # Institute of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University and Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015 Abstract Wild apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) is an important fruit tree species found in temperate regions of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand states of India at an altitude up to 2500–3000 msl. From time immemorial P. armeniaca L. has been used in folk medicine as a remedy for various diseases. Apricot seed oil has been used as biodiesel and oil cake as organic manure. The plant is rich in sugars, mono and poly- saccharides, polyphenols, fatty acids, sterol derivatives, carot- enoids, cynogenic glucosides and volatile compounds. Polyphenols are abundant micronutrients in the human diet, and evidence for their role in the prevention of degenerative diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases is emerg- ing. Cyanogenic glycosides responsible for a bitter taste of apricot seeds and these seeds cause some degree of intoxica- tion primarily on nervous system and thyroid. P. armeniaca L. has also been investigated for various biological activities such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, antinociceptive, antiinflammatory, antimutagenic, inhibitory activity against several enzymes. Among them the antimicro- bial and antioxidant potential has been of much exploration and were proved to be highly efficacious under in vitro con- ditions. In the present review, the antioxidant properties of P. armeniaca L. and its potential use as natural dietary supplement has been discussed. We have also thrown light on the phytochemistry and biological activity reports pub- lished on the species worldwide. Keywords Prunus armeniaca L. . Chemical screening . Antioxidant activity . Antimicrobial activity . Biological properties and seed oil Introduction Prunus armeniaca L. (wild apricot) is an important hardy tree borne in the dry temperate regions of North-western Himalayas, particularly in the valleys of Kashmir, Chenab, Kulu, Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) and Uttarakhand in India at altitudes up to nearly 3000 mts. P. armeniaca L. is a good source of nutrients and one of the most familiar crops world- wide (Baytop 1999). Wild apricot belongs to the family Rosaceae and sub- family Prunoidea (Chopra et al. 1956). Some common species are Prunus dulcis (Almond), Prunus domestica (plum), Prunus cerasus (sour cherry), Prunus pumila (Sand cherry), Prunus padus (European bird cherry), Prunus laurocerasus (European cherry-laurel) and Prunus armeniaca (Apricot). It is a moderate - sized tree, about 10 m tall with a reddish bark (Krishnamurty 1969). The leaves are broad and roundish, with pointed apex, smooth, margin and finely serrated, petiole ½ inch to an inch long, generally tinged with red. The flowers are sessile, pinkish white, borne singly and appearing much in advance of the foliage. Fruits are round about 5-9cms, across, hairy when young, but nearly smooth skinned at maturity with a yellow skin overlaid with red, the flesh is yellow or yellowish orange, firm and sweet. The fruit ripens end of July to mid-August and is perishable. The percentage of the kernel in the pit of apricot varies from 18.8 to 38.0 %. The average dimensions of apricot * R. K. Bachheti rkbachheti@gmail.com 1 Department of Chemistry, Graphic Era University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India 2 Department of Chemistry, College of Natural & Computational Sciences (CNCS), Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia East Africa 3 College of Natural and Computational Sciences (CNCS), Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia N.E. Africa Orient Pharm Exp Med DOI 10.1007/s13596-015-0215-5 Online ISSN 2211-1069 Print ISSN 1598-2386