An Overview of Traditionally Used Herb, Colocasia esculenta, as a Phytomedicine Harshal Ashok Pawar 1* , Pritam Dinesh Choudhary 2 and Swati Ramesh Kamat 2 1 Department of Quality Assurance, Dr. L. H. Hiranandani College of Pharmacy, Ulhasnagar, Maharashtra, India 2 Dr. L. H. Hiranandani College of Pharmacy, Ulhasnagar, Maharashtra, India * Corresponding author: Harshal Ashok Pawar, Department of Quality Assurance, Dr. L. H. Hiranandani College of Pharmacy, Ulhasnagar, Maharashtra, India, Tel: +918097148638; E-mail: hapkmk@rediffmail.com Received date: October 08, 2017; Accepted date: Aug 20, 2018; Published date: Aug 30, 2018 Copyright: © 2018 Pawar HA, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract Colocasia esculenta (C. esculenta) is a widely cultivated plant for consumption of both leaves and tubers. Taro, a common name for the corms and tubers of several genera of the family Araceae, is a source of edible corms of C. esculenta. It is majorly cultivated in Southeast Asia by several common names like Arbi, Arvi and Eddoe. From this species, a wide range of chemical compounds have been isolated for example, flavanoids, β-sitosterol, steroids, etc. Various parts of C. esculenta are used traditionally to treat number of diseases. Extracts from this plant have been found to possess various pharmacological activities. The leaves of this plant have been studied to possess anti- helminthic, anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory actions. There have also been reports proving hypoglycemic efficacy of C. esculenta due to the presence of cyanoglucoside. The present review tries to cover all the information available on research work of this plant in yesteryears in a nutshell with the intention to serve as a literature platform for further researches on this plant. Keywords: Phytomedicine; Colocasia esculenta; Araceae; Medicinal uses; Taro Introduction In order to meet the global healthcare needs, traditional medicine systems have played a very important role. Indian Systems of Medicine being one of the largest and oldest systems constitutes all the medicines which have their origin in India. Plants have played a very vital role in sustaining and improving quality of human life and have served humans well as important components of medicines, seasoning, beverages, cosmetics, and dyes. Due to this fact, the focus on plant research has increased all over the world. Tere are any herbs that are used to treat liver, cardiovascular, digestive, metabolic and central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Medicinal plants or herbal drugs and their extracts containing isolated compounds have showcased a wide spectrum of biological activities. One of such a plant with wide applications is C. esculenta. Taro, a common name for the corms and tubers of numerous genera of the family Araceae, is a source of edible corms of C. esculenta. It is most extensively cultivated in Southeast Asia by several common names like Arbi, Arvi and Eddoe. Te juice of the plant leaf is rubefacient, stimulant, styptic and is useful in internal haemorrhages, adenitis, otalgia and buboes. Te corm juice is demulcent, laxative and anodyne. Te leaves of the plant have been found to exhibit anti- helminthic, anti-diabetic and anti-infammatory activity [1]. Colocasia species is an ancient crop used all over the world; Africa, Asia, the West Indies, and South America. It is grown throughout the humid tropics. Its edible corms and leaves are traditionally used for liver related ailments [2]. Colocasia esculenta (L) Schott of the family Araceae is an herbaceous perennial plant. Te crop is cultivated as annuals. Te green leaves of the plant are large in size and are ofen described as ‘Elephant ear’. Tey can reach up to 1-2 m high during growth period. Te main edible parts of the crop are the starchy, tuberous roots; however, the leaves of the plant are also used as a leafy vegetable. Te leaves of C. esculenta have been reported to be rich in nutrients including minerals and vitamins such as phosphorours, calcium, vitamin C, iron, ribofavin, thiamine and niacin [3]. Among various edible plants from Araceae family commercially cultivated in India, C. esculenta has a signifcant dietary importance for having multiple uses in various culinary preparations of its edible parts i.e., corm, stem and leaves. C. esculenta fresh edible leaves are rich sources of protein, dietary fbre, ascorbic acid and some nutritionally important minerals. Leaf juice of the plant also fnds its application in scorpion sting, in snake bite, in food poisoning from plant origin, etc. Te plant also fnds its application in Ayurveda identifed ailments viz. vata and pitta, constipation, alopecia, stomatitis, haemorrhoids and general weakness [4,5]. Colocasia antiquorum is found to possess hepatoprotective activity against liver injury in rats that were experimentally induced [2]. C. esculenta is reported to possess hypoglycemic efcacy due to the presence of cyanoglucoside [6]. Te plant is also reported to possess hypolipidemic and antihyperlipidemic activity due to the presence of arabinogalactan [7] and mono and digalactocyl diacylglycerols. Te plant gets its antifungal property due to presence of cystatin [8]. Antibacterial activity of C. esculenta has been reported by Ravikumar et al. [9]. Te objective of this review article was to shed light on the vast applications of traditionally used herb, Colocasia esculenta. Tis contribution also provides a broad review of botanical features, chemical constituents, pharmacological profle and medicinal/ pharmaceutical applications of C. esculenta. Plant Botany Colocasia esculenta Linn. (Figure 1) is a tall herb having tuberous or a stout short caudex, leafng and fowering together. Leaves are simple Pawar et al., Med Aromat Plants (Los Angeles) 2018, 7:4 DOI: 10.4172/2167-0412.1000317 Research Article Open Access Med Aromat Plants (Los Angeles), an open access journal ISSN: 2167-0412 Volume 7 • Issue 4 • 1000317 M e d i c i n a l & A r o m a t i c P l a n t s ISSN: 2167-0412 Medicinal & Aromatic Plants