Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com are big, sweet tasting when ripe, turn black on maturity, dry, and have several rounded bulges. The plant has a pungent odor. In addition, the P. sarmentosum species has good ornamental value, which is popular in urban landscape gardens as ground covering shrubs with a root and sprouts at each node and can be grown in pots as bushes by pruning the creeping branches. The bushy, abundant procumbent branches are about 40-50cm in height and the fruiting season is between October and December. 3 In Malaysia, the plant grows wild; however, it also grows as a weed in villages and places with plenty of shade. Biology Piper sarmentosum is easy to grow. It is propagated through vegetative cuttings where it spreads from the fragments and rhizomes that have a root and sprout at each node 4 and the discarded cuttings are quick to develop roots. The plant grows in a humid, warm spot in the shade, and grows well in rich and damp soil in secondary forest, near sea level at 1000m and requires good drainage. Distribution It has been estimated that there are 1200 species of Piper distributed throughout the pantropical and Neotropical regions of the world of which more than 400 species have been recorded in the Malaysia region. 5 This species is widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical countries. 6 Importance Piper sarmentosum is popular due to its culinary and medicinal properties. Piper sarmentosum has been used traditionally in diferent parts of the world to cure many diseases and ailments. 7 The plant contains constituents like alkaloids (amide, pyrones, favonoids), as reported by Tuntiwachwuttikul et al. 8 It has also been reported to possess pharmacological properties like anti-cancer, 9 hypoglycemic, 10 anti-tuberculosis, 11 antioxidant 12 and antimalarial. 13 A result from a recent study also provided experimental evidence for the application of P. sarmentosum in botanical pesticides. 14 Due to all these properties, the plant has great potential to be commercialized as a medicinal plant in South-East Asia, particularly Malaysia. Ethnomedicinal uses and report on uses of P. sarmentosum in traditional medicine Today, herbal medicine has become popular all over the world. Many people use herbal remedies in their daily life, especially in developing countries, because of the absence of harmful or unfavorable efects and their cost efectiveness. 15 Piper species are widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world and have numerous applications in diferent traditional medicines. For instance, in ancient Chinese medicine, many species are used to treat infammatory diseases. 16 In the southern part of Thailand, the water mixture of the whole plant of P. sarmentosum is used to treat patients with diabetic disease 10 and the crude extract is also reported to help in reducing the blood glucose level of onset diabetic patients. 17 Piper sarmentosum has also been used as a carminative and to relieve coughs and muscle pain, 18 while the fruits and leaves are used as an expectorant. 19 Piper sarmentosum leaves and roots aid in relieving headaches when applied to the forehead while the decoction of the plant helps to cure muscle weakness and pain in the bones. 20 In Indonesia, P. sarmentosum is used to treat coughs and asthma by chewing the rootlets with betel nut and swallowing the juice. The rootlets are also chewed with nutmeg and ginger to treat pleurisy or with only ginger to treat toothache. 20 In addition, warm leaves coated with coconut oil are applied to ease painful chests and are also used by rheumatic patients to relieve the pain. 21,22 The plant has been shown to have antiplatelet aggregation, 23 antibacterial, 24 antiplasmodial activity against Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium berghei, 13 antioxidant and superoxide scavenger 12 and an antiprotozoal efect against Entamoebahistolytica. 25 J Anal Pharm Res. 2016;2(5):14‒12. 1 ©2016 Rahman et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestrited use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially. Piper Sarmentosum Roxb.: a mini review of ethnobotany, phytochemistry and pharmacology Volume 2 Issue 5 - 2016 Sharifah Farhana Syed Ab Rahman, Kamaruzaman Sijam, Dzolkhifi Omar Department of Plant Protection, University of Putra Malaysia, Malaysia Correspondence: Sharifah Farhana Syed Ab Rahman, Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia, Tel 60389474846, Fax 60389381014, Email Received: June 02, 2016 | Published: June 28, 2016 Journal of Analytical & Pharmaceutical Research Mini Review Open Access Botanical aspects of Piper Sarmentosum The Piper species are one of the well-presented genera, mostly grown as woody perennial climbers. They are rarely found as shrubs with enlarged or pufy nodes and stipules. The leaves of various Piper species are naturally aromatic and have a pungent smell. The fowers are very tiny, usually arranged in spikes, without perianth. 1 Piper species could also be identifed by its pulpy fruit, consisting of 2 to 6 stamens, and one-celled ovary with orthotropic ovule, which means it, is growing straight so that the micropyle is at the end opposite the stalk. Piper sarmentosum is a wild growing herb with long creeping stems. The leaves are alternate and heart-shaped. Young leaves usually have a waxy surface and is light green in color. It produces small, white fowers in the form of spikes, which are located at the terminal or leaf opposite the spikes. 2 The fower has a unisexual ovary. The fruits