Rhododendron arboreum: A critical review on phytochemicals, health benefits and applications in the food processing industrie

Rhododendron is a resourceful, evergreen shrub or a small tree with an ornate display of scarlet red or pale pink flowers that belongs to the family Ericaceae. Rhododendron plants are traditionally being used for the medicinal treatment of numerous human ailments like blood dysentery, headache, asthma, cough, stomachache, fever, inflammation, and fungal infections. Rhododendron also has economic, medicinal, and pharmacological importance. Rhododendron has been regarded as a rich source of secondary metabolites. Apart from aesthetic and sacred values, from past times, Rhododendron juice was prepared from the flowers to curb allergies, treat diabetes, and to deal with inflammations. Recent studies have shown several promising activities particularly relaxant, digestive enzyme, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antispasmodic, anticancer, and antagonistic effects. With the rapidly growing popularity of Rhododendron arboreum it is important to have a comprehensive reference for its nutritional benefits with the growing search for natural and health foods. This work aimed to review the recent advances in research carried out to date for purposive evaluation of nutritional quality and potential health benefits of Rhododendron arboreum for its utilization in food processing industries for composing novel value-added products, to achieve high consumer acceptability and health benefits.