Phytochemical, Pharmacological, and Toxicological Studies on Peganum harmala L.: An Overview of the Last Decade

Objective: Plants have been used to treat ailments since the dawn of humanity. The use of medicinal plants for various purposes such as preventing diseases, treating diseases and supporting medical treatment is increasing day by day. On the other hand, medicinal plants are important sources of raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry. It has been demonstrated that Peganum harmala L. and the phytochemicals it contains have a wide variety of pharmacological activities. P. harmala and its active ingredients can be an important resource for the pharmaceutical industry. In this review, the phytochemistry, pharmacological effects, clinical studies, and toxicity of P. harmala are discussed under the current information. Methods: Studies on P. harmala were searched using Pubmed, Scopus, Science Direct databases, and Google Scholar search engine. As a result of the searches, 96 articles were included in the study. Results: The main group of secondary metabolites responsible for the biological activities of P. harmala is alkaloids. The plant and its isolated secondary plant compounds have been shown to have many pharmacological actions, counting antiamnestic, anticancer, antidepressant, antiinflammatory, cardiovascular, gastroprotective, hepatoprotective, nephroprotective, and vasodilator activities. Studies evaluating the plant's clinical effects have been carried out in recent years. However, it has been recorded in the literature that the use of P. harmala causes poisoning with symptoms such as neurosensory symptoms, visual hallucination, bradycardia, hypotension, agitation, tremor, ataxia, and vomiting. Conclusion: Considering the pharmacological effects, the number of studies on the efficacy and safety of P. harmala and its secondary metabolites should be increased.