Nagarmotha: A Useful Medicinal Plant and its Synergistic Ophthalmic Formulations

The basic objective of this review is to furnish extensive confirmation on the bioactive chemical compounds and pharmacological aspects of Nagarmotha, i.e., Cyperus scariosus of the family Cyperaceae and some others plants used to treat various diseases of eyes as mentioned in Ayurveda, Charaka Samhita, and Sushrut Samhita. Nagarmotha showed an extensive ethnomedicinal record and constituted a phytonutrient pool of heuristic medicinal value. Various observations on pharmacological affirmation have illustrated the potential of plants as antioxidant, hypotensive, stimulant of the central nervous system, hepatoprotective, antidiabetic, analgesic, ophthalmic, anti-inflammatory, astringent, and antimicrobial actions which aid its conventional benefits. Nagarmotha remained to be an important part of various prescriptions used in nearly all indigenous systems of medicines to cure a variety of ailments. Various investigations on bioactive chemical compounds revealed that Cyperus scariosus has countless essential components like essential oils, terpenoids, sesquiterpenes, hydrocarbons, steroidal saponins, ketones, cyperene, cyperol, cyprotene, flavonoids, and various polyphenolic compounds. In the present work, more emphasis is on the bioactive chemical compounds, enlistment of bioactive chemical compounds responsible for therapeutic values, conventional benefits, and their detailed reported pharmacological properties. Some of the available marketed ayurvedic preparations were also mentioned in this review. Overall, researchers may get assisted and synchronized for impending potency, profitability, and effectiveness of Nagarmotha especially, and other medicinal plants generally. The demand for herbal products is expanding immensely all around the world and several biopharmaceutical regions are nowadays managing substantial research on herbal materials for their promising medicative value. Further curative usefulness of various phytochemicals obtained from Cyperus scariosus may be validated and corroborated.