DHĀK BUTEA MONOSPERMA-A REVIEW ON ETHNOBOTANICAL AND UNANI PROSPECT AS WELL AS PHYTOCHEMICAL AND PHARMACOLOGICAL PROPERTIES

A large fraction of the world population, especially in the developing and underdeveloped countries depends mainly on the traditional system of medicine. India is well recognized for their traditional systems of medicine such as Unani, Ayurveda and Siddha that prevailed here from centuries and these are important components of the health care system. Unani Medicine is worldwide well ancient traditional system of medicine. There are over 25,000 herbal products documented in the traditional medical literature. In India more than 43% of the total flowering plants are reported to be of medicinal importance. The drugs in Unani system of medicine are derived from three sources i.e. plant, animal and mineral but mainly from herbs. Dhāk (Butea monosperma) one of the important medicinal plants in Unani medical system is used for therapeutic purpose. Many Unani scholars mentioned this drug in their treatises. Also, there exists a vast knowledge in the form of non codified or oral tradition for therapeutic uses of Butea monosperma. Different parts of the plant including bark, root, gum, leaves, flowers and seeds show pharmacological activities due to presence of Phytoconstituents like, Butrin, alkaloids, monospermoside, glucosides, triterpenes and various elements. In this paper, the botanical description of the drug is provided along with the pharmacological actions, therapeutic uses, dose and uses mentioned in Unani classical literature with ethno-botanical uses as well as phytochemical and pharmacological studies on this important plant