Calotropis gigantea- A Review

Calotropis gigantea plant has a family Asclepiadaceae commonly and sub family Apocynaceae known as Madar in Hindi. It is a perennial herb with a very long history of use in traditional medicines. Calotropis gigantea is a hoary, laticiferous shrub, which is also known as “the milkweed”. Calotropis is used as a traditional medicinal plant in whole world. Calotropis gigantea plant contain chemical constituents in which cardenolides, flavonoids, terpenes, pregnanes and nonprotein amino acid and more in various concentration. The root bark contains α-amyrin, β-amyrin, taraxasterol and its ψ-isomer taraxasteryl isovalerate, taraxasteryl acetate, gigantin, giganteol, isogiganteol, β-sitosterol and wax. The rootalso shows Nootropic activity in methanolic extract. The latex, leaves, flowers and bark are used as caustic, acrid, expectorant, to removes body hairs, anthelmintics and alsoused in leprosy, ulceration, cough, scabies ring worm of the scalp, piles, explosion on the body, asthma, enlargement of spleen or liver, edema and in painful joint swellings. Also, evaluate possible anxiogenic effect, sedative action and anxiolytic potential of crude ethanolic extract of Calotropis gigantealeaf. Methanolic extract of Calotropis gigantea root used as memory increasing activity. This review gives an idea about its pharmacological activity and phytochemistry.