Abstract
The natural products have been the source of most of the active ingredients of medicines and this is widely accepted since olden times even before the advent of high-throughput screening and the post-genomic era. Akarkara roots have a important part in the ancient Ayurvedic and Unani system of holistic health and herbal medicine of the East. Anacyclus pyrethrumDC. (family - compositae) is the biological name of the Akarkara drug. Especially the roots of the plant Anacyclus pyrethrum DC are reported to have good medicinal value in traditional and modern system of medicine. Pyrethrum has temperate and somewhat dry warmth and because of this good temperament it is a pure and has a good powerful action. A. pyrethrum roots hard, fusiform root, compact, about the size of little finger, with sometimes leaf –remnants at the top and beset with few or no hair-like rootlets, brownish externally and deeply fissured longitudinally. The present review highlights the biological study of Anacyclus pyrethrum including different activity such as antibacterial, antifungal, antidiabetic, antioxidant, anticonvulsant, antidepressant, anxiolytic, inhibit release of acetylcholinesterase enzyme, anabolic, aphrodisiac, and reproductive, immunological active polysaccharides and memory enhancing activity. These studies are conducted using different animal models of each one activity. The main conclusion of this review article is that it is useful for the treatment of all the type of disease like the Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, Anabolic, Aphrodisiac and Reproductive by using the different solvents like ethanol, petroleum, etc. Ethanolic root extract gives the maximum reliable results of Anacyclus. pyrethrum.