anti-fungal, antitumor and anti-inflammatory activity of
acorus calamus
ghaidaa jihadi mohammed1, imad hadi hameed2
1department of biology, college of science, university of al-qadisiyah, hillah city, iraq
2biomedical science department, university of babylon, college of nursing, hillah city, iraq
abstract
acorus calamus is a herb used for the appetite and as an aid to the digestion. it is used for fevers, stomach
cramps and cholic. their rhizomes were used for toothache and powdered rhizome for congestion. the
rhizome part is also used to treat several diseases like asthma and bronchitis and as sedative. native tribes
treated cough by making a decoction of the plant as a carminative and also for cholic. it is a main medhya
drug, which has the property of improving the memory power and intellect. acorus calamus is used in the
conditions of vata and kapha, stomatopathy, hoarseness, flatulence, dyspepsia, helminthiasis, amenorrhea,
dysmenorrheal, nephropathy, calculi, stragury. acorus calamus leaves, rhizomes and its essential oil has
many biological activities16 like antispasmodic, carminative and also used for treatment of epilepsy, mental
ailments, chronic diarrhea, dysentery, bronchial catarrh, intermittent and tumors. it also has the insecticidal,
antifungal, antibacterial, tranquilizing, antidiarrhoeal, antidyslipidemic, neuroprotective, antioxidant,
anticholinesterase, spasmolytic, vascular modulator activities. the parts used in most of the experimental
studies are the leaves, roots and stem of the plant. the dry rhizome contains some of the yellow aromatic oil,
calamus oil that are responsible for their medicinal and insecticidal properties. studies were also done on
their rhizome part and in its oils in order to identify the active constituents and its medicinal values.
keyword: acorus calamus, insecticidal, anti-fungal, antitumour, anti-inflammatory activity, review.
corresponding author:
imad hadi hameed
biomedical science department,
university of babylon, college of nursing,
hillah city, iraq
phone: 009647716150716
e-mail: imad_dna@yahoo.com
introduction
mother earth has bestowed to the mankind and
variousnplants with healing ability for curing the ailments
of human being. this unique feature has been identified
since pre historic times. the who has also estimated
that 80% of the world population meets their primary
health care needs through traditional medicine only 1-9.
medicinal plants are those plants possessing secondary
metabolites and are potential sources of curative drugs
with the very long list of chemicals and its curative
nature. acorus calamus is a tall perennial wetland
monocot plant from the acoraceae family. the scented
leaves and rhizomes of sweet flag have been traditionally
used as a medicine and the dried and powdered rhizome
has a spicy flavour and is used as a substitute for ginger,
cinnamon and nutmeg for its odor. it is known by a variety
of names, including cinnamon sedge, flag root, gladdon,
myrtle flag, myrtle grass, myrtle sedge, sweet cane,
sweet myrtle, sweet root, sweet rush and sweet sedge.
a. calamus is probably indigenous to india and now
found across europe, southern russia, northern asia
minor, china, japan, burma, sri lanka, and northern
usa. calamus was valued as a stimulant, bitter herb for
the appetite and as an aid to the digestion10-22. in north
america, the decoction was used for fevers, stomach
cramps and colic the rhizome was chewed for toothache
and powdered rhizome was inhaled for congestion23-29. in
ayurvedic medicine calamus is an important herb, and
is valued as a “rejuvenator” for the brain and nervous
system, and as a remedy for digestive disorders.
parts used: the parts used are leaves, root (rhizome)
and stem. in asia, sweet flag has been used for at least
doi number: 10.5958/0976-5506.2018.00218.8
indian journal of public health research & development, march 2018, vol.9, no. 3 255
the last 2000 years. the ancient peoples of china used
it to lessen swelling and for constipation. in ayurvedic
medicinal practice india, the rhizomes have been used to
cure several diseases like fever, asthma and bronchitis,
and as a sedative. native tribes used it to treat a cough,
made a decoction as a carminative and as an infusion for
cholic. in western herbal medicine the herb is chiefly
employed for digestive problems such as gas, bloating,
colic, and poor digestive function30-38. calamus helps
distended and uncomfortable stomachs and headaches
associated with weak digestion. small amounts are
thought to reduce stomach acidity, while larger doses
increase deficient acid production, a good example
of how different doses of the same herb can produce
different results.
pharmacological activities: the rhizomes of a.
calamus reportedly relieve stomach cramps, dysentery
and asthma, and are used as: anthelmintics, insecticides,
tonics and stimulants. alcoholic rhizome extracts of a.
calamus growing in kwazulu-natal, south africa, were
previously found to have anthelmintic and antibacterial
activity. different varieties of a. calamus exhibit
different levels of ?-asarone, with the diploid variety
containing none of the compound. mammalian toxicity
and carcinogenicity of asarones has been demonstrated
by other researchers, supporting the discouragement
of the medicinal use of a. calamus by traditional
healers39-45. in medical research, more attention is paid
to the antioxidant properties of medicinal plants to
minimize the harmful effects of radicals.
anti-fungal activity: ?-asarone compound fraction
obtained from the crude methanolic extract of acorus
calamus rhizomes has been reported to possess the
antifungal activity against the yeast strain of candida
albicans, cryptococcus neoformans, saccharomyces
cerevisae and also against aspergillus niger.
antitumour: it was reported to be a potent antitumour
agent against daltons ascites lymphoma in mice
by evaluating the tumour growth, toxicity and
haematological parameters.
anti-inflammatory activity: acorus calamus is a
traditional remedy for the inflammation problems but
their biological function in the human skin cells not well
characterized. acorus calamus has been found to inhibit
the expression of polyi: c-induced il-6 and il-8 which
indicates their inhibitory effect on the expression of the
cytokines which were likely to be in association with the
suppression of nf-?b activation and phosphorylation of
irf3 that shows the acorus calamus l. may be used as a
promising immunomodulatory agent in the inflammatory
skin diseases.
anti-oxidant activity: acorus calamus extract showed
a remarkable increased and decreased levels of certain
parameters due to the exposure to noise-stress which
ultimately proves their antioxidant activity46-50. acorus
calamus has been found to render the protection against
?-radiation induced oxidative stress.
antidiabetic activity: acorus calamus, is widely used in
the treatment of diabetes in the traditional folk medicine
of america and indonesia. four fractions obtained
from the radix of acorus calamus were used for insulin
releasing or alpha-glucosidase inhibitory action51-53.
larvicidal property: a. calamus carries huge potential
as a mosquito larvicidel. this potential could be
exploited for the development of safer and effective
botanical mosquito larvicidal tool for the management
of aedes aegypti.
conclusion
medicinal property of acorus calamus is due to
presence of secondary metabolites. acorus calamus,
is widely used in the treatment of diabetes, antitumour
agent against daltons ascites lymphoma, and antiinflammatory
activity.
financial disclosure: there is no financial disclosure.
conflict of interest: none to declare.
ethical clearance: in our review, all these major
pharmacological activity were complete analysis under
the biological department of college of science for
women in hillah city.
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