Journal of Medicinal Plants Studies

Journal of Medicinal Plants Studies
Year: 2013, Volume: 1, Issue: 3
First page: (126) Last page: (141)
ISSN: 2320-3862
Online Available at www.plantsjournal.com
Journal of Medicinal Plants Studies
Vol. 1 Issue. 3 2013 www.plantsjournal.com Page | 126
Toxicology, Phytochemistry, Bioactive compounds and
Pharmacology of Parthenium hysterophorus
Dipankar Chandra Roy1, Md. Munan Shaik*2
1. Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Islamic University, Kushtia-7003, Bangladesh
[E-mail: dipuroy_87@yahoo.com]
2. Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Islamic University, Kushtia-7003, Bangladesh
[E-mail: munanbt2004@gmail.com and mmshaik@btge.iu.ac.bd]
Parthenium hysterophorus, members of the Asteraceae family is a noxious weed in America, Asia, Africa and
Australia. This weed is considered to be a cause of a spectrum of clinical patterns: allergic respiratory problems,
contact dermatitis, mutagenicity in human and livestock. Its allelophathic nature can drastically reduced the crop
production and aggressive dominance of this weed threatens biodiversity. Attempts to control spread of the plant
have so far not been successful. On the other hand, P. hysterophorus confers many health benefits, viz remedy for
skin inflammation, rheumatic pain, diarrhoea, urinary tract infections, dysentery, malaria, psoriasis, allergies,
asthma, tinnitus, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, neuralgia. This plant traditionally used for the treatment of fevers,
migraine headaches, rheumatoid arthritis, stomachaches, toothaches, insect bites, infertility, and problems with
menstruation and labor during childbirth. The plant contains a large number of important bioactive compounds,
mainly sesquiterpene lactones, flavonoid glycosides and pinenes. It has multiple pharmacologic properties, such as
anticancer, anti-inflammatory, cardiotonic, antispasmodic, an emmenagogue, and as an enema for worms. The aim
of this review article is to explore the toxicological reports of P. hysterophorus, summarized the active compounds
responsible for different pharmacological properties, the effective control measures that can be implemented as well
as to unravel the latent beneficial prospects of this weed.
Keyword: Parthenium hysterophorus, Sesquiterpene lactone, Dermatitis, Phytochemistry, Pharmacological activity,
Toxicity.
1. Introduction
Parthenium hysterophorus L. is an aromatic
annual and obnoxious invasive herb under
Asteraceae family, now commonly known
as feverfew, Tanacetum parthenium,
Chrysanthemum parthenium (Parsons and
Cuthbertson, 2001; Bhatt et al., 2012). The
normal height of this erect plant is up to 1 m
but under favorable conditions the height
may reach up to 2 m having deeply
penetrating taproot with many finely
branched feeding roots and an angular,
longitudinally grooved and profusely
branched hairy stem (Parsons and
Cuthbertson, 2001; Bhatt et al., 2012).
Allergen containing 8-20 cm long and 4-5
cm wide shortly hairy pale green leaves are
alternate and rosette that are resemble to
carrot leaves during initial growth (Parsons
and Cuthbertson, 2001; Bhatt et al., 2012).
Rising from the stem nodes and terminating
at about the same height, each head (4-10
mm diameter) of clustered flowers bears
about 40 tubular male and 5 ligulate female
white florets and produces 2 mm long
flattened black seeds (Parsons and
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Vol. 1 Issue. 3 2013 www.plantsjournal.com Page | 127
Cuthbertson, 2001). Seeds germinate any
time of the year under wide range of
environmental condition. High humidity,
high moisture content and temperature
around 25°C are the standard factors for
seed germination (Bhatt et al., 2012). A
native of tropical America P. hysterophorus
was introduced during the 1950s into Africa,
Asia and Oceania (Labrada et al., 1994).
Now this species is frequently found on
roadsides, railway reserves, stock yards,
cultivated fields, rundown pastures and
vacant lots in China, Taiwan, Pakistan,
Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam,
Pacific islands, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Madagascar, South Africa, Somalia,
Mozambique, Zimbabwe and several
countries of South and Central America
(Parsons and Cuthbertson, 2001; Bhatt et al.,
2012). It is included in the Global Invasive
Species database of IUCN due to the
invasive nature (Bhatt et al., 2012). Not only
this weed is well thought-out to be a factor
of allergic respiratory problems, contact
dermatitis and mutagenicity in human and
livestock but also considered as a severely
crop production reducing agent due the
allopathic nature (Patel, 2011). Thus P.
hysterophorus is a threat for the biodiversity.
Besides the harmful effects, P.
hysterophorus shows anti-inflammatory,
antimicrobial, anti-cancerous, pesticidal,
thrombolytic activities.
1.1 Phytochemistry
The chemistry of feverfew is now well
defined. Chemotype and geographical
distribution of seeds are the varying factors
for the constituents of P. hysterophorus
(Blumenthal et al., 2003). More than 45
sesquiterpene lactones were identified from
leaves and flower among them the major is
sesquiterpene lactone parthenolide, which is
up to 0.9% of total constituents
(Anonymous, 2003; Fugh-Berman, 2003).
Twenty-three compounds, representing
90.1% or more of the volatile oils, have been
identified from P. hysterophorus (Pareek et
al., 2011). The toxic and inhibitory
constituents contained by all parts (stem,
leaves, leaf hair, flower, pollen grain) of P.
hysterophorus are summarized in table 1.
Table 1: Chemical constituents ofP. hysterophorus
Main groups Constituents References
Terpenoids
Sesquiterpene lactones: germacranolides (including parthenolide, artemorin
and chrysanthemonin) guaianolides (including chrysartemin A, partholide
and chrysanthemolide) and eudesmanolides (including santamarin, reynosin
and magnolialide), parthenin, cornopolin, artecanin, balchanin, costunolide,
epoxyartemorin.
(Parsons and
Cuthbertson,
2001; Boon and
Smith, 2004;
Pareek et al.,
2011)
α-unsaturated γ-lactones: 3-β-hydroxy- parthenolide, costunolide, 3-β-
hydroxycostunolide, 8-α-hydroxyestafiatin, artecanin, two chlorinecontaining sesquiterpene lactones, 1 -β-hydroxyarbusculin and 5-β-
hydroxyreynosin.
(Barnes et al.,
2007)
Volatile oils
(0.02–0.07%)
Various monoterpene and sesquiterpene components (e.g. camphor
(56.9%), camphene (12.7%), p-cymene (5.2%), bornyl acetate (4.6%),
tricylene, α-thujene, α-pinene, β-pinene, α-phellandrene, α-terpinene, γ-
terpinene, chrysantheone, pinocarvone, borneol, terpinen-4-ol, ρ-cymen-8-
ol, α-terpineol, myrtenal, carvacrol, eugenol, trans-myrtenol acetate,
isobornyl 2-methyl butanoate, caryophyllene oxide, germacrene, farnesene
and their esters).
(Barnes et al.,
2007; Pareek et
al., 2011)
Amino acids Rich in Glycine and proline and moderate amount with alanine and lysine (Gupta et al.,
1996)
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Amino sugars N-acetylgalactosamine and N-acetylglucosamine. (Gupta et al.,
1996)
Phenolic
derivatives Caffeic, vanllic, ferfulic, chlorogenic and anisic acids.
(Parsons and
Cuthbertson,
2001)
Flavonoids
Luteolin, apigenin, 6-hydroxykaempferol 3,6-dimethyl ether, 6-
hydroxykaempferol 3,6,4′-trimethyl ether (tanetin), quercetagetin 3,6-
dimethyl ether, quercetagetin 3,6,3′-trimethyl ether (accompanied by
isomeric 3,6,4′-trimethyl ether), quercetin, chrysoeriol, santin, jaceidin and
centaureidin.
(Pareek et al.,
2011)
Others
8-β-Acetoxyhysterone C, Charminarone, 8α-
Epoxymethylacrylyloxyambrosin, 8α-Epoxymethylacrylyloxy-11, 13-
dihydroparthenin, 8α-Epoxymethylacrylyloxyparthenin, 2β-
Hydroxycoronopilin, Hysterone (A, B, C, D), 1 α, 2β, 4β-
Trihydroxypseudoguaian-6β, 12-olide, Pyrethrin, tannins (type
unspecified), melatonin, potassium chloride, protein.
(Parsons and
Cuthbertson,
2001; Barnes et
al., 2007; Zhou
et al., 2011b,
2011c, 2011d,
2011e, 2011f)
1.2 Bioactive Compounds
Plants produce a diverse range of bioactive
molecules, making them rich source for
different types of medicines. The main
isolated bioactive compounds from P.
hysterophorus are parthenolide, parthenin,
coronopilin, canin. Identified bioactive
compounds from P. hysterophorus with their
activity are summarized in table 2.
Table 2: Individual bioactivities of some bioactive compounds isolated from P. hysterophorus
Name of the
compounds Structure Biological activity References
Apigenin
(C15H10O5;
mw = 270.24)
Antibacterial, antiulcerative, antispasmodic, diuretic,
aldose reductase inhibitor, antihypertensive,
nodulation signal for metabiosis of pea and
Rhizobium leguminosarum, binding activity to
benzodiazepine receptor, anti-inflammatory, platelet
aggregation inhibitor, antioxidant, cytotoxic
(Kuhn and
Winston, 2007;
Zhou et al.,
2011a)
Borneol
(C10H18O;
mw = 154.25)
Antibacterial, anthelmintic, antispasmodic, stimulant,
analgesic, induces sweatiness
(Barnes et al.,
2007; Zhou et
al., 2011f)⁠
Camphor
(C10H16O;
mw = 152.24)
Cardiotonic, irritant, antifungal
(Barnes et al.,
2007; Zhou et
al., 2011b)⁠
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Canin
(C15H18O5;
mw = 278.31)
Antineoplastic, cytotoxic, insect antifeedant, plant
growth regulator
(Zhou et al.,
2011b)⁠
Charminarone
(C15H18O5; mw
= 278.31)
Anticancer property (Venkataiah et
al., 2003)
Coronopilin
(C15H20O4;
mw = 264.32)
Dermatitic (causes contact dermatitis), insect
antifeedant
(Zhou et al.,
2011b)
Luteolin
(C15H10O6;
mw = 286.24)
Antiallergic, antibacterial, antifungal, cytotoxic, antiinflammatory, antispasmodic, antitussive, dispels
phlegm, enhances arterial tension and lowers
intravenous tension, enhances blood capillary
permeability, immunoenhancer; increases coronary
flow, dihydrocoenzyme I (NADH) oxidase inhibitor,
iodine-induced thyronine deiodinase inhibitor; aldose
reductase inhibitor, protein kinase C inhibitor,
succinic oxidase inhibitor; anti