An updated phytochemical and pharmacological review on Malabar Spinach (Basella alba or Basella rubra)

Cancer, autoimmune diseases, microbial infections and oxidative stress are becoming unavoidable threats in recent times. Despite advances in conventional treatments such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, problems related to these therapies such as side effects, opportunistic infections and the development of drug resistance remained unsolved. Therefore, the need of the hour is to develop novel treatment modalities using plant derivatives which act as effective therapeutic agents and have minimal side effects. Basella alba is one such plant which contains various phytochemicals viz. flavonoids, alkaloids, phytosterols, tannins and triterpenoids etc., which helps in curing various diseases. The main aim of the present review is to highlight the phytochemical and pharmacological investigation carried out on the plant so that the more pharmacological studies could be conducted to investigate the untapped potential. Based on the published evidences on various databases, findings suggest that various parts of B. alba are used as antioxidant, anticancer, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiulcer and many other diseases. Finally, it can be concluded that B. alba may be appealed as a good source of pharmacologically active compounds to develop new drugs.