INTRODUCTION:

Gambhari (Gmelina arborea. Roxb) belongs to the family Lamiaceae. Gmelina arborea is an unnamed, moderately sized to large deciduous tree, about 30m or more in height and a diameter up to 4.5m. The German botanist J.C. Gmelin was honored with the genus' name. The name Arborea, which is derived from the Latin word ‘arbour’, which meaning tree, indicates tree-like. In Ayurveda texts, gambhari has numerous synonym like Kashmiri means a beautiful tree, sriparni means has a beautiful leaves, madhuparnika means has leaves with sweetish taste, pitarohini means has yellow flowers. Ayurveda is Associate in nursing ancient system of drugs that uses roughly 1587 species of plants. With an annual turnover of more than 1000 MT, Dashamoola is one of the most important listed raw medication formulations among ayurvedic remedies.¹

Dasamula is used primarily to make alcoholic preparations (Dasamularishtam) and Ayurvedic boiling (Dasamula Kashaya). Some of the most popular medical applications of gambhari include the solidification of sotha (inflammation), daha (burning sensation), jvara (fever), trsna (thirst), and arsa (haemorrhoids). Chothani evaluated the common applications, phytochemical components, pharmacologic action, and commercialized preparations of gambhari.² This review discusses the various uses of bark, leaves, flowers, fruits, stems, wood, and roots for conditions like anaemia, leprosy, ulcers, emission, alopecia, tumours, tonics, aphrodisiacs, hepato protective, astringents, anthelmintics, and antimicrobials. Sesqui terpenoids, apiosylskimmin, and gmelofuran from the roots of G. arborea are also noted in the review. Researchers have looked into this species' cardioprotective, analgesic, antipyretic, and medicinal properties^3,4,5. Gambhari is the name given to Gmelina arborea Roxb. (Verbenaceae).⁶

Taxonomical Classification:

The science of taxonomy is the systematic naming and grouping of organisms into like-minded categories. Plant taxonomy is an ancient study that classifies plants into comparable groupings based on their gross morphology, such as their flower form, leaf shape, fruit form, etc. The plant Gmelina arborea Roxb. (Gambhari) is listed according to its taxonomy.

Table No. 1:

KINGDOM	Plantea
DIVISION	Magnoliophyta
CLASS	Mangnoliophyta
ORDER	Lamiales
FAMILY	Lamiaceae
GENUS	Gmelina
SPECIES	G.Arborea

Synonym:

Kannada	:	Shivane mara, kulimavu, kumbuda
Sanskrit	:	Gambhari
Bengali	:	Gamari, Gambar
Guajarati	:	Shewan, Sivan
Hindi	:	Gamhar
Malayalam	:	kumbil, kumbulu
Oriya	:	Gambari
Tamil	:	Kumla
Telugu	:	Gummadi
Kashmiri	:	Shivani
Marathi	:	Shivan, Siwan
English	:	White teak⁷

Vernacular Names:

Since the beginning of time, when man first realized how important plants were, he began classifying them according to their uses-edible, non-edible, medicinal, poisonous, non-poisonous, etc. and giving them names so that people could distinguish between them. Below is a list of Gmelina Arborea Roxb.'s common names.

Table No. 2:

ASSAMESE	Gamari, Gomari
BENGAL	Gambhar, Gamar
GUJARATI	Seevan
MARATI	Sivan, Shewan
HINDI	Kambhari, Ghambhar, Gamhar, Gambhar, sewan, Gambhari, Gamari
KANNADA	Shivanigiva, Shivani, Kumbalamara
MALAYALAM	Kumizhu, Kumpil, Kumil, Kumbil, Kumilu
ORRIA	Gambhari, Bodhroparnni
PUNJAB	Gumhar, Kumhar, Ban
ENGLISH	Candhar tree, Candahar tree, Coomb teak, Gamari, White teak
KASHMIRI	Kashmari
SANSKRIT	Ashveta, Bhadra, Mahabhadra, Shriparni, Vidarini
KONKANI	Niuvon, Sivony
RAJPUTANA	Sewan
TAMIL	Kumizhan, Kumishan, Perumkumbil, Komizhpazham, Perunkurmizh, Kumadi
TELUNGU	Peggummadi, Pegummudu, Gummadi, Gumaditeku

Habitat:

This tree is widespread on India's east and west coasts, the Nilgiris, and the lower Himalaya.⁸

Distribution:

From the foot of the Himalayas to Kerala and the Andaman Islands, this plant can be found growing wild throughout India in wet, semi-deciduous, and open forests up to an altitude of 1500 msl. It is typically found sporadically in mixed forests in the country's moist regions, which stretch up to the relatively arid regions of central India. It occasionally happens in Sal forests as well as evergreen ones. The species is typically dispersed and present alongside other species in the natural forest. In Central India, it can be found in dry mixed deciduous forest types.⁹

Botanical description:

An unarmed, moderately sized deciduous tree that can grow to a height of 18 meters. Its branches and young sections are covered with delicate, white mealy pubescence.

Leaves:

The petiole is 5-7.5cm long, cylindrical, purulent, and glandular at the tip. The leaves are 10-20 by 7.5-15cm, broadly ovate, acuminate, whole, glabrous above when mature, stellate fulvous tomentose beneath, base cordate or occasionally truncate and briefly cuneate.

Flower:

blooms are typically found in small clusters of three or fewer blooms that are placed along the branches of a panicle that can grow up to 30cm long and is heavily covered in fulvous hairs. The flowers' buds are clavate and angular, and the bracts are 8mm long. Long, lanceolate, and linear. 5mm long calyx. The five teeth are tiny, triangular, and pointy, and are long and generally campanulate.

Corolla:

3.8cm long, brownish yellow, and has thick exterior hairs. Long, 5-lobed, and 2-lipped; upper lip somewhat longer than 1cm, sharply divided into two oblong, obtuse lobes; bottom lip almost 2.5cm. long, 3- lobed, the middle lobe projecting forward, ovate, sub obtuse, with irregularly crenulated margin, much longer and broader than the obovate rounded lateral lobes. Drupe that is 2 to 2.5cm long, ovoid or pyriform, smooth, and ripe orange-yellow.

Root:

Cylindrical, unevenly surfaced, greyish-brown, bark that is rather difficult to fracture, brittle, and predominate in the woody area. Root: Cylindrical, unevenly surfaced, greyish-brown, bark that is rather difficult to fracture, brittle, and predominate in the woody area.

Root Bark:

Fresh, fully developed root bark has a yellowish hue. The external surface of dry fragments is rough due to the existence of vertical cracks, ridges, fissures, and numerous lenticels, and the fracture is short and granular. Thinner pieces form single quills.

Stem:

Hard, woody, smooth (apart from a few branch scars), outwardly yellowish grey, internally cream-colored.

Stem Bark:

The inner surface of the stem bark is relatively smooth and reddish-brown to black in color, and the outside surface is 0.2 to 0.7cm thick, ribbed, and quilled in some spots. The exterior surface is yellowish-brown in color and rough due to several longitudinal and horizontal fissures.¹⁰

Traditional Uses:

The entire plant is crucial for medicinal purposes. According to folklore, it strengthens the digestive system, enhances memory, and helps treat fever, heart illness, neurological problems, and piles. The medication has a history of being used to treat scorpion stings and snake bites. One of the constituents in "dashmuladikwath" and "bhrahat-panchamool"-two Ayurvedic medicines that are used as tonics—is the root of Gmelina arborea Linn.¹⁴ The roots are employed as demulcents, laxatives, refrigerants, stomachics, anthelmintics, anti-inflammatory agents, and tonics. The roots have hot potency and a hefty quality, and they relieve kapha and vata. It is employed to treat a variety of conditions, including anthrax, blood disorders, cholera, colic, convulsions, diarrhoea, dropsy, epilepsy, fever, gout, headache, intoxication, rheumatism, sore throat, scorching sensations, and snakebite. To treat abdominal tumours, the root decoction is employed. Fruits are aphrodisiac, astringent, diuretic, sweet, alternate, tonic, and astringent. Fruits are used to treat heart conditions, leprosy, nausea, and scorching feelings. Flowers are cold, astringent, bitter, pungent, and sweet. Leaf paste used for headaches, fever, and burning feelings. Hallucinations, piles, abdominal pain, burning feelings, fevers, "tridosha," and urine discharge can all be helped by root and bark. Leaf paste is used to treat headaches, while juice is applied to treat ulcers.^11,12

Phamacological Activities:

Anti-Fungal Activity:

Antifungal activity of the heartwood of G. Arborea has been tested for its antifungal efficacy against basidiomycetes utilizing a sensitive bioassay system against Trametes versicolor and Fomitopsis palustris using a medium in which homogenised hyphae had disseminated. Ethyl acetate soluble from the heartwood showed the highest activity, five constituents have been isolated and identified as (+)-7’-O-ethyl arboreol, (+) paulownin, (+)-gmelinol, (+)-epieudesmin and (-)-β-sitosterol. The four lignans showed antifungal activity, gmelinol has reported antifungal constituents.¹³

Anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant and anti-diabetic activities:

The antibacterial, antioxidant, and anti-diabetic properties of G. arborea fruits have been tested on human pathogens such B. subtilis, S. aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. By using a DPPH free radical scavenging and reducing power assay, the in-vitro antioxidant activity of G. arborea fruits was investigated. Wistar rats with diabetes caused by alloxan model were used to test the anti-diabetic efficacy of the extracts.¹⁴

Anti- helmintic activity:

In contrast to piperazine citrate, the alcohol and aqueous leaf extracts of Gmelina arborea Roxb. Showed anthelmintic activity in a dose-dependent manner, causing the paralysis and death of Pheretima posthuma and Ascardia galii worms to occur in a shorter amount of time. This was especially true of the 100 mg/ml concentration.¹⁵

Anti-Microbial Activity:

Salmonella typhi, proteus mirabilis, shigella dysenteria, and Escherichia coli were all resistant to the antibacterial effects of G. arborea leaf and stem extracts.¹⁶

Anti-diabetic activity:

Due to increased blood GSH (Glutathione) levels supporting the function of GSH as a free radical scavenger and in the repair of free radical caused biological damage, ethanolic extract of Gmelina arborea Roxb. bark at doses of 420mg/kg and 200mg/kg (p0.05) were found to reduce the increase of blood sugar in streptozotacin (50mg/kg) induced diabetes.¹⁵

Analgesic And Anti-Pyretic Activity:

The bark of Gmelina arborea Roxb. Was studied, and the ethanolic and binary compound extract was discovered to reduce physiological state at a rate of 420mg/kg weight 1hr after administration. This extract's outcome is compared to that of the effective antipyretic drug paracetamol at a dose of 50mg/kg weight. While benzol extract and chloroform have more delicate effects, they both reduced the temperature for 3 hours after administration. In contrast, it was found that the analgesic efficacy of ethanolic and binary compound extract (test compounds) was more significant on carboxylic acid induced check than tail flick check to standard voltaren at a dose of 25mg/kg, and it appears that the check compounds inhibit the peripheral pain mechanism predominately.¹⁷

CONCLUSION:

The significance of Gmelina arborea as one of the traditional medicinal herbs is highlighted in the current review. It is one of the primary components of well-known Ayurvedic remedies. It possesses all of the fundamental characteristics of the medication as stated by Aacharya Charaka and has established itself as a significant source of therapeutic agents for a number of challenging diseases, including Soth, Amasula, Arsa, Visa roga, and Jvara. Clinical trials still need to be conducted to better assess and revalidate the pharmacological actions that were demonstrated. As a result, the value of Gmelina arborea as a medicinal plant has multiplied throughout time

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:

Authors declare no conflict of interest.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

The authors acknowledging Nehru College of Pharmacy, Pampady, Thiruvilwamala, Thrissur, Kerala for providing all the support.

REFERENCES:

1. Ved D K and Goraya G S. Demand and supply of medicinal plants in India. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Publishers and Distributors of Scientific Books, Dehradoon, 2008.

2. Navreet K, Sarabjit K, Bedi P M S, Ravinder, K. Preliminary Pharmacognostic study of Gmelina arborea bark. National Conference on Drug Innovation: Emerging Trends and Challenges, Kapurthala, India. 2012

3. Pattanayak P, Parhi P K, Mishra S K, Khandei P K. Screening of anti-Diabetic Activity of Bark Extracts of Gmelina aborea in Streptozotacin induced Diabetic Rats. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Review and Research. 2011; 8(2): 130-132.

4. Pravat K P, Priyabrata P, Paresh M, Manoj K P. An in-vivo study on analgesic and antipyretic activity of bark extract of Gmelina arborea. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Review and Research. 2011; 10(2): 78-81.

5. Vijay T, Dhana M S, Sarumathy K. Cardioprotective, antioxidant activities and phytochemical analysis by GC-MS of Gmelina arborea (GA) in Doxorubicin induced myocardial necrosis in Albino rats. Journal of Applied Phamaceutical Science. 2011; 1(05): 198-204.

6. Anonymous. The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India (Formulations).Part Ⅰ. New Delhi: Department of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy. 2003.13.

7. Kritikar K R, Basu B D. An I.C.S. Indian Medicinal Plants. International Book Distributors, Dehradun, 1987, 1931-1934.

8. K M Nadkarni Indian Plants and Drugs, Gmelina arborea, Ajay Book Service, New Delhi, First Edition 2010, p-152.

9. Ravindra Sharma. Agro-techniques of selected Medicinal plants, Department of Ayush, Chandalok Building 36, Janpath New Delhi.

10. Priya Vrat Sharma, Namarupajnanam, Varanasi, Chaukhambha Visvabharati, 2011, p-71.

11. Nadkarni AK, Indian Materia Medica. 3^d ed. Bombay: Popular Prakasan; 1976.

12. Sharma PC, Yelna MB, Dennis TJ. Database on medicinal plants used in Ayurveda. Central Council for Research inn Ayurveda and siddha. Vol.3. Government of India. 2001

13. Kawamura F and Ohara S. Antifungal activity of iridoid glycosides from the heartwood of Gmelina arborea. Holzforschung. 2005; 59:153-155.

14. Nayak BS, Ellaiah P, Dinda SC. Antibacterial, antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of G. arborea fruit extracts Int J Green Pharm. 2012; 6: 224-30

15. Kaswala Rohith, Patel Vaibhav, Chakraborty Manodeep, Kamath Jagadish V. Phytochemical and pharmacological profile of Gmelina arborea; An overview, International Research Journal of Pharmacy. 2012; 3(2): 61-64.

16. Mahmood AM, Doughari JH and Kisman HS. In vitro antimicrobial activity of crude leaf and stem bark extracts of Gmelina arborea against some pathogenic species of Enterobacteriaceae. African J Pharm and Pharmacol. 2010; 4(6): 355-361.

17. Pravat K P, Priyabrata P, Paresh M, Manoj K P. An in-vivo study on analgesic and antipyretic activity of bark extract of Gmelina arborea. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Review and Research. 2011; 10(2): 78-81.

Received on 27.03.2024 Revised on 23.09.2024

Accepted on 25.01.2025 Published on 03.03.2025

Available online from March 07, 2025

Asian J. Res. Pharm. Sci. 2025; 15(1):57-60.

DOI: 10.52711/2231-5659.2025.00008

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Creative Commons License.