Critical Study of Phytochemical and Pharmacological Profiles of the Genus Odontonema (Acanthaceae)

Odontonema is a group of tropical plant species used in folklore medicine because of its wide range of pharmacological properties. These plants show a wide variety in habitat-preference and biological types. Most of them are shrubs or herbs, climbing plants; xerophytes and marshy plants are also very common. These plants are known to be anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive, anti-viral, hepatoprotective, sedative and anti-oxidant. Furthermore, some species have been reported to induce child birth and trigger bronchodilatation. Since this group of plants is associated with a plethora of pharmacological properties, a review of reported medicinally-relevant investigations is warranted. Herein, we review the ethnopharmacology, bioactivity reports, and phytochemistry of the plant species belonging to the genus Odontonema. To compile this review, an extensive literature search was conducted using Google Scholar, SciFinder, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Scielo web sites, updated to September 2020. Although there are a number of pharmacological and ethnopharmaco-logical reports on the four species of Odontonema covered in this review, phytochemical profiling of this group of plants is quiet limited. Odontonema strictium was found to be the most phytochemically profiled showing the presence of phytosterols and flavonoids. The anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant, anti-hypertensive and uterine contraction properties must stimulate phytochemical research interests into this genus which could, one day, lead to development and commercialization of a drug from this natural source.