Journal of Academia and Industrial Research (JAIR) Volume 5, Issue 7 December 2016 98 ISSN: 2278-5213 REVIEW Phytochemistry and Pharmacology of the Genus Nymphaea E. Selvakumari1*, A. Shantha2, C. Sreenath Kumar3 and T. Purushoth Prabhu4 1Dept. of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, Mother Theresa Research Institute of Health Sciences, Puducherry, India; 2,4C.L. Baid Metha College of Pharmacy, Thorapakkam, Chennai, TN; 3Dept. of Botany, Thiru A Govindasamy Government Arts college, Tindivanam, Tamil Nadu, India
[email protected]*; +91 9787760577 _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract Nymphaea (Nymphaeaceae) is the most fascinating aquatic plants being consumed as food and recognized in traditional system of medicine for the treatment of various life threatening diseases. The different plant parts of the species belonging to Nymphaea are consumed as food in different countries globally. This review focuses on the genus Nymphaea and provides updated information on its botanical description, ethnopharmacology, pharmacognosy, phytoconstituents and its pharmacological aspects in health benefits. The detailed profiling of phytoconstituents from Nymphaea showed the structural diversity of unique and novel biochemical moiety that may provide a rich source of lead molecules for combating the human diseases in health benefits. In addition the compiled data will provide a way for the researchers to unlock the different targeted molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of various oxidative stress mediated diseases. Keywords: Nymphaea, aquatic plants, traditional medicine, ethnopharmacology, phytoconstituents. Introduction Trimeniaceae, Austrobaileyaceae) were the first line to The aquatic plant water lily is regarded as the queen of diverge from the main branch of the angiosperm Indian flowers, beloved of the poets. The species belong phylogenetic tree.