A review on Balanites aegyptiaca Del (desert date): phytochemical cons... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3210005/?report=printable Pharmacogn Rev. 2011 Jan-Jun; 5(9): 55–62. PMCID: PMC3210005 doi: 10.4103/0973-7847.79100 A review on Balanites aegyptiaca Del (desert date): phytochemical constituents, traditional uses, and pharmacological activity Daya L. Chothani and H. U. Vaghasiya 1 Department of Pharmacognosy, Pioneer Degree Pharmacy College, Vadodara, Gujarat, India 1Department of Pharmacognosy, Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC Ltd.) Baroda, Gujarat, India Address for correspondence: Ms. Daya L. Chothani Pioneer degree pharmacy college, Baroda-Vadodara, India E-mail:
[email protected] Received August 20, 2010 Copyright © Pharmacognosy Reviews This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Balanites aegyptiaca Del. (Zygophyllaceae), known as ‘desert date,’ is spiny shrub or tree up to l0 m tall, widely distributed in dry land areas of Africa and South Asia. It is traditionally used in treatment of various ailments i.e. jaundice, intestinal worm infection, wounds, malaria, syphilis, epilepsy, dysentery, constipation, diarrhea, hemorrhoid, stomach aches, asthma, and fever. It contains protein, lipid, carbohydrate, alkaloid, saponin, flavonoid, and organic acid. Present review summarizes the traditional claims, phytochemistry, and pharmacology of B. aegyptiaca Del reported in scientific literature. Keywords: Balanites aegyptiaca , Balanitin, desert date INTRODUCTION Balanites aegyptiaca Del., also known as ‘Desert date’ in English, a member of the family Zygophyllaceae, is one of the most common but neglected wild plant species of the dry land areas of Africa and South Asia.[ 1,2] This tree is native to much of Africa and parts of the Middle East.