ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with a critical assessment of the available information on ethnobotanical and ethnomedical uses, pharmacognosy and medicinal uses as recorded in traditional systems of medicine. It reviews secondary metabolites, pharmacological and toxicological studies of this useful plant. Nelumbo nucifera is a large aquatic rhizomatous herb consisting of a slender, elongated, creeping stem with nodal roots. Traditional knowledge of the medicinal uses of lotus plant is demonstrated by many scientific investigations. A large number of phytochemical constituents have been isolated from various parts of Nelumbo nucifera. The effect of isoliensinine, a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid extracted from the seed embryo of N. nucifera, on bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis was first investigated by Xiao et al. The comprehensive scrutiny of the literature on N. nucifera in terms of phytochemical, pharmacological, clinical and therapeutic evidence revealed sporadic information on phytoconstituents, ethnopharmacological activity, preclinical and clinical research.
