ABSTRACT
Plants have been used in folk and traditional medicines for thousands of years. One of the oldest, richest and most diverse cultural traditions of use of medicinal plants for human health is in India. The main bioactive phytoconstituents of Withania somnifera (WS) are withasteroids or withanolides, alkaloids, flavonoids, sterols, phenolics and others. Phytochemical and pharmacological activities have been reviewed by several workers. Phytochemical composition, medicinal applications and nutrapharmaceutical potentials of WS have been reviewed recently. There has been a notable increase in the pharmacological and clinical research of WS in the recent past and evidences for properties such as anti-inflammatory, antiarthritic, antiageing, antianxiety, antistress, neuroprotective, anticancer, adaptogenic and antidepressant are readily available in literature. A large number of studies have been carried out on the pharmacological and clinical activities of WS. Several clinical studies have been reported on the therapeutic effects of WS.
