ABSTRACT
Eugenia plants are large evergreen trees and distributed in the Asian sub-continent, Eastern Africa, South America, Madagascar, and America (in Florida and Hawaii). As per Ayurvedic medicine, its barks are acrid, digestive, and astringent and are used to treat sore throat, bronchitis, asthma, thirst, biliousness, dysentery, and ulcers. In the Siddha medicine system, plants are employed for increasing semen and to reduce excessive heat of the body. In the Unani medicine system, the plants are considered as liver tonic, to improve blood, and to strengthen teeth and gums. Its fruit decoctions are known as good lotion for expelling ringworms of the head. β-sitosterol, betulinic acid, mycaminose, crategolic acid, n-hepatcosane, n-nonacosane, n-hentriacontane, quercetin, myricetin, myricitrin, myricetin 3-O-(4″-acetyl)-α-L-rhamnopyranosides, pinocarveol, α-terpeneol, myrtenol, eucarvone, muurolol, α-myrtenal, cineole, geranyl acetone, α-cadinol and pinocarvone, friedelin, friedelan-3-α-ol, betulinic acid, βsitosterol, kaempferol, β-sitosterol-D-glucoside, gallic acid, and ellagic acid have been isolated and identified from fruits, leaves, and stem bark of Eugenia plants. Eugenia plants exhibit antibacterial (Streptococcus mutans, Neisseria gonorrheae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella flexneri, Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae), antifungal (C. albicans, T. rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, and M. gypseum), antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, gastroprotective, hepatoprotective, and antidiabetic activities. This chapter provides ethnomedicinal applications, phytoconstituents, pharmacological applications, and culture conditions of Eugenia plants.
