Phytochemistry and Bioactivity of Annona reticulata L. (Annonaceae): A Mini-review

Aims: To provide knowledge on phytochemistry and bioactivity of Annona reticulata.

Study Design: Multidisciplinary advanced bibliographic surveys, utilization of ChemBioDraw software package and dissemination of the resulted knowledge.

Place and Duration of Study: Faculty of Science, University of Kinshasa and Department of Environmental Science, University of Gbadolite, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, between October 2017 and January 2018.

Methodology: A literature search was conducted to obtain information about the phytochemistry and pharmacognosy of A. reticulata from various electronic databases (PubMed, PubMed Central, Science Direct and Google scholar). The scientific name of this plant species was used as a keyword for the search, along with the terms phytochemistry and pharmacognosy. The chemical structures of the A. reticulata naturally occurring compounds were drawn using ChemBioDraw Ultra 12.0 software package.

Results: Results revealed that this plant is traditionally used as stimulant or pain reliever. This plant is reported to possess various biological properties like anti-oxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antihelmintic, antipyretic, antihyperglycemic, analgesic, wound healing, antisickling and cytotoxic effects. These properties are due to the presence of numerous naturally occurring phytochemicals like tannins, alkaloids, phenols, glycosides, flavonoids and steroids.

Conclusion: The present review can, therefore, help inform future scientific research towards the development of novel drugs of relevance from A. reticulata to improve human health and wellbeing. Especially drug candidates for cancer treatment or external use like wound healing medicines.