Abstract:
This family is called as nightshades family which is a family of flowering plants. The solanaceae is a large varied family of trees, shrubs and herbs including 98 genera and some 2,700 species. Most members of the Solanaceae are erect or climbing, annual or perennial herbs, but shrubs are not uncommon and there are a few trees eight genera, Solanum, Lycianthes, Cestrum, Nolana, Physalis, Lycium, Nicotiana, Brunfelsia contain more than 60% of the species. Alkaloids are well known phytoconstituents for their diverse pharmacological properties and are found in all plant parts like roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. Solanaceae family comprises of a number of plants with variety of natural products of medicinal significance mainly steroidal lactones, glycosides, alkaloids and flavonoids also present. Solanaceae have been reviewed by evaluating information on the Internet (using Google Scholar, CAB Abstracts, Elsevier, Cambridge University Press, JSTOR, Nature Publishing and Science online) and in libraries. Traditional medicinal uses of were recorded in the Ayurveda and Chinese pharmacopeia. The present review study covered chemical constituents and pharmacological properties. This has included therapeutic effects of the whole plant and its extracts, fractions and isolated compounds. Antimicrobial, anti-ulcerogenic, antiviral, anti-platelet aggregation, antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, systolic blood-pressure modification, and cytotoxic activities have all been described.
