Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb: Phytochemistry, Ethnopharmacology, Pharmacology of an important traditional herbal medicine

Abstract

Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb (Rosaceae, AP) has long been used as a widely herbal medicine in Asian countries for treatment of various diseases. AP contains many valuable secondary metabolites, such as flavonoids, triterpenoid, phenols and phenolic acids and has antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, anti-tumor, anti-diabetic properties and effects on alzheimer’ s disease. In the recently decades, a series of analytical methods have been developed to evaluate the quality of AP based on its bioactive components. This review aims to present an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of the ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry and pharmacology of AP, which should be useful for the greater development of AP, especially in the development of new drugs and therapeutics for various diseases.