Therapeutic applications of Macrotyloma uniflorum: Current development and future prospective

Abstract

Macrotyloma uniflorum is a leguminous plant belonging to family Fabaceae. Horse gram is colloquially known as Gaheth, kulat, kulath, kolatha and kulthi. The goal of this review literature is to trace out articles on therapeutic properties, plant physiology, food and nutritional values of M. uniflorum using various sources such as Google Scholar, PubMed, and ScienceDirect and to consolidate various research literatures on medicinal properties of this plant. Further, research literatures on medicinal properties of M. uniflorum comprising antiurolithiatic, antidiabetic, and anti-inflammatory activity etc. were compiled and reviewed. It was observed that various parts of horse gram mainly seed, leaves, stem, and root were used for medicinal properties in numerous methods. The effective concentrations for various medicinal properties were also summarized. In conclusion, most of the works were based on crude extracts of the plant parts; therefore, more studies regarding phytochemical composition of the plant extract may result in novel drug formulations from M. uniflorum.