Shaukat Khalid, Ghazala H.Rizwan, Hina Yasin, Rehana Perveen, Hina Abrar, Huma Shareef, Kaneez Fatima and Maryam Ahmed
Medicinal plants have assumed greater importance in the recent days, due to the tremendous potential they offer in formulating new drugs which afflict humankind against many diseases. During the past one century there had been a rapid growth of allopathic system of medical treatment in Pakistan and India. There is now a growing focus on the importance of medicinal plants and the traditional health systems in solving the healthcare problems of the world. Most developing countries have viewed traditional medical practice as an integral part of their culture. Medicinal plants have curative properties due to the presence of various complex chemical substances of different composition, which are found as secondary metabolites in one or more parts of the plants. These metabolites according to their chemical skeleton are grouped as alkaloids, glycosides, corticosteroids, essential oil, etc. Plants like Holoptelea integrifolia (Roxb.) Planch (Family: Ulmaceae), is gaining greater importance due to various pharmacological effects for example: analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities in the treatment of diseases. This plant contains a variety of chemical compounds that have been considered for the treatment of cancer of bladder, convulsions, inflammation, topical ulcers, rheumatic inflammation, fever and dysentery. In this article the pharmacognostic characteristics of Holoptelea integrifolia, its medicinal significance and pharmacological effects have been presented.