Abstract: Cancer is the world's second largest cause of death. Currently, most treatments depend on chemotherapy which uses toxic drugs that are also toxic to normal healthy cells. Medicinal plants have gained a global attention due to its therapeutic properties as an alternative medicine maintains health and prevents or treats diseases. Annona muricata, also known as Graviola is one of the medicinal plants and has been used traditionally to treat many diseases. Currently A. muricata plant particularly the leaves have been used to treat cancer. It is known for its selective cytotoxicity against cancer cells without harming other cells. The objective of this review was to assess the potential effects of A. muricata against various diseases specifically cancer. A. muricata specially leaves, is found to contain hundreds of bioactive chemical compounds. Acetogenins are the most important phytochemical compound. A. muricata, has a wide array of bioactivities against several diseases such as; arthritis, diabetes, parasitic infections, hypertension and cancer. Comprehensive preclinical and clinical studies in vivo and in vitro with significant findings have been included in this review. A. muricata has unique defensive mechanism as antiproliferative and anticancer, through depleting cancer cell from ATP and inducing apoptosis. Because of that A. muricata is a promising, highly effective and selective medicinal plant and needs to be further investigated in order to determine the magnitude of effects, optimum dosage, long-term safety of use, and possible side effects.
Keywords: Traditional medicine; Leaves; Anti-cancer; Apoptosis.
Title: Review Annona muricata (Graviola): Traditional Medicinal Uses and Pharmacological Activities
Author: Suzan B. Abdu
International Journal of Life Sciences Research
ISSN 2348-313X (Print), ISSN 2348-3148 (online)
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