From ethnopharmacology to phyto medical potential of the different parts of mangosteen (Garcinia Mangostana L.)

Abstract

Garcinia has a long history of medicinal use. Indeed, they are popular in Asia and Africa for their healing properties. All parts of this plant tree are used in folk medicine for many different health affections, including skin infections, wounds, and diarrhea. In this review, we present an overview of G. mangostana, this medicinal plant, which takes an important place in the worldwide pharmacopeia. Consisting of an overview of this plant and contribution to its valorization by various evidence of its medicinal potential both in traditional and conventional medicine showing of the curative capacities of each part of the plant tree. We showed off that, on the one hand, traditional uses of the different plant parts match with laboratory test results, although experiences mostly used isolated molecules or organic extracts. On the other hand, researches also demonstrated interesting new medicinal properties of the plant comparing to the traditional medicinal uses, which are limited to ancient practices. These facts present G. mangostana is a reliable plant for making an improved traditional medicine or an edible source of bioactive molecules extracted in leaf, stem bark, fruit hull, or whole fruit to develop news drugs with low toxicity.