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Annona cherimola Mill. (Custard apple): a review on its plant profile, nutritional values, traditional claims and ethnomedicinal properties

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Abstract

Annona cherimola Mill., commonly known as Custard apple has recently gained attention of researchers because of copious anticancer bioactive chemicals and nutrients. Plants of the Annonaceae family have a long history of medicinal use in the treatment of several disease conditions such as epilepsy, cardiac diseases, pathogenic infections, hemorrhage, ulcer, cancer, liver disorders and other ailments. Annona cherimola Mill. (Custard apple) is widely used in the traditional and folkloric systems of medicine. It contains numerous bioactive chemicals like annonaceous acetogenins, annocherine A, cherianoine, annocherine B, cherimoline, annomolin, romucosine H, anonaine etc. The fruit of Annona cherimola Mill. is nutritionally important as it contains high amount of carbohydrates and is a rich source of diverse vitamins such as vitamin C, vitamin B6, thiamine, riboflavin and folate. Several phytopharmacological studies have proved and explored medicinal properties of Annona cherimola Mill. Annonaceous acetogenins isolated from the seeds were found to posses potent cytotoxicity against different cancer cell lines. The crude extracts as well as isolated compounds from different plant parts exhibited pharmacological activities such as antidiabetic, antimicrobial, antidepressant, anxiolytic, antiviral, antitumor and cytoprotective. The present review focuses in detail the plant profile, nutritional and traditional uses, phytochemistry, and pharmacological properties of different parts of Annona cherimola Mill. plant.

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Acknowledgements

Present study is a part of research project for the partial fulfillment of master degree in Pharmacy. The authors would like to express their sincerest gratitude to Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University Nanded, Maharashtra, India for the grants and facilities that enabled this study to be conducted.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Sami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Dnyanteerth, Vishnupuri, Nanded, Maharashtra, 431606, India

    Prasad G. Jamkhande & Balaji R. Ajgunde

  2. Department of Pharmacognosy, Annasaheb Dange College of B. Pharmacy, Ashta, Sangli, Maharashtra, 416301, India

    Dhanraj R. Jadge

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  1. Prasad G. Jamkhande
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  2. Balaji R. Ajgunde
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Correspondence to Prasad G. Jamkhande.

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Jamkhande, P.G., Ajgunde, B.R. & Jadge, D.R. Annona cherimola Mill. (Custard apple): a review on its plant profile, nutritional values, traditional claims and ethnomedicinal properties. Orient Pharm Exp Med 17, 189–201 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13596-017-0263-0

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