A Review of the Botany, Phytochemistry and Pharmacology of Mangrove Lumnitzera racemosa Willd.

Traditional system of medicines has heavily relied on plants and plant-based natural products. Phytomedicines have also been the backbone of the drug discovery programmes. Mangroves are unique salt-tolerant plant communities that withstand hostile environments and produce an array of bioactive natural products. Lumnitzera racemosa Willd. is a mangrove from the Combretaceae family and has a widespread geographical distribution along the shores of East Africa, Asia, Australia, and Polynesia. Traditional healers have been using parts and extracts of this small sized tree to manage a range of health ailments such as cutaneous disorders, diabetes, and asthma. The plant has been found to be phytochemically rich in tannins, flavonoids, terpenes, terpenoids, phenolic compounds, phytosterols and a number of novel metabolites which have exhibited noteworthy pharmacological activities. The present review aims to retrieve and stack up the information about the taxonomy, botany, phytoconstituents and pharmacological properties reported so far for L. racemosa from scientific books, journals, and databases. These findings can provide an authentic basis for the proposed use of this mangrove in standard and complementary medicine.