LAUSR

Embelin (2,5-dihydroxy-3-undecyl-1,4-benzoquinone) is an alkyl substituted hydroxy quinone isolated from numerous medicinal plants and mainly from Embelia ribes. It exhibits a wide range of biological activities and also in numerous cases is accountable for the traditional practice of its natural sources. It has been shown to reveal various pharmacological activities, and thus has several possible applications in clinical research. This review presents a comprehensive literature search of diverse studies carried out on embelin, especially its antidiabetic, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antimicrobial, antioxidant, wound healing antifertility, analgesic and anticancer activities. The importance of the present review is on the chemistry and biological activities of embelin in addition to coherent and environmentally acceptable methods for establishment of this natural compound on a huge scale. Therefore, further research may help in exploiting its properties and emergent phyto-pharmaceuticals based on it.