A comprehensive review of the medicinal properties of Terminalia arjuna and its major constituent arjunolic acid: a natural product source for new drug leads

Abstract

Plants have long been a primary source of natural products for medicine. Terminalia arjuna, a deciduous tree native to the Indian subcontinent, is renowned for its diverse biological properties, such as anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, and cardioprotective effects. Various parts of this tree have been used to treat numerous ailments such as cancer, diabetes, inflammation, and microbial infections, as mentioned in ancient medicinal texts such as Ayurveda and Charaka Samhita. Arjunolic acid, a pentacyclic triterpene, is a major constituent of T. arjuna, and exhibits a plethora of biological properties such as anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities. Diverse research groups have utilized arjunolic acid as a template for synthesizing various semi-synthetic derivatives, which have been evaluated for their anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, and antioxidant properties. This review comprehensively compiles and discusses the literature related to T. arjuna, arjunolic acid and its derivatives, focusing on their medicinal properties and the mechanism of their biological activities.