Ruellia
is a genus of flowering plants commonly known as Ruellias or Wild
Petunias which belongs to the family Acanthaceae. It contains about 250
genera and 2500 species. Most of these are shrubs, or twining vines;
some are epiphytes. Only a few species are distributedin temperate
regions. They are distributed in Indonesia and Malaysia, Africa, Brazil,
Central America and Pakistan. Some of these are used as medicinal
plants. Many species of the genus has antinociceptive, antioxidant,
analgesic, antispasmolytic, antiulcer, antidiabetic and
anti-inflammatory properties. The phytochemicals constituents:
glycosides, alkaloids, flavonoids and triterpenoids are present. The
genus has been traditionally claimed to be used for the treatment of
flu, asthma, fever, bronchitis, high blood pressure, eczema, and
diabetes. The objective of this review article is to summarize all the
pharmacological and phytochemical evaluations or investigations to find
area of gap and endorse this genus a step towards commercial drug.
Hence, further work required is to isolate and characterize the active
compounds responsible for these activities in this plant and bring this
genus plants to commercial health market to serve community with their
potential benefits
