Tamarindus indica L. A plant with multiple medicinal purposes

Aline Pereira Paes Menezes, Silvia Cristina Cerini Trevisan, Sandra Maria Barbalho and Elen Landgraf Guiguer, 2016, Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry

Tamarindus indica is a plant that can be used traditionally in wound healing, snake bite, abdominal pain, colds, inflammations, diarrhea, diarrhea, helminth infections, and fever. It may also play a role as antimicrobial, antidiabetic, antiinflammatory and effects on the control of satiety, playing a potential role in the treatment or prevention of obesity and other chronic diseases. These effects are probably due to the presence of polyphenols as n-Hexacosane, eicosanoic acid, b-sitosterol, octacosanyl ferulate, 21- oxobehenic acid, and pinitol and phenolic antioxidants for proanthocyanidins. T. indicus includes a variety of bioactive compounds in the leaves, seeds, bark, pulp, and flowers with beneficial effects to human health and the possibility of application in the pharmaceutical industry.

Keywords: Tamarindus indica, anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity