Folklore medicinal plants used in liver disease: A review

Abstract

The liver is the largest organ of the body and the main site of essential biochemical reactions in the human body. This is useful for detoxification of toxic substances and the production of biological molecules. Therefore, liver damage leads to severe consequences. Because herbs and herbal antioxidants are used to detoxify and treat liver disorders, this review was conducted to report the most important medicinal plants affecting liver disorders and diseases. Key terms liver cancer, medicinal plants, liver disorder and medicinal plants, liver disease and medicinal plants, effect of extract and essential oil of effective medicinal plants on liver tissues in rats, mice, and laboratory mice, and effect of extract and essential oil of medicinal plants on liver disease were used to retrieve relevant publications indexed in databases IranMedex, Irandoc, ISI, PubMed, Scopus, SID, Magiran, and Google Scholar. Based on the evidence found in this review, the medicinal plants Zingiber officinale, Cucurbita pepo, Citrus reticulate, Petroselinum crispum, Andrographis paniculata, Silybum marianum, Camellia sinensis, Nasturtium officinale, Physalis peruviana, Thonningia sanguinea, Nigella sativa, Cichorium intybus L., Terminalia catappa, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Curcuma zanthorrhiza, Hibiscus sabdariffa, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Kigelia africana, Alchornea cordifolia, Boerhavia diffusa, Schisandrae chinensis, Tinospora cordifolia, Brassica rapa subsp. rapa, Lygodium flexuosum, Carica papaya, Solanum fastigiatum, and Cheilanthes farinosa are some of the most important medicinal plants affecting liver disorders and diseases.