Syeda Shahana

Bauhinia variegata Linn widely used in folk medicine for varied purposes to treat different kinds of pathologies particularly diabetes, infections, pain and inflammation owing to the presence of numerous phytochemicals residing in the plant. The chemical constituents isolated so far from the plant are β-sitosterol, kaempferol-3-glucoside, tannins, carbohydrates, amides, reducing sugars, vitamin C, crude protein, fibers, calcium, phosphorus, quercetin, rutin, quercitrin, apigenin, apigenin- 7-O-glucoside, heptatriacontan-12, 13-diol and dotetracontan-15-en-9-ol. Different parts of Bauhinia variegata like leaves, bark and flowers have significant antioxidant activity. Bauhinia variegata can be considered as a model herbal drug for experimental studies including free radical induced disorders like cancer, diabetes, atherosclerosis etc.