Throughout human history, medicinal plants are used in traditional medicine
systems and are considered a potential source of healthy life. Curry leaf belongs to the
family Rutaceae obtained from Murraya koenigii, which has been used widely as a
spice, flavouring agent, and as herbal medicine since ancient times in the ayurvedic
medicine system. Curry leaf is native to India and Sri Lanka. It is known for its flavour
in cooking apart from various health benefits, including antidiabetic, anti-tumour, antiinflammatory,
and neuroprotection. Various carbazole alkaloids have been isolated
from curry leaves, including mahanimbine, koenine, murrayacine, murrayazoline,
koenimbine, murrayazolidine, murrayazoline, murrayacine, girinimbine, and mukoeic
acid. Several studies on pharmacological activities of curry leaf in vitro, in vivo, and
clinical trials confirm the application of curry leaf in traditional medicine and introduce
some new medicinal aspects. The current review provides insight into phytochemical
constituents, ethnobotany, and numerous pharmacological properties of crude extracts,
fractions, and isolated compounds of curry leaf, leading to the development of effective
drug candidates to address various ailments. Moreover, a comparison of the reported
activities of a curry leaf in traditional medicine will be made with the modern medicine activities to show the potentiality of this precious herb in managing different disease
conditions.
Keywords: Antioxidant, Bioavailability, Biological activity, Murraya koenigii,
Phytoconstituents, Traditional medicine.
