Golden Heart of the Nature: Piper betle L.

Abstract

The heart shaped betel leaves are found in ancient Sanskrit texts, including Charaka, Sushruta Samhita and Astanga Hradayam. Piper betle L. have been used in chinese, Indian folk medicine for centuries. In this review, different research works related to Ayurvedic consequence, geographical distribution and cultivation, morphoanatomy, phytochemistry, biological activities, along with tradomedicinal uses which signify the tremendous potential of “Piper betle L.” to come out as Green medicine. The objective of it is to revels the potential effect of this plant in the development of therapeutically active herbal drugs against different microbial infections especially for oral cavity, which also gives the opportunity to pharmaceutical companies interested in formulation and production of natural product based drugs targeted towards specific aliments.