Abstract

Plants of genus Leucas (Lamiacae) are widely used in traditional medicine to cure many diseases such as cough, cold, diarrhoea and inflammatory skin disorder. A variety of phytoconstituents has been isolated from the Leucas species which include lignans, flavonoids, coumarins, steroids, terpenes, fatty acids and aliphatic long chain compounds. Anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antidiarrhoeal, antimicrobial, antioxidant and insecticidal activities have been reported in the extracts of these plants and their phytoconstituents. An overview of the ethnobotanical, phytochemical and pharmacological investigations on the Leucas species is presented in this review.

Key words: Leucas, ethnomedicinal plants, bioactive constituents.