Abrus precatorius: A deep insight into ethnobotanical, phytochemical and potential application

Introduction

Plants generate a diverse array of phytochemical substances, rendering them valuable in the treatment of numerous ailments. Medicinal plants have been essential to maintaining human health since prehistoric times (Egbuna et al 2019) [1] . Since natural medicines derived from plants make up more than 40% of contemporary medications, medicinal plants are essential to the pharmaceutical industry and drug research. Recent years have seen a significant increase in public interest in naturally derived pharmaceuticals due to their high efficacy and low side effects. The current effort aims to examine and gather current data on a range of worldwide applications related to the Abrus precatorius.

Place of origin and range of distribution

Abrus precatorius L. (also known Indian liquorice) is a medicinal plant originated from Southeast Asia, China, South Africa, Brazil and native to India. It belongs to pea family, fabaceae and is the only representative genus of the tribe, Abreae. It is mostly found in drier areas in the tropical regions. It is widely distributed at an altitude of up to 1200 m above sea level in the outer Himalayan region. The plant is well adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions and commonly found as weeds throughout the plains and forest land.

Common names

This plant was known by different names in different languages, as the plant has a wide geographical distribution and it is known by different names in different regions and it is listed in table 1. (attal et al 2010) [3] . Taxonomy (Attal et al 2010) [3] Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Subfamily: Faboideae Tribe: Abreae Genus: Abrus Species: Abrus precatorius L.

Botanical description

It is a perennial climbing plant with slender and twinning stem. The leaves are compound, alternate and pinnate consist of oblate leaf lets. There were mainly two different forms of plant growth habit observed viz. trailing habit and twinning habit. The roots are branched (Okhale et al) [5] and the flower of Ratti plant is papilionaceous i.e. with typical standard petal, wing petal and keel petal. The flower colour includes purple color, dull purple colour, yellow color and white color (Prabakaran et al 2021) [6] . The fruit is a legume containing 4-5 shiny, scarlet seeds. The seeds contain one toxic compound called abrin, which can be fatal if ingested into blood stream (Karthikeyan et al 2017) [7] .

Phytoconstituents in different parts of Abrus precatorius

Abrus precatorius contains various phytochemicals present in their different parts i.e. root, stem, leaves and seed. These chemical constituents plays a vital role in various medicinal properties to cure various disorders.

Leaves: It contains various phytochemicals like flavonoids, triterpenoids and alkaloids. Around 28 phytochemicals were identified by analysis through GC-MS analysis of methanolic leaf extract of Abrus precatorius. Major compounds includes quercetin, kaemperol, rutin, lupeol, beta-sitosterol etc. The leaves of abrus contains other phytochemicals like triterpenes abrusgenic acid, methyl abrusgenate, liquirtiginin-7-monoglycosides. These compounds are having various therapeutic uses antimicrobial, antioxidant and chemo preventive properties (Nisha et al 2018) [9] .

Seeds:

The bioactive constituents present in seeds includes saponins, phenolic, alkaloids and flavonoids, eugenol, steroid, terpenoids (Iyekowa et al) [16] . Seeds contain abrin a toxic protein similar to ricin, when ingested it can cause acute poisoning. Other phytoconstituents include abric acid, which is having anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties (Babu et al, 2018) [12] . Seed contains other secondary metabolites like lectins which is a carbohydrate binding protein. Handling of seeds should be done with extreme caution.

Roots: Roots contain Abrusgenic acid which is specific to

Abrus precatorius and it is having cytotoxic and medicinal properties (Khaleqe et al) [13] . Roots contain alkaloid, triterpenoids, flavonoids, isoflavanquinones and these serves as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer and other huge medicinal value (Garaniya 2014) [15] . Some of the other phytochemicals present in Abrus precatorius is listed in the table 3 [8,10,11] Seeds Toxic protein-abrin, abric acid. 2018 [12] Root Isoflavanquinones, Abrusgenic acid, abraline, abricin, abrusgenic-acidmethyl-ester, abruslactone, abrussic-acid precasine and precool, anthocyanins, campesterol, gallic-acid, trigonelline, quinones-abruquinones A, B, C, D, E, F, Triterpenoids, saponins arabinose, galactose, xylose, choline, N, N dimethyl-tryptophan, P coumaroylgalloyl glucodelphinidin Anti -inflammatory,analgesic, antipyretic,antidiabetic, antimicrobial and anti-cancer properties

[15] The petroleum ether extract from the seeds is believed to have anti-cancer qualities; fresh leaves are used as a nerve tonic and in skin cancer formulations. The leaves are used as a tonic, aphrodisiac, and to cure wounds, leucoderma, eye issues, and itching. They lessen biliousness as well. In addition, they cure thirst, asthma, stomatitis, fevers, tooth decay, headaches, and tuberculous glands. In addition, the leaves have diuretic properties and are used to treat gastritis, diarrhea, cardiac issues, kidney difficulties, cancer, sleeplessness, and drowsiness of the central nervous system (Kubiatowicz 2003) [17] . When leaves are placed to the site of rheumatic discomfort and soaked in hot mustard oil, there will be a noticeable improvement. Localized pain appeared to be relieved by applying fresh leaf juice externally along with a tiny quantity of mix oil (Kirtikar et al 2005) [18] . They are used to cure illnesses such respiratory tract infections, hepatitis, and cough in Nigeria (Saganuwan and Onyeyili, 2010) [19] . The lethal toxin abrin, which is very poisonous to both people and animals, is mostly found in seeds. Abrin is not present in leaves in more concentration. For this reason, the leaves and their infusion are consumed orally Davis, 1979 [20] ; Frohne and Pfander, 1983 [21] ; Burkill, 1997 [22] ; Adedapo et et al., 2007 [23] . Ratti seeds have been used for several medicinal purposes, including the treatment of baldness, according to the Indian Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia. Despite being poisonous, the seeds do contain a number of vital amino acids, including serine, choline, alanine, and valine. This plant's roots are mostly used as a diuretic and to relieve coughs (Kubiatowicz). A. precatorius roots are used to treat heart disease, sleeplessness, heart and renal illness.

For rheumatism and sore throats, roots are taken Chewing dried root helps to treat snakebite (Daniel M 2006) [24] . [25] . The leaves of these Abrus precatorius plants were squeezed with water and given orally for treating the diabetes (Gbolade (2009) [26] . The methanolic leaf extracts (5, 10, 15 mg/ml) at different concentration shows anthelmintic activity against Tubifex tubifex (sewage worm) and Pheretima posthuma (Earthworm) Selvadurai et al. (2016) [27] . The root and stem extracts of Ratti plant possess antihelmintic property (ability to get rid of parasitic worms in the intestine) especially against cestodes and shistosomes (Molgaard et al. (2001) [28] . The aqueous extract from the stem of Indian liquorice can be used effectively in the treatment of kidney problems and shows nephroprotective activity Sohn et al. (2009) [29] .

Biomedical research:

The different parts of Abrus precatorius have potent antitumour activity. The major components that was responsible for such activity includes abrin and abrus agglutinin (Qian et al. (2022) [30] . The leaf extracts can potentially chelate iron and prevent the free radical formation by lipid peroxidation and shows antioxidant potential. This helps in protecting the cells from oxidative damage caused by the free radicals. The main constituent responsible for this activity is flavonoid and polyphenols present in the leaves. Gul et al. (2013) [31] . Glycyrrhizin, a plant glycoside present in the root extract of Abrus precatorius found to be effective against 6lu7, protease responsible for COVID-19 virus analysed through molecular docking. Ratti plant can possibly serve as the natural drug inhibiting the effect of covid-19 virus and shows antiviral activity (Oladimeji and valan (2020) [32] .

Natural dyes:

During recent times synthetic dyes are replaced by natural dyes due to their cost effectiveness, ease of production, eco-friendly and ecological sustainability. The seeds of Abrus precatorius are deep red colour and it act as as a natural dying agent in textile industry. The dye produced from the seeds vary in colour from red, pink to deep crimpson color based on the method of processing and different mordant used in that process. The extracted dye from this plant helps in textile industry for dyeing cotton fabrics, silk and wool. In addition to this the dye extracted from the seeds are used in paint and coloring agent in handicrafts. The seeds are used for decorative purposes in traditional ceremony and in recreational activities (MacFoy, 2004) [33] .

Ecological applications:

The role of Abrus precatorius in ecology is multifaceted, with both positive and negative implications. In some parts Abrus sp are considered as an invasive species, because of its rapid growth and leads to displacement of native vegetation. Despite this nature, it plays an efficient role in enhancing soil fertility and restoring degraded ecosystem. Abrus precatorius facilitate easy seed dispersal of native species through attraction of pollinators like bees, butterflies and birds towards their bright colored seeds. Thus it maintains pollinator population and maintains ecosystem stability (Sen, 2018) [34] .

Agriculture sector:

In agriculture sector Abrus precatorius is having numerous insecticidal and soil fertility management properties. The roots, pollen and nodules of Abrus precatorius shows nitrogen reductase activity. Abrus precatorius accumulate nitrogen rich litter in soil and increase organic matter and nutrient profile of soil. Because of its extensive root system architecture it is used as an erosion control measure in various parts which is susceptible to adequate soil erosion. Various parts of Abrus precatorius is having promising role in agricultural pest management as it acts as a natural insecticide and pesticide. The extracts obtained from the seeds of this plant of exhibit insecticidal activity against Diamond Blackmoth larvae (Plutella xylostella) (Prasad, R et al 2015) [36] . All parts of this plant are effective in controlling various family of insects like coleopteran (Johri et al., 2004; Satyasree, 1999) [37,44,38] , diptera ( [37,44] , isopteran (Prasad et al., 2015) [36] , lepidoptera (Johri et al ., 2004) [37,44] . The seed extracts of Abrus precatorius has been used to synthesize green nanoparticles which possess anti-microbial and anti-oxidant properties (Selvam et al 2022) [44] . Abrus precatorius seed oil is not edible but it can be used as feedstock for biodiesel production (Obeta, et al 2014) [45] . According to the current review, A. precatorius is a special source of several potential phytochemicals, which makes it a highly significant and adaptable plant with a wide range of medical benefits, including neuroprotective, anti-microbial, analgesic, antimalarial etc. Because of its many therapeutic applications, Abrus precatorius L. has enormous potential and should get particular attention from the scientific community in order to become a significant contribution to medical research in the new millennium. In agriculture, this plant extracts are used as an insecticide and also this plant is having soil enrichment properties. It is necessary to do further research on Abrus precatorius L. to investigate its hidden regions and potential therapeutic uses for the benefit of humankind.

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