Ayurveda is one of the oldest systems of medicine that uses plants and their extracts for treatment and management of various diseased states. Nyctanthes arbortristis Linn. (Oleaceae) is an important large shrub of tropical and subtropical regions of the world that has been traditionally used to provoke menstruation, for treatment of scabies and other skin infections, as hair tonic, chalogogue, laxative, diaphoretic, diuretic, in treatment of arthritis, malaria, bronchitis and as anthelmintic. The present review explores the published scientific literature to compile the traditional and scientific data comprising pharmacognostic description, distribution, therapeutic uses, phytochemical constitution and chromatographic evaluation (using HPLC), of N. arbortristis to date.
