A REVIEW OF THE MULTIFACETED USEFULNESS OF CELOSIA ARGENTEA LINN

Chioma L. Kanu, Olatunde Owoeye, Innocent O. Imosemi and Adefolarin O. Malomo*

ABSTRACT

In modern medicine today, medicinal plants have been the major source of drugs, playing vital role in drug development programme of the pharmaceutical industry and providing cure for man. In rural areas of developing countries, traditional healers gain more prominence in the use of plants of ethnobotanical origin for prophylaxis and cure of diseases. The growing awareness of the harmful side-effects of chemotherapy has made people to explore the time tested remedies from traditional alternative medicine. Celosia argentea (green vegetable) leaves containing phenols, flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids, tannin, carbohydrate, glycosides, protein, gum, mucilage and vitamins are eaten as vegetable in West Tropical Africa, used to relieve gastrointestinal disorders and are antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidative. This review however, consisting of literature search of journals and chapters in books aims at evaluating the medicinal uses, pharmacological actions and biological activities of celosia argentea Linn.

Keywords: Celosia argentea, medicinal, pharmacological, biological activity.