¹Deparment of Chemistry, Motilal Nehru College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India.

²Deparment of Chemistry, Sri Aurobindo College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India.

Corresponding author email: krishanchem@gmail.com;

Article Publishing History

INTRODUCTION

Genus Eremostachys, known as desert rod, belongs to the family Lamiaceae. Presently, around 80 species of this genus have been documented, which are mainly distributed in Eastern Europe, Central and Western Asia and the Middle East (Harley et al. 2004). However, more than 45 species are distributed only in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Iran, and Turkmenistan (Azizian et al. 1982; Hedge et al. 1986). It is an Irano-Turanian genus and majorly distributed in the desert mountains of the Iranica area especially covering Central Asia. However; few species viz. E. laciniata, E. molucelloides and E. vicaryi expanded their distribution towards Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan etc.

Overall, genus Eremostachys has been represented by 52 taxa of Flora in the USSR (Former Soviet Union); 41 taxa of Flora found in Iranica; 16 species in Iran; 8 species in Pakistan; 5 species in China; 2 taxa of Flora in Palaestina and 1 taxa in Flora Europeae and one critically endangered taxa of the flora is found in Northern Himalaya of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir of India (Knorring et al. 1954; De Filipps et al. 1972; Shishkin et al. 1977; Zohary et al. 1978; Azizian et al. 1982; Rechinger et al. 1982; Chowdhary et al.1984; Jain et al; 1984; Radcliffe-Smith et al. 1986 ; Hedge et al. 1990; Li et al. 1994; Rao et al. 1994; The Hindu 10 Mar, 1997; The Daily Excelsior 17 Oct, 1997; Kalvandi et al. 2007; Hariri et al. 2021).

The morphology of genus Eremostachys has been characterized by a robust or erected pubescent stem, laciniate or crenate leaves, large calyces, large yellow, creamy or white corollas, beared nutlets and tuberous roots (Pignatti 1982). Phytochemical studies of genus Eremostachys have revealed the presence of many potent secondary metabolites viz. alkaloids, phenylethanoids, iridoid glycosides, acids, flavonoids, terpenoids, hydrocarbons and essential oils etc. Due to the variety of secondary metabolites present in the genus Eremostachys, this genus is well known for its medicinal properties viz. as strong antidepressant, free radical scavenging and cytotoxic activity (Delazar et al. 2004a; Delazar et al. 2004b; Delazar et al. 2005; Delazar et al. 2006).

Some species like E. azerbaijanica, E. glabra, E. labiosa, E. laciniata, E. laevigata, E. loasifolia, E. macrophylla and E. vicaryi are excessively explored for their secondary metabolites and their medicinal importance (Delazar et al. 2004; Delazar et al. 2005; Erdemoglu et al. 2006; Navaei et al. 2006; Amiri et al. 2007; Calis et al. 2007; Nori-Shargh et al. 2007; Javidnia et al. 2008; Modaressi et al. 2009; Khan et al. 2010; Rustaiyan et al. 2011; Ali et al. 2012; Al-Jaber et al. 2012; Esmaeili 2012; Mughal et al. 2010 and 2012; Imran et al. 2012; Akhlaghi et al. 2015; Vaez et al. 2015; Asnaashari et al. 2016 a; Asnaashari et al. 2016 b; Faryabi et al. 2021; Hariri et al. 2021).

From India point of view, there is only one species E. superba Royale ex Benth., of genus Eremostachys that was identified as a critically endangered plant species due to lack of proper knowledge, grazing by herbivores, plucking of the flowers by travelers, and overexploitation by local people (Verma et al. 2003). It was described from Mohand and Khree Pass (Siwaliks of Saharanpur) by Royle in 1839, which was a very sophisticated and beautiful plant found in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir province of India (Sharma et al. 1981; Jain et al. 1984; Panwar et al. 2015; Hariri et al. 2021).

The genus Eremostachys is one of the important medicinal plants due to the presence of numerous potent secondary metabolites. The number of medicinal and pharmacological applications of the plant genus Eremostachys are also summarized in the paper. The chemical structure of the important reactive chemical ingredients of the secondary metabolites isolated and identified from the genus Eremostachys are given in the present paper. The important secondary metabolites of genus Eremostachys reported in the literature are compiled along with their pharmacological applications. It is well evident from the literature reports that substantive number of species of Genus Eremostachys got extinct or at the verge of extinction. The present review is aimed to recognize medicinal importance, traditional uses among society and also to document status report of ever becoming critically endangered species of medicinal flora (Hariri et al. 2021).

Taxonomic description of Genus Eremostachys (Ved et al. 2003)

Kingdom: Plantae                            Subkingdom: Tracheobionta

Superdivision: Spermatophyta        Division (Phylum): Tracheophyta 

Class: Magnoliopsida (Dicotyledons)  Subclass: Magnoliidae Novak ex Takht.

Order: Lamiales                   Family: Lamiaceae

Genus: Eremostachys

Species: E. adenantha, E. azerbaijanica, E. baissunensis, E. glabra, E. labiosa, E. labiosiformis, E. laciniata, E. laevigata, E. lehmanniana, E. loasifolia, E. macrophylla, E. molucelloides, E. pulvinaris, E. speciosa, E. superba, E. thyrsiflora, E. vicaryi etc.

Traditional Uses of Eremostchys: Conventionally, the genus Eremostchys is used by South Asian and West Asian countries for the treatment of various ailments. Eremostachys has been used as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic agent and applied topically for the treatment of bruises and localized pain and swelling (Said et al. 2002; Delzar et al. 2004b; Erdemoglu et al. 2006; Hariri et al. 2021).

Traditionally, E. laciniata is used in various illnesses viz, to treat allergies, headache and various liver diseases, asthma, cough & cold, alleviate inflammation and used as a herbal tea (from root and flower) (Said et al. 2002; Modaressi et al. 2009). The number of plants of this genus is also used for traditional and folk medicine for treating a number of ailments are described briefly in Table 1. In India genus Eremostachys superba Royle ex Benth is used to restore mulching by mixing it with cattle feed and fed to goats, cows, and buffaloes etc., which stop yielding milk (Khan et al. 2020; Hariri et al. 2021).

Table 1. Traditional uses of some species of genus Eremostachys

Species	Parts Used for Treatment	Traditional Uses
E. glabra	Rhizomes	Used as a native analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent in Iran (Delazar et al. 2004a).
E. laevigata	Whole plant	Used as therapeutics against many infectious diseases, as food preservatives and have shown insecticidal and antiparasitic properties (Burt et al. 2004). Also used in cosmetic and household products, (www.inchem.org).
E. laciniata	Roots, flower and rhizomes	Roots and flower decoction have been used orally for the treatment of allergy, headache and liver disease. It is known by the local name “Chelle-Daghi” in Iran and its rhizomes are used to relieve pain related to rheumatoid arthritis (Said et al. 2002 and Delazar et al. 2013), as an antioxidant (Erdemoglu et al. 2006), antibacterial (Modaressi et al. 2009), antidepressant (Nisar et al. 2011), antiinflammatory (Hariri et al. 2021) & analgesic in various places of middle south East & south Asia (Delazar et al. 2009).
E. macrophylla	Aerial and rhizome	Aerial & rhizome, used as a folk medicine in Iran, comprises therapeutic ingredients against joints pain, infectious wound healing, snakebite, rheumatism and antimalarial (Nori-Shargh et al. 2007, Mosaddegh et al. 2012, Asnaashari et al. 2015 and Asnaashari et al. 2016 (a and b)).
E. superba	Whole plant	Used as an antidepressant and antioxidant. This species is less reported towards medicinal importance except for the local report according to Gujjars, where they used root tubers as food to buffaloes to increase the milk production. It is used for curing mastitis and restoration of mulching in cattles (Verma et al. 2003 and Sharma et al. 2015) and against fish poisoning (Ajaib et al. 2014).
E. vicaryi	Whole plant and seed	Used for poisoning fish in the Eusufzai near Peshawar (Radcliffe-Smith et al. 1986)  and seeds are utilized as cooling agents to lower fever in the Balochistan province (Pakistan) (Tareen et al. 2016).

Pharmacological Importance: Genus Eremostachys is one of the important plants, which are known for their diversified medicinal and pharmacological applications (Table 2). Few plants of this species are widely studied viz. E. laciniata, E. loasifolia, E. macrophylla, E. glabra, E. laevigata, E. azerbaijanica, E. labiosa, E. labiosiformis, E. pulvinaris etc. However; most of the species are still need to be explored with respect to their pharmacological applications and secondary metabolites.

Table 2. Secondary metabolites and Pharmacological Uses of some species of genus Eremostachys

Species	Secondary metabolites	Pharmacological application
E. adenantha Jaub. Et Spach	Dodecanal, tetradecanal, undecanal, tetradecanoic acid, hexadecanoic acid, 6,10,14-trimethyl-2-pentadecanone, caryophyllene oxide (from aerial part) (Javidnia et al. 2008).	Antioxidant (from leaves) (Firuzi et al. 2010).
E. azerbaijanica Rech. f	Tricosane, hexahydrofarnesyl acetone, 2-methyl-6-propyl-dodecane, flavonoid (luteolin-7-O-rutinoside), phenylethanoid (verbascoside) (Asnaashari et al. 2016a), sesquiterpenes, steroids, coumarins (Asnaashari et al. 2016b), Phlomisoside II, eremostachiin, alyssonoside, forsythoside B, lamalbide, pulchelloside I, sesamoside, 6-hydroxyloganin, shanzhiside methyl ester (from roots) (Modarresi et al. 2013, Fouladnia et al. 2012 and Asnaashari et al. 2018), dodecanal, hexadecanoic acid, 6,10,14-trimethyl-2-penta-decanone, tetradecanal, undecanal, tetradecanoic acid, caryophyllene oxide (Javidnia et al. 2008), carvone, β-caryophyllene, limonene, β-bourbonene, germacrene D, transcarveol, cis-calamenene (Manafi et al. 2010), hexahydrofarnesyl acetone, 2-methyl-6-propyl-dodecane (Asnaashari et al. 2016a).	Radical scavenging activity (Asnaashari et al. 2016a), antioxidant, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic activity (Asnaashari et al. 2017), antimalarial activity (aerial part showed IC50 values of 0.949 ± 0.061 mg mL–1 and rhizomes showed 0.382 ± 0.011 mg mL–1) (Asnaashari et al. 2016b), antiproliferative (Delazar et al. 2017).
E. glabra Boiss. ex Benth.	furanolabdane diterpene glycoside (Eremostachiin) (Delazar et al. 2006), methyl ester, iridoid glycosides (6,9-epi-8-O-acety- lshanziside 5,9-epi-penstemoside, 5,9-epi-7,8-didehydro-penstemoside (Delazar et al. 2004b), hexacosyl-(E)-ferulate, leucosceptoside A (Delazar et al. 2004a), iridoids (Barlerin, 8-O-acetyl-shanziside, penstemoside, 7,8-didehydro -penstemoside) (Jensen et al. 2007), β-sitosterol, verbascoside, stigmasterol, phlomisoside II, forsythoside B, 9-epi-phlomiol, lamalbide, 5,9-epiphlomiol, penstemoside, 9-epi-pulchelloside ІІ, 6-hydroxy-7-epi-loganin, 6′-O–β-D-glucopyranosyl sesamoside, shanzhiside methyl ester, phloyoside ІІ, hexacosyl-(E)-ferulate (from Rhizomes) (Delazar et al. 2013).	Free-radical scavenging activity, antioxidant (hexacosyl-(E)-ferulate showed RC50 = 0.0976 mg/mL and leucosceptoside-A showed 0.0148 mg mL–1) ((Delazar et al. 2004a)) and antibacterial (Delazar et al. 2004b and 2005, Erdemoglu et al. 2006).
E. labiosa Bunge	α-Pinene, 1,8-cineole, 6,10,14- trimethyl 2-pentadecanone, sabinene, hexadecane, α-phellandrene, β-phellandrene, tetradecane, p-cymene (from aerial and stem part) (Rustaiyan et al. 2011).	Anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antileishmanicidal (Rabe et al. 2014).
E. labiosiformis (Popov)	Harpagide (from flowers), 9,12-octa-decadienoic acid, octadecanoic acid, hexadecanoic acid, 1,2-benzene-dicarboxylic acid diisooctyl ester, 9,12,15-octa -decatrien-1-ol (from aerial part) (Kooiman 1972).	Antioxidant, anti-Alzheimer (Samandari-Bahraseman et al. 2018), antibacterial (Vahedi et al. 2013).

From a medicinal point of view, genus Eremostachys is playing a key role in Ayurvedic and Unani medicine due to the presence of the number of chemical reactive secondary metabolites. The whole plant is important for medicinal purposes as all parts of the plant contain some vital secondary metabolites. Secondary metabolites reported in the literature along with their important pharmacological applications are summarized in Table 2 (i) (ii), (iii) and (iv) (Khan et al. 2020; Hariri et al. 2021).

Table 2(ii).Secondary metabolites and Pharmacological Uses of some species of genus Eremostachys

Species	Secondary metabolites	Pharmacological application
E. laciniata a (L.) Bunge	Acidic iridoid glucoside (Calis et al. 2008), iridoid glucosides (phloyoside I, phlomiol pulchelloside I) (Modaressi et al. 2009), furanolabdane diterpene glycosides, monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, iridoid glucosides and flavonoids (Navaei et al. 2006; Delazar et al. 2008; Eftekharsadat et al. 2011), luteolin, apigenin, 5,8-dihydroxy-6,7-dimethoxy-flavone, 5,7-dihydroxy-6,8-dimethoxy-flavone, luteolin 7-O–β-glucosides (Nisar et al. 2011), phlomisoside II, verbascoside, leucosceptoside A, martynoside, forsythoside B, apigenin 7-O-glucoside, luteolin 7-O-(6”-O– apiofuranosyl)-glucoside, apigenin 7-O-(6”-O-p-coumaroyl)-glucoside, sesamoside, 5-deoxysesamoside, 6-β-hydroxy-7-epi-loganin, 5-deoxy- pulchelloside-I, Chlorotuberoside, lamalbide, lamalbidic acid, phloyoside I (7-epi-phlomiol), phloyoside II, phlomiol, shanzhiside, shanzhiside methyl ester, 8-Oacetyl-shanzhiside methyl ester, dodecanol, widdrol, germacrene B and D, thujopsene, 3-octanone, (3Z)-hexen-1-ol, n-hexanol, benzacetaldehyde, 1-octen -3-ol, α-pinene, linalool, 6,10,14-trimethyl-2-pentadecanone, limonene, p-cymene, δ-cadinene, (2E)-dodecenal, dehydrolinalool, cyclo-pentadecanolide, (E)-β-ocimene, 1,8-cineole, terpinen-4-ol (Navaei et al. 2006, Al-Jaber et al. 2012 and Delazar et al. 2013) (aerial part).	Anti-inflammatory (Hariri et al. 2021 and Delazar et al. 2013), antibacterial (MIC = 0.05-0.50 mg mL–1) (Modaressi et al. 2009 and Ur Rahman et al. 2015), free radical scavenging, antioxidant properties, anti-inflammatory, dietary supplement (Hariri et al. 2021, Mosaddegh et al. 2012 and Bajalan et al. 2017), effective in the treatment of mild and moderate Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) in combination with the wrist night splint, especially in alleviating the severity of the syndrome and increasing the palmer prehension power (Eftekharsadat et al. 2011), antipain (Gharabagy et al. 2013) anti-depressants (Nisar et al. 2011 and Hakimi et al. 2020).
E. laevigata Bunge	Benzaldehyde, 1,8-cineole, piperitenone oxide, cis– piperitoneoxide, 1-octen-3- ol, dodecanal, germacrene-D, β-caryophyllene, caryophyllene oxide (Amiri et al. 2007 and Esmaeili et al. 2012) (from whole plant).	Antibacterial, antioxidant activity (IC50 (μg mL–1): 277.1 (flowers), 495 (stems), 212.6 (root) (Esmaeili et al.  2012), β-caryophyllene possesses anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic activities and plant defense (Cai et al. 2002), germacrene-D is anti-insect (Altug et al. 2004), Dodecanal is non-toxic, food additive (GRAS in USA and inchem in UE) and used in perfumery as in soap, detergent, beauty care and household products (www.inchem.org).

Table 2(iii). Secondary metabolites and Pharmacological Uses of some species of genus Eremostachys

Species	Secondary metabolites	Pharmacological application
E. laciniata a (L.) Bunge	Acidic iridoid glucoside (Calis et al. 2008), iridoid glucosides (phloyoside I, phlomiol pulchelloside I) (Modaressi et al. 2009), furanolabdane diterpene glycosides, monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, iridoid glucosides and flavonoids (Navaei et al. 2006; Delazar et al. 2008; Eftekharsadat et al. 2011), luteolin, apigenin, 5,8-dihydroxy-6,7-dimethoxy-flavone, 5,7-dihydroxy-6,8-dimethoxy-flavone, luteolin 7-O–β-glucosides (Nisar et al. 2011), phlomisoside II, verbascoside, leucosceptoside A, martynoside, forsythoside B, apigenin 7-O-glucoside, luteolin 7-O-(6”-O– apiofuranosyl)-glucoside, apigenin 7-O-(6”-O-p-coumaroyl)-glucoside, sesamoside, 5-deoxysesamoside, 6-β-hydroxy-7-epi-loganin, 5-deoxy- pulchelloside-I, Chlorotuberoside, lamalbide, lamalbidic acid, phloyoside I (7-epi-phlomiol), phloyoside II, phlomiol, shanzhiside, shanzhiside methyl ester, 8-Oacetyl-shanzhiside methyl ester, dodecanol, widdrol, germacrene B and D, thujopsene, 3-octanone, (3Z)-hexen-1-ol, n-hexanol, benzacetaldehyde, 1-octen -3-ol, α-pinene, linalool, 6,10,14-trimethyl-2-pentadecanone, limonene, p-cymene, δ-cadinene, (2E)-dodecenal, dehydrolinalool, cyclo-pentadecanolide, (E)-β-ocimene, 1,8-cineole, terpinen-4-ol (Navaei et al. 2006, Al-Jaber et al. 2012 and Delazar et al. 2013) (aerial part).	Anti-inflammatory (Hariri et al. 2021 and Delazar et al. 2013), antibacterial (MIC = 0.05-0.50 mg mL–1) (Modaressi et al. 2009 and Ur Rahman et al. 2015), free radical scavenging, antioxidant properties, anti-inflammatory, dietary supplement (Hariri et al. 2021, Mosaddegh et al. 2012 and Bajalan et al. 2017), effective in the treatment of mild and moderate Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) in combination with the wrist night splint, especially in alleviating the severity of the syndrome and increasing the palmer prehension power (Eftekharsadat et al. 2011), antipain (Gharabagy et al. 2013) anti-depressants (Nisar et al. 2011 and Hakimi et al. 2020).
E. laevigata Bunge	Benzaldehyde, 1,8-cineole, piperitenone oxide, cis– piperitoneoxide, 1-octen-3- ol, dodecanal, germacrene-D, β-caryophyllene, caryophyllene oxide (Amiri et al. 2007 and Esmaeili et al. 2012) (from whole plant).	Antibacterial, antioxidant activity (IC50 (μg mL–1): 277.1 (flowers), 495 (stems), 212.6 (root) (Esmaeili et al.  2012), β-caryophyllene possesses anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic activities and plant defense (Cai et al. 2002), germacrene-D is anti-insect (Altug et al. 2004), Dodecanal is non-toxic, food additive (GRAS in USA and inchem in UE) and used in perfumery as in soap, detergent, beauty care and household products (www.inchem.org).

Chemical structure of Secondary metabolites: Numerous secondary metabolites were identified from the genus Eremostachys. Sterols, essential oils, linear hydrocarbons, iridoid glucosides, flavonoids, isoflavonoids, terpenoids, and their derivatives, acid derivatives and phenylethanoid glycosides etc. are found in a majority. Most of them are represented and specifies by their core structures as follows:

Table 2(iii):Secondary metabolites and Pharmacological Uses of some species of genus Eremostachys

Species	Secondary metabolites	Pharmacological application
E. loasifolia Benth.	Iridoid glucosides (eremosides A-C) (Mughal et al. 2012), 6,7-dihydroxy-coumarin, luteolin 4′-O-β-d-gluco pyranoside (Delazar et al. 2006), loasins A & B, apuleisin, apuleidin (Mughal et al.  2010), loasifolin, eremoside A and B, kaempferol (3,4′,5,7-tetrahydroxy flavone), 5-hydroxy-6,7,8,4′-tetra-methoxy flavone, 5-hydroxy-3′,4′,6,7,8- pentamethoxy-flavone, apigenin (4′,5,7-trihydroxy-flavone), luteolin (3′,4′,5,7-tetrahydroxy-flavone), apigenin 7-O–β-D-glucopyranose, 4-methyl kaempferol (3,5,6-trihydroxy-4-methoxy flavone), 5-hydroxy-7,4-dimethoxy flavones, 6,7-dimethoxy-4,5-hydroxyflavone, 3,5,7-trihydroxy-3,4-dimethoxy-flavone (Altug et al. 2004). (whole plant).	Antioxidant activity (Altug et al. 2004).
E. macrophylla Montbret & Aucher ex Benth	α-Cadinol, germacrene B and D, isobutyl phthalate, hexadecanoic acid, ethyl linoleate, 6-methyl-α-ionone, myrcene, non-terpenoids, oxygenated nonterpenes, nonterpene hydrocarbons, β-elemene, γ-elemene, β-phellandrene (Navaei et al. 2006 and Asnaashari et al. 2016a), spathulenol, hexadecanoic acid, caryophyllene oxide (oils), β-caryophyllene, pimara-8,14-diene, ethyl linoleate, β-eudesmol, 6,10,14-trimethyl-2- pentadecanone (Rustaiyan et al. 2011), verbascoside, lamalbide, sesamoside, phlomiol, luteolin-7-O-Glucoside, apigenin- 7-O-rutinoside, kaempferol-3-O-glucosides with iridoid, phenylethanoid, flavonoid structures (Imran et al.,  2018; Asgharian et al.,  2020) (from the whole plant), 1,8-cineole, germacrene D-4-ol, α-pinene, 1,10-diepicubenol, elemol, bornyl acetate, 1,10-diepicubenol (Navaei et al., 2006).	Antimalarial activities (IC50 = 0.797 ± 0.016 mg mL–1 in aerial parts and 0.324 ± 0.039 mg mL–1 in rhizomes compared to positive control (Chloroquine, IC50 = 0.014 ± 0.003 mg mL–1, IC90 = 0.163 ± 0.004 mg mL–1) (Delazar et al. 2009), used to treat wounds, snake bites, rheumatism and joint pains (Navaei et al. 2006), antioxidant, general toxicity, anti- proliferative and anti- microbial (Delazar et al. 2018) anti-oxidant, anti-proliferative (Nori-Shargh et al. 2007 and Asgharian et al. 2017a and 2017b).
E. molucelloides Bunge	Phloyoside II, p-coumaric acid, sesamoside, 5-deoxysesamoside, 6-hydroxy-7-epiloganin, 2β,14-dihydroxy-11-formyl-12-carboxy-13-des-isopropyl-13- hydroxymethyl-abieta-8,11,13-triene-16(17)-lactone, 12,18-dicarboxy-14-hydroxy-13-des-isopropyl-13-hydroxymethyl-abieta-8,11,13-triene-16(17)-lactone, echinacoside, lamalbide, vanillic acid, verbascoside, 5-hydroxy-3′,4′,7-trimethoxyflavone, 5-hydroxy-7,4′-dimethoxy-flavone, apigenin-7-O-glucoside, luteolin-7 –O-glucoside, apigenin-7-O-(6”-O– pcoumaroyl)-glucoside, apigenin-7-O– (3”,6”-β–O–p-dicoumaroyl)-glucoside, luteolin-7-O– (6”-O-apiofuranosyl)- glucoside, 5-deoxy- pulchelloside I, shanzhiside methylester, chlorogenic acid, lamalbidic acid (Qui et al. 2019).	It might be expected to have an excellent pharmacological insight due to the presence of many potent chemical constituents.

Table 2(iv):Secondary metabolites and Pharmacological Uses of some species of genus Eremostachys

Species	Secondary metabolites		Pharmacological application
E. pulvinaris Jaub. & Spach	Phenylethanoid glycosides (forsythoside B, leucosceptoside A, verbascoside) (Delazar et al. 2004) (from rhizomes).	Free radical scavenging activity and toxicity, antioxidant (RC50 = 0.0064, 0.0148 & 0.0079 mg mL–1 for forsythoside B, leuco-sceptoside A & verbascoside, respectively) (Delazar et al. 2004).
E. speciosa Rupr.	luteolin 7-O–β-D-glucoside Gella et al. 1972.	Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory (from epigeal parts) (Gella et al. 1972).
E. superba Bunge	less studied due to critically endangered species in India (Shrivastava et al. 2017 and Srivastava et al. 2018).	A very handsome plant used as an ornament (Duthie, 1903-29), tuberous roots are used for increasing lactation in cattle (Koul et al. 1997, Vaez et al. 2015 and Pant et al. 2011), treatment of liver, stomach and gout related diseases (Srivastava et al. 2018).
E. thyrsiflora Benth.	Alkaloids, steroids, flavonoids, phenols, tannins, saponins, terpenoids, fats, glycosides, coumarins, xanthoproteins, carbohydrates, carboxylic acids and volatile oils (Behlil et al. 2019).	Antioxidant activity (from the whole plant) (Behlil et al. 2019).
E. vicaryi Benth. ex Hook. f.	Vicarin, soforanarin B, luteolin 7-O–β-D-glucopyranoside, hamighriprasin (Calis et al. 2007).	Seeds are utilized as cooling agent to lower fever in the Balochistan of Pakistan (Ajaib et al. 2014).
E. baissunensis Popov	Barlerin, lamalbide, 5-deoxysesamoside (from aerial part) (Bobaev et al. 2015).	Not studied much.
E. lehmanniana	Fatty acids from seeds (Bagci et al. 2007)	E. lehmanniana Bunge is not studied much.

 

CONCLUSION

The findings of the present study has shown that the genus Eremostachys is very important with proven medicinal impacts due to the presence of numerous secondary metabolites and their known biological applications viz. antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, painkilling, antirheumatic, anti-poisonous. Further, it can be a potential agent towards antimalarial, anti-Parkinson’s and anticancer etc. as few reports are based on such studies. Therefore, in this review, the important secondary metabolites extracted from the genus Eremostachys viz., flavonoids, isoflavonoids, iridoid glucosides (chemotaxonomic markers), phenyl-ethanoid glycoside, acids, hydrocarbons, essential oils, terpenes, diterpenoids and sterols etc. are summarized along with chemical structure.

The traditional uses and pharmacological applications of this genus Eremostachys reported in the literature are compiled in tabular form. Unfortunately, only a few species (viz. E. laciniata, E. azerbaijanica, E. glabra, and E. macrophylla) have been majorly studied so far, however; most of the species of this genus are still need to be explored. The genus Eremostachys superba Royle ex Benth is an only endangered species in India, having an ornamental value as very few studies on their medicinal properties are reported in literature.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The literature survey facilities were provided by the Motilal Nehru College, Delhi University, India and Delhi University, India.

Conflicts of Interests: Authors declare no conflicts of interests to disclose.

Data Availability Statement: The database generated and /or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to privacy, but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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