A review on sour cherry (Prunus cerasus): A high value Unani medicinal fruit

Abstract

Prunus cerasus Linn. Rosaceae is a medicinal plant that has been widely used Ayurvedic and Unani system of medicine (USM). This plant especially the fruits are used in urinary system to cure number of diseases such as urinary tract infection, nephrolithiasis, cystolithiasis, and dysuria in the USM. Since this was an important medicinal plant since long, and therefore, scientists were also curious to prove the pharmacological actions. Hence many scientific investigations have been carried out to authenticate/know the phytochemical constituents and pharmacological actions. The aim of this review is to collect the data about its medicinal uses described in USM which has been in use since long. Moreover, its phytochemical and pharmacological studies which have been done in different parts of the world are also compiled. As per Unani literature, the fruit of this plant has been in use since ancient various diseases such as ‘Usr al-Bawl (Dysuria), Qarha-e-Alate Baol, Hasah-al-kulya (Nephrolithiasis), and Hasah-al-Mathana (Cystolithiasis) and per recent investigations, various parts of this plant is proved to be useful in diabetes, cardiac diseases, and skin diseases.