A Review on the Medicinal Plant Dalbergia odorifera Species: Phytochemistry and Biological Activity

Received Aug 16, 2017; Accepted Oct 25, 2017

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1. Introduction

The medicinal plant Dalbergia odorifera T. Chen species, also called Lignum Dalbergia odoriferae [1], belongs to genus Dalbergia, family Fabaceae (Leguminosae) [2]. This plant has been widely distributed in the tropical regions of Central and South America, Africa, Madagascar, and East and Southern Asia [1, 3], especially in China [4]. D. odorifera species, which has been known as “Jiangxiang” in Chinese, “Kangjinhyang” in Korean, and “Koshinko” in Japanese drugs, has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, blood disorders, ischemia, swelling, necrosis, rheumatic pain, and so on [5–7]. Particularly, from Chinese herbal preparations, heartwood was found and has been commonly employed as a part of commercial drug mixtures for cardiovascular treatments, including Qi-Shen-Yi-Qi decoction, Guanxin-Danshen pills, and Danshen injection [5, 6, 8–11]. As many other Dalbergia species, phytochemical investigations demonstrated the occurrence of the predominant flavonoid, phenol, and sesquiterpene derivatives in various parts of this plant, especially in terms of heartwood [12]. Furthermore, a number of bioactive reports on cytotoxic, antibacterial, antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antithrombotic, antiosteosarcoma, antiosteoporosis, and vasorelaxant activities and alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activities indicate that both D. odorifera crude extracts and its secondary metabolites are valuable resources for new drugs development. However, no evidence was reported for the general view about this plant. In this review, we give an overview of the major chemical components and biological evaluations. This review would make a contribution to the understanding of the traditional values of D. odorifera and other related species, and it provides necessary guidelines for future researches.

2. Botany

According to database of The Plant List (http://www.theplantlist.org, 2017), the following acceptable name of Dalbergia odorifera T. Chen species is listed at a level of high confidence [13]. The medicinal plant D. odorifera species, also known as fragrant rosewood, is a semideciduous perennial tree [14], with...