A Survey of Chemical Compositions and Biological Activities of Yemeni Aromatic Medicinal Plants

Bhuwan K Chhetri; Nasser A Awadh Ali; William N Setzer

doi:10.3390/medicines2020067

A Survey of Chemical Compositions and Biological Activities of Yemeni Aromatic Medicinal Plants

Medicines (Basel). 2015 May 28;2(2):67-92. doi: 10.3390/medicines2020067.

Authors

Bhuwan K Chhetri¹, Nasser A Awadh Ali^{2

3}, William N Setzer⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899, USA. bkc0007@uah.edu.
² Pharmacognosy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Sana'a University, P.O. Box 13150 Sana'a, Yemen. alinasser9678@yahoo.com.
³ Pharmacognosy Department, Faculty of Clinical Pharmacy, Albaha University, P.O. Box 1988 Al Baha, Saudi Arabia. alinasser9678@yahoo.com.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899, USA. wsetzer@chemistry.uah.edu.

Abstract

Yemen is a small country located in the southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula. Yemen's coastal lowlands, eastern plateau, and deserts give it a diverse topography, which along with climatic factors make it opulent in flora. Despite the introduction of Western medicinal system during the middle of the twentieth century, herbal medicine still plays an important role in Yemen. In this review, we present a survey of several aromatic plants used in traditional medicine in Yemen, their traditional uses, their volatile chemical compositions, and their biological activities.

Keywords: Asteraceae; Burseraceae; Lamiaceae; Yemen; aromatic plants; essential oil compositions; herbal medicine.

Publication types

Review