Context: Piper sarmentosum Roxb. (Piperaceae) is a traditional medicinal as well as a culinary plant in South East Asian countries, whereby aerial parts of the plant are consumed as a vegetable in various forms and the whole plant or parts are used as folk remedies, alone or in combination with other herbs, to treat various ailments. The plant has extensively been investigated in a broad range of studies to provide scientific evidence for folklore claims or to find new therapeutic uses; however, heretofore, a summary of the data are not available.
Objective: In order to describe nutritional and therapeutic potential of P. sarmentosum and summarize scientific evidence that supports traditional claims, a literature review and latest advances in research of the plant are given herein.
Materials and methods: The literature has been retrieved from a number of databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Medline, Science Direct and SciFinder. The articles related to synthetic work, ecology and agriculture have been excluded.
Results and discussion: The review has not only revealed a number of pharmacological activities supporting the traditional claims but indicates new prospects for the plant. Antiangiogenic activity and toxicity studies suggest the usage of the plant in treating diseases involving neo-vascularization. The available efficacy, safety, pharmacokinetic and stability data urge clinical studies on extracts of the plant.
Conclusion: The present review may be helpful to future researchers intending to investigate the plant and natural pharmaceutical industry for preparing evidence-based formulations.