The article aims to review all the chemical constituents and pharmacological properties of Vitex negundo L. (Verbenaceae) (VN). VN is an important medicinal plant used as reputed herbal medicine with versatile pharmacological activities in China, India and Japan. A total of 104 referred articles about VN were compiled from major databases and academic publishers, such as MEDLINE, Pubmed, Scholar, Elsevier, Springer, Wiley and CNKI. As a result, a total of 120 compounds isolated from VN can be divided mainly into four classes: flavonoids, lignans, terpenoids and steroids. The crude extracts and purified compounds of VN exhibited promising bioactivities, including anti-nociceptive, antiinflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-oxidant, insecticidal, antimicrobial, anti-androgenic, anti-osteoporotic, anti-cataract, hepatoprotective and anti-hyperglycemic activity. All the reported data lead us to conclude that VN has convincing medicinal potential. However, further researches are needed to explore its bioactive constituents, the structure-activity relationship and their molecular mechanisms of action.
Keywords: Verbenaceae; Vitex negundo; chemistry; pharmacology.
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