AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW OF ETHNOBOTANY, PHYTOCHEMISTRY, PHARMACOLOGICAL POTENTIAL, SAFETY, AND THERAPEUTIC PERSPECTIVES OF IPOMOEA STAPHYLINA ROEM. & SCHULT

Sivakumar Thangam Sharmila, Lakshmi S Vijapur, Krishnagowdu Saravanan, Sundarasamy Dhanapal*

ABSTRACT

Ipomoea staphylina Roem. & Schult. (Convolvulaceae) is a medicinal climber with documented traditional applications and an emerging experimental evidence base. This review synthesizes published information on taxonomy, ethnobotanical relevance, phytochemistry, pharmacological activity, safety, conservation and future research priorities. Species-specific investigations have reported antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-ulcer, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, nephroprotective, analgesic, antimutagenic and cytotoxic potential, although the evidence is predominantly preclinical. Phytochemical studies have reported phenolics, flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, sterols, saponins and other metabolites, with compounds including sitosteryl-3-O-β-D-glucoside, d-chiro-inositol, quercetin-associated polyphenols and β-sitosterol reported in different investigations. Recent work has extended investigation to Helicobacter pylori and flower-derived β-sitosterol. The review emphasizes the distinction between traditional claims, in vitro findings, animal evidence and clinical evidence. Major gaps include standardized botanical material, validated quantitative phytochemistry, bioassay-guided isolation, pharmacokinetics, comprehensive toxicology and human trials. An integrated ethnobotany, pharmacognosy, phytochemistry and pharmacology framework is proposed for future research.

Keywords: Ipomoea staphylina; ethnobotany; Convolvulaceae; phytochemistry; antioxidant; antibacterial; hepatoprotective; pharmacology; traditional medicine; ?-sitosterol.