Ethnobotany, ethnopharmacology and toxicity of Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae): A review

Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae) is a multiple purpose plant with potential for biodiesel production and medicinal uses. It has been used for treatment of a wide spectrum of ailments related to skin, cancer, digestive, respiratory and infectious diseases. This review aims to provide an up-to-date survey of information available on botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicity of J. curcas. Establishing a scientific basis that explains its ethnopharmacological uses in order to facilitate and guide future research. The review covers literature available from 1960 to 2012 collected from scientific journals, books and electronic searches such as Google scholar, Web of Science and ScienceDirect. Ethnomedicinal uses of J. curcas have been reported from many countries in Africa, Asia, South America and the Middle East for almost 100 different types of ailments. The phytochemical studies have shown the presence of many secondary metabolites including diterpeniods, sesquiterpenoids, alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, lignans, coumarins and cyclic peptides. Crude extracts and isolated compounds from J. curcas show a wide range of pharmacological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiviral, anticancer, antidiabetic, anticoagulant, hepatoprotective, analgesic and abortifacient effects. J. curcas has been a widely used source of medicine for decades in many cultures. The present review reveals that J. curcas is a valuable source of medicinally important molecules and provides convincing support for its future use in modern medicine. •Jatropha curcas is a plant with potential for biodiesel production and medicinal uses.•The plant has been used traditionally worldwide for treatments of different ailments.•The pharmacological studies supported its uses for inflammation and wound healing.