A REVIEW ON THE PHYTOPHARMACOLOGICAL PROPERTIES, UNANI AND MODERN PHARMACOLOGY OF BISFAYEJ (POLYPODIUM VULGARE LINN)

Different herbs and their constituents are used for medicinal purposes by approximately 80 percent of the world population, which is evidenced by the rapidly growing global and national markets of herbal drugs. This review is aimed at presenting an overview of the medicinal properties of P. vulgare, its phytoconstituents and diverse pharmacological activities. To retrieve the information related to this drug, a thorough literature survey was undertaken using the various classical Unani and Herbal literature books viz., Al-Qānūn fi’l Tibb, Makhzan al-Mufradat, Kanzul Advia Mufradah, Ilmul Adwiya Nafisi, Taj al-Mufradat, Indian Materia Medica, Indian Medicinal Plants among others. Further, for other traditional uses, phytoconstituents, pharmacological activities and research studies of the drug, various online bibliographic databases like Pub Med, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Web of Science and Scopus were meticulously searched. The keywords used for the search included “Polypodium vulgare”, “Bisfayej”, “Polypody root and rhizome”, “Phytoconstituents of Polypodium vulgare”. P vulgare is proven to possess neuro-psycho-pharmacological, CNS depressant and anti-epileptic activity through its anti-cholinesterase and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) stimulatory effect. Various clinical researches validate the use of P vulgare in the management of conditions such as Epilepsy, Arthritis, Leprosy, Melancholy and Alzheimer’s disease. Further studies are needed to unravel its other pharmacological activities.