Marigold: From Mandap to Medicine and from Ornamentation to Remediation

摘要

Importance of medicinal plants to health care has been great and herbal preparations are being produced at industrial scale particularly in developing countries. The plant products obtained have a long history of use in therapeutics, aromatherapy and food depending on the chemical constituents and their bioactivity. In the recent past, marigolds have received a great attention in scientific research, because of their multiple use and also the information available about their phytochemistry and bioactivity. Tagetes species commonly known as marigold is native to Mexico, being used for medicinal and ornamental purposes. The plant is useful due to its unique phytoconstituents for a range of diseases and disorders and is reportedly effective against piles, kidney troubles, muscular pain, ulcers and wound healing and the flowers are helpful in fever, stomach and liver complaints and also in eye diseases. In India, marigold is also extensively used on religious and social occasions such as in the beautification of mandaps and pooja places; offerings at temples; marriage decorations and landscape planning due to variable size and colour of its flower. Present review is an effort to bring together the different strategies developed for the growth and cultivation of marigold, its ecophysiological and remediation relevance under a variety of environmental conditions and possible allelopathic potential. It includes reports on pharmacological aspects like antibacterial, antifungal, larvicidal, hepatoprotective, insecticidal, mosquitocidal, nematicidal, wound healing, antioxidant, anticancer and antidiabetic properties/activity of Tagetes .