Therapeutic potentials of Brassica juncea: an overview

Diverse medicinal uses of different types of products obtainable from Brassica juncea have been known for centuries. Most such traditionally known uses of the plant have been centered on its seeds and oils obtainable from them. During more recent decades diverse bio-active molecules and their therapeutically interesting pharmacological properties of its green edible leaves have also been described, and they are now often considered to be effective substitutes for other so called "healthy" Brassica vegetables. However, little concentrated effort has yet been made to obtain a pharmacologically better defined phytopharmaceutical from this easily cultivable plant of commercial interest in many underdeveloped and developing countries. The main aim of this overview is to point out some possibilities for designing and developing such products from the plant for combating the rapidly spreading obesity epidemic in the developed countries and some other countries. Efforts to achieve such goals could as well be an economically more feasible, and culturally more acceptable, starting point for better understanding the potential health benefits of other vegetarian foods.