A Comprehensive Review of the Phytochemical and Pharmacological Potential of an Evergreen Plant Garcinia cowa

Garcinia cowa of the Clusiaceae family, native to South-East Asia used in traditional medicine. It has antipyretic, antimicrobial, and many other biological activities. In this review, a thorough study of this plant's chemical constituents and pharmacological and therapeutic effects was conducted from the research articles from PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Scopus from 1977 to 2022. Reported secondary metabolites are enriched with xanthones, phloroglucinols, depsidones, steroids, etc. α-mangostin, β-mangostin, cowaxanthone, rubraxanthone, cowanin, norcowanin, etc. represent the major xanthones. This article discusses the relationship between the different functional groups in xanthone compounds and their bioactivity against cancer, diabetes, bacteria, leishmania, malaria, and inflammation. This review is a comprehensive compendium of major bioactive molecules and its implication for human disease.