Pharmacognostic, Phytochemical and Ethnopharmacological Potential of Cyclamen coum Mill

Background: This review focuses on characterization of Cyclamen coum Mill. (Myrsinaceae), composition and content of biologically active substances presented in the above-ground and underground parts, reporting use of this plant in traditional medicine, predicting possible pharmacotherapeutic effects. Materials and Methods: Various electronic search engines such as Google, Google scholar, scientific literature, electronic databases such as e-Library, Scopus, Web of Science, Pubmed had been searched and data obtained. Results: Cyclamen L. is classified in the Myrsinaceae family now. It is a typical element of the Mediterranean flora. C. coum. is a species characteristic of the Caucasus and Crimea with rounded leaves and rounded corolla lobes, bright and pink-purple flowers. Chemical composition of biologically active substances of C. coum was described in sufficient detail. C. coum contains saponins (coumoside A, coumoside B, cyclaminorin, deglucocyclamin, cyclacoumin, and mirabilin lactone), sterols (stigmasterol and other related compounds), piperidine alkaloid (2-β-D-glycopyranosyl-2-undecil-3,5-dihydroxy-6-carboxypiperidine), flavonoids, phenols, tannins, cardiac glycosides. Antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, and antitumor activities are established for different C. coum extracts. Conclusion: C. coum can be used for the production of potential anticancer, antibacterial and antifungal drugs. It should be noted that more pharmacognostic, pharmacological studies are needed for providing further information to use this medicinal plant in the official medicine. Also, standardization procedures for a crude herbal drug should be developed.