Abstract

Traditional and ethno-medicinal use of plants enforces a holistic approach towards human health by wittily utilizing the synergistic potency of the bioactive compounds. Quinones are unique molecules with several therapeutic properties that lead them as most vital compound in pharmaceutical system. They can easily undergo reduction reaction paving the path for many biological processing. This class of molecules helps in treatment of several chronic ailments. Many of the drugs in Ayurvedic formulations and/or modern medicinal sectors are having one or more types of quinone groups as a major bio-active compound. However these aforementioned properties of quinones make them unique and versatile. The biochemical knowledge of these compounds is necessary to understand their physiological and toxicological properties. Amongst all quinones found naturally, anthraquinones are one of its kinds due to wide spectrum utilization in several drug formulations. In this review a brief detail of six unique yet ethno-botanically and pharmacologically versatile quinone compounds are depicted with their natural resources, structural characterization and ethnopharmacological activities. The gathered information regarding the above mentioned bio-active compounds would be helpful in identification and isolation of these compounds from a wide range of natural sources with structural characterization and pharmacological potency. These data would be pivotal in their precise identification for further use in both Ayurvedic and modern drug formulation sectors thereby lessening the threat status of the frequently used rare, endangered and threatened plants.