Multipurpose Plant - Murraya koenigii

Murraya koenigii, an aromatic tropical and sub-tropical plant belonging to the Rutaceae family, is valued for its culinary, medicinal, and industrial applications. Its fresh leaves contain 23.73% alkaloids, 1.24% flavonoids, 8.74% saponins, 4.4% phenolics, 5.2% tannins, and some volatile oils, while the stem bark and roots yield carbazole alkaloids and triterpenes with notable medicinal properties. Murraya koenigii exhibits a broad spectrum of biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, anticancer, antioxidant, anthelminthic, and hepatoprotective effects. Polyherbal mouthwashes with Murraya koenigii, Acacia nilotica, Psidium guajava, and Eucalyptus hybrid effectively prevent dental issues such as caries and plaque-induced gingivitis. Additionally, crude extracts from its leaves provide benefits like lipid-lowering, anti-diabetic, anti-diarrheal, and antihypertensive properties, and the whole plant is valued for treating bronchial respiratory problems, reducing cholesterol, and enhancing digestion. The oil of Murraya koenigii leaves has shown remarkable cholinesterase inhibitory activity, and its derivatives exhibit significant pharmacological activities, including anticarcinogenic, proapoptotic, antiangiogenic, and neuroprotective effects, which help alleviate oxidative stress, neurotoxicity, and cognitive dysfunction. It is evident that Murraya koenigii plant extract is very promising for the synthesis ofmetallic nanoparticles, with optimized conditions, including reaction time, pH of the solution, temperature, etc. Despite its advantages, large-scale nanoparticle production faces challenges related to repeatability in physio-chemical properties and toxicity, necessitating further research into optimizing and quantifying essential phytochemical constituents and metallic precursors, as well as assessing the toxicity of the final products. This chapter covers the phytochemical analysis of Murraya koenigii, its everyday practical uses for people, recent research applications, and potential future directions to enhance its accessibility and benefits for the general public.