Traditional uses and pharmacological properties of phytochemicals.

is a genus of . 500 species in the family Lamiaceae and widely distributed throughout the whole world. Up to now, many species of this genus have been described in various indigenous systems of medicine and are used in preparation of folklore medicines for the treatment of various life-threatening diseases, and more than eleven species of the genus have been very well studied for their chemical constituents and biological activities, and 283 compounds, including monoterpene and its derivatives, sesquiterpene, diterpenoids, triterpenoids, flavonoid and flavonoid glycosides, phenylethanoid glycosides, steroids and steroid glycosides, cyclohexylethanoids, anthraquinones, cyanogenic glycosides, and others have been isolated and identified. Pharmacological studies have shown that these compounds and extracts from the genus have extensive activities, such as anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive, anti-oxidant, anti-hypertensive, anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-diarrheal, hepatoprotective, hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic, memory enhancing and neuroprotective, and other activities. In this review, we attempt to highlight over phytochemical progress and list the phytoconstituents isolated from the genus reported so far. The biological activities of this genus are also covered.