Distribution and Medicinal importance of Peganum harmala- A review

Peganum harmala is native to arid and semi-arid regions of Northern African and Asian deserts that have spread to parts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.Peganum harmala is an important medicinal plant with antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anti cancerous, antidiabetic, hypothermic and hallucinogenic activities. Phytochemical investigations of the species has revealed the presences of a number of important active alkaloids especially beta-carboline alkaloids such as harmalol, harmaline, and harmine. This emphasizes on the need of widespread study for covering the supplementary information on the medicinal importance of other species of genus peganum.