Melastoma is a genus that belongs to the Melastomataceae family and consists of 50–70 species distributed around India, Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific Island. Numerous species of this plant show potential therapeutic purposes. This review summarizes the scientific findings on the ethnobotanical uses, phytochemistry and pharmacological activities of Melastoma sp. The leaves of Melastoma sp. was widely used by Asian as decoction for the remedy of gastrointestinal disorder apart from root, which was consumed as juice for skin diseases, fever and pain. Majority of the scientific studies focused on M. malabathricum showing high antimicrobial activity towards selected gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria from different parts of the plant. In vitro studies showed that Melastoma sp. possessed anti-coagulant, antioxidant, antiproliferative and immunomodulatory activities. Apart from in vitro, various in vivo studies have been conducted involving methanolic leaf extracts using Sprague Dawley rats for inhibition of anti-ulcer, anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic and anti-diabetic activities. Flavonoids, triterpenes, tannins, saponins and steroids are the main classes of secondary metabolites identified from Melastoma sp. Kaempferol derivatives exhibited significant main constituents from the flowers and leaves using various semi polar solvent extracts. Few phytosterols were also isolated from the leaves extract albeit the absence of alkaloids. This review shows that Melastoma sp. is an important genus of Melastomataceae family, however, the phytochemical and pharmacological findings of various species in this genus are still limited, indicating a great opportunity to explore new therapeutic activities with novel bioactive constituents.
Pharmacological

Cancer is unquestionably the greatest worldwide threat to humanity. With fewer side effects, natural anticancer medicines are the most prevalent. Anticancer benefits of dietary polyphenols could be achieved through carcinogen elimination, cancer cell signalling alteration, antioxidant enzymatic activities, and apoptosis-inducing substances, according to the likely approach to anticancer effects of dietary polyphenols research. This study aims to investigate the apoptosis induction mediated by Moringa oleifera in in vitro and other molecular targets in vivo in all types of cancer studies, as well as to describe the most recent and comprehensive research on antioxidant and anticancer characteristics. The terms "molecular target", "signalling pathway", "apoptosis", "Moringa oleifera extract", "mechanism of action", "cancer", "tumour", "carcinoma", and "melanoma" were used to search four online databases, PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar, for relevant articles published between 2009 and 2019.

Garcinia celebica (G. celebica), an aromatic plant which is domestically planted for fruits and ornamental purposes, is exceptionally rich in important phytochemicals that may contribute to its medicinal properties. The mechanistic basis of cytotoxic action of G. celebica essential oil (EO-GC) in MCF-7, MCF-7/TAMR-1, and MCF-10A cell cultures was explored in this study. The study findings showed that the EO-GC potently inhibited the proliferation of the MCF-7 and MCF-7/TAMR-1 cells by 50% at 37.5 µg/mL and 18.8 µg/mL concentrations, respectively. In contrast, a higher concentration (77.5 µg/mL) of the essential oil was needed to inhibit the MCF-10A cells. These findings demonstrated that the EO-GC possesses selective cytotoxic effects by two-fold and four-fold towards the MCF-7 and MCF-7/TAMR-1 cells, respectively, than the MCF-10A cells. Flow cytometric analysis has proven that the EO-GC can effectively induce apoptotic cell death in the cultured MCF-7 and MCF-7/TAMR-1 cells, while having minimal effect on the MCF-10A cells. Therefore, these preliminary findings may add novel scientific data related to the potential therapeutic efficacy of the ethereal oil derived from G. celebica leaves.