A comprehensive review on the asian plants utilised in stress-related disorders

Asian countries are reckoned for their vast plant-rich regions with a long history of traditional medicine that spans approximately 6,500 years. Asian people inherit knowledge from their ancestors about the use of the surrounding plants to treat many infirmities and diseases, including stress-related disorders such as anxiety and depression. As such, this review provides an ethnopharmacological and phytochemical overview of Asian plants with high antistress potential. This review serves as a baseline for the discovery of new and potent antidepressants. Articles from 2007 to 2020 were reviewed extensively using Google Scholar and Scopus search engines based on the following keywords: ‘antidepressant AND Asia AND plants’, ‘anxiolytic AND Asia AND plants’, as well as ‘antistress AND Asia AND plants’. In total, 71 Asian plants were documented. Most of the plants were reported from India (36%) and followed by China (31%). Other countries, including Japan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Pakistan, Korea, Taiwan and Algeria, have published several reports regarding local plants with antidepression potential. As a result, 15 pure compounds isolated from these plants displayed antidepressive potential.