‘Gandho badali’ (Paederia foetida L.): Horrendous smell, but tremendous medicinal value

‘Gandho badali’ (Paederia foetida L.), a well-known medicinal plant from the family Rubiaceae with a fetid smell, is indigenous to Bangladesh, but also native to several other South- and Far-Eastern Asian countries like Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam. In addition to the Bengali name ‘Gandho badali’, this perennial climber is also commonly known as ‘Gandhobadulia’, ‘Kings tonic’, ‘Skunkvine’, ‘Stinkvine’ an ‘Chinese fever vine’. Phytochemical investigations on this plant established the presence of alkaloids, anthraquinones, coumarins, iridoids, lignans, phenolics, steroids and terpenoids. Aizarin, asperuloside, campesterol, 1,3-dihydroxy-2-methoxyanthraquinone, digiferrol, ellagic acid, epifriedelinol, friedelin, lupeol, morindaparvin A, paederoside, paederosidic acid, sitosterol, stigmasterol and ursolic acid are the major secondary metabolites found in various parts of P. foetida.