The Himalayan rhubarb (Rheum australe D. Don.): an endangered medicinal herb with immense ethnobotanical ‘use-value’

Rheum australe is a high-altitude medicinal plant found in the Himalayan region. It has huge therapeutic and economic potential owing to the occurrence of various phytochemical compounds like anthraquinones, stilbenes, tannins and flavonoids in the rhizome of the plant. The species possesses a wide variety of pharmacological activities like anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-fungal, anti-diabetic, anti-ulcer, hepatoprotective, immune-enhancing and nephroprotective activities. It is used to treat various ailments like constipation, indigestion, diarrhoea, muscular pain, skin problems, and cough in different conventional systems of medicine. Due to its high therapeutic potential and use in the pharma industry, the species is overexploited in its natural habitats, rendering it endangered. Therefore, immediate efforts are required for its multiplication and conservation using biotechnological approaches like plant tissue culture.