An Invasive Yet Potentially Diverse and Unexplored Genus: Typha L.

Aim: Typha genus belongs to the family Typhaceae and is comprising of about 13 known species distributed in the subtropical and tropical regions of North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Australia and Europe. Several species are considered as invasive weeds that colonize wetlands and marshes because they are highly productive by clonal growth, forming very large, persistent and often monospecific stands. This review offers detailed information on the aquatic species of the cosmopolitan genus Typha L. with specific focus on their distribution, identification, importance in bioremediation, usability and traditional uses along with chemical and biological diversity.

Methodology: An extensive browsing in three electronic databases (Unbound Medline, PubMed and ScienceDirect) and internet search engines (Scifinder and Google Scholar) enabled us to connote the studies on Typha genus available till date.

Results: Literature survey corroborated that some species of Typha are valuable as sources of traditional medicine in human health, while some are still widely used for non-pharmacological purposes. Numerous phytochemical investigations of plants of this genus confirmed the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, steroids, phenols, saponins, flavanoids, carbohydrates, proteins, oils and fats. Besides, various studies cited in this review article have demonstrated that the extracts or active substances that have been isolated from the species of Typha genus have multiple pharmacological activities.

Conclusion: The review draws the attention of scientists towards the utility and important issues associated with the probable approaches that should be investigated to encourage people to take maximal benefit of the potentially useful species of Typha genus.