Nitraria retusa: ancient cure for modern diseases

Plants are important sources of biologically active natural products, which differ widely in terms of structure. They are the original source of a variety of compounds used by the pharmaceutical industry as medicines. Plants possess many phytochemicals with various bioactivities, which include antioxidant, antinflammatory, and anticancer activities. Therefore, many plants have been investigated to identify new anticancer compounds as well as to elucidate the mechanisms of cancer prevention and cancer cell death as apoptosis. Modern pharmaceutical industries largely take profit of the diversity of secondary metabolites from vegetables for new drug research. This is the case of Nitraria retusa (Forssk.) Asch, one of the leading shrubs in steppes, deserts and saline soils. It is an genus of the family Nitrariaceae. Nitraria retusa is an important sand controller, its leaves and twigs are occasionally grazed by sheep, goats and camels Its fleshy red fruits are eaten by humans and are used to prepare drinks. The leaves serve as supplement for the tea and are used as poultice, but the woods are used as fuel by the local inhabitants.