Rhododendron has a special value in the cultural and economic life of human beings. It is sometimes planted in religious places for decoration purposes. This plant has anti-inflammatory, hepato-protective, anti-diarrheal, anti-diabetic, antioxidant properties due to presence of secondary metabolites like flavonoids, saponins, tannins and other phytochemicals.

Cholesterol reducer

Oral administration of Hyppophae ramnoides fruit juice + Rhododendron arboreum flower juice in 1:4 significantly reduced total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein and antherogenic index (Verma et al., 2011).

Anti-oxidant and anti-mutagenic activity

In this era of urbanization and environmental pollution, antioxidants and anti-mutagens derived from plants are the best safeguards for health of humans. Hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions of R. arboreum leaf extract, decreased the production of nitric oxide radicals and inhibited the lipid peroxidation. These activities might be due to the synergistic effect of phytochemicals reported in the GC-MS profiling and the presence of phytochemicals while vitamin E might be responsible for the antioxidant activity (Prakash et al., 2007).