Rauwolfia Serpentina: A Potential Plant to Treat Insomnia Disorder

The global economic burdens of chronic degenerative diseases are a primary worldwide concern for nutraceutical-pharmaceutical researchers. Insomnia is a potential risk factor of such medical conditions with a complex two-way association and multi-folding associated financial debts. The long-term insomnia treatments by synthetic hypnotics produce side-effects-addictions-abuses. Thus, today, alternative therapies are getting promoted for safe treatment, and phytopharmaceuticals' use is one such. Rauwolfia serpentina (Indian Snakeroot) is such potential phytopharmaceuticals' source to treat insomnia, well-recognized for therapeutic applications, making traditional beverages. Its diverse alkaloids are responsible for many notable pharmacological activities, especially the active root-alkaloid reserpine. Even psychopharmacological researches principally described reserpine for sedation. But, later studies concluded reserpine is a tranquilizer, not a sleep-promoter. Such monotherapeutic approaches, a few controversial reserpine therapy reports, and reluctance from evolving modern science to strategically explore the traditional medicinal knowledge eventually shadowed sleep-promoting researches on R. serpentina. This review, relying on the well-researched traditional-scientific data, suggested root-based monotherapeutic approaches with R. serpentina need revisions treating insomnia.