Ginkgo Biloba: A Famous Living Fossil Tree and an Ancient Herbal Traditional Chinese Medicine

Background: Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) is a living fossil and a deciduous tree, having extracts with antidiabetic, antioxidant, anticancer, antihypertensive, immunostimulating, hepatoprotective, and antimicrobial activities, memory enhancement efficiency, and beneficial effects against neurodegenerative disease. Objective: This study aimed at evaluating the medicinal values and natural benefits of Ginkgo. Methods: This review investigated publication in MEDLINE/PubMed database and Google Scholar. The keywords used for an electronic search were Ginkgo biloba, living fossil, bioactive components, and traditional Chinese medicine. Results: The main active constituents of Ginkgo biloba are flavone glycosides such as kaempferol, quercetin, and isorhamnetin, terpene lactones, alkylphenols, proanthocyanidins, rhamnose, glucose, D-glucaric acid, ginkgolic acid, organic acids such as hydroxykinurenic, kynurenic, protocatechic, shikimic, and vanillic. Ginkgo kernels have been used as medicine or eaten as nuts in traditional medicinal science. The most notable pharmaceutical applications of Ginkgo are observed in cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, impaired cerebral performance, vascular insufficiency, antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction, premenstrual syndrome, liver fibrosis, vascular disease, tinnitus, macular degeneration, memory, and vertigo. Conclusion: The development of modern drugs from Ginkgo by considering the importance of traditional medicinal Asian science with further research works should be emphasized.