Unravelling the nutraceutical and therapeutic perspectives of corosolic acid: Journey so far and the road ahead

Corosolic acid (CA) is a triterpenoid derivative having pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and nutritional applications. CA’s molecular formula is C₃₀H₄₈O₄ and its molecular weight is 472.70. Almost all fruits belonging to Musaceae, Ericaceae, and Myrtaceae families contain CA. This exploratory review delves deeply into the molecular mechanisms, clinical safety and efficacy of CA. Furthermore, its ethnomedicinal, therapeutic, nutraceutical, and cosmeceutical uses are also covered. Since centuries, CA has served as a staple food and in recent years it has emerged as a promising phytoconstituent for treating diabetes, oxidative stress and combating multiple forms of resistant cancer. In addition, its role has also been harnessed in cosmetic preparations. Despite having wonderful nutritional, pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical properties, CA suffers from issues of low permeability and solubility due to having highly hydrophobic nature that does not allow its proper wetting by the gastrointestinal fluids, leading to poor dissolution and absorption. These limitations decrease its oral bioavailability thereby therapeutic efficacy against various diseases. The development of CA as nano pharmaceuticals has received significant attention in recent years. However, nano pharmaceuticals are at their infant stage because their commercialization is fraught with challenges, including those of stability, toxicity, and scaling. As a result, CA is still classified as a drug lead despite the fact that consideration of these challenges during formulation development would undoubtedly give the drug a new appearance. In this review, we have investigated the molecular mechanisms, clinical safety, and efficacy of CA for its therapeutic, nutraceutical, and cosmetic applications.