Plant Anacyclus pyrethrum-A Review

Anacyclus pyrethrum is a plant belongs to the family Asteraceae and commonly known as Akarakara. The flowers of the species cinerariefolium have long been exploited commercially for their insecticidal properties. These properties were probably discovered accidentally in 1840, by a German woman in Dalmatia, who received a bouquet of flowers on her birthday. After a night long partying, she threw the flowers into a corner. In the morning the flowers were surrounded by dead insects. The deaths of the insects were associated with the insecticidal properties of the pyrethrum. Since then the pyrethrum has undergone extensive research establishing its complete, effective and safe commercial exploitation as a source of the natural insecticides collectively known as pyrethrins. Here an attempt made to collect different scientific data of Anacyclus pyrethrum and review its potential.