Medicinal plants containing ursolic acid have been used in folk medicine before it was known which constituents were responsible for their therapeutic effectiveness. Contemporary scientific research which led to the isolation and identification of ursolic acid revealed and confirmed that several pharmacological effects, such as, anti-tumor, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory (oral and topical), anti-ulcer, antimicrobial, anti-hyperlipidemic and antiviral, can be attributed to ursolic acid1.
However, its anti-inflammatory (topical), anti-tumor (skin cancer), and antimicrobial properties are pertinent to the cosmetic industry.