Tribulus terrestris L.

English Name : Small Caltrops and Puncture Vine

Family : Zygophyllaceae

Origin : Mediterranean region

Description

It is a variable, prostrate annual. The roots are slender and cylindrical, light brown and faintly aromatic. The leaves are paripinnate; the leaflets, 5 to 8 pairs, subequal, oblong to linear-oblong. The flowers are leaf-opposed, solitary, pale-yellow to yellow; the fruits, globose, consisting of 5 to 12 woody cocci, each with 2 pairs of hard, sharp, divaricate spines, one pair longer than the other. Several seeds are seen in each coccus with transverse partitions between them.

Habitat
Forests and wastelands of India.

Parts Used : Fruit, seed, root, powder and plant

Herb Effects
Aphrodisiac and diuretic (fruit); alleviates spasms and stimulates the cardiovascular system, abortifacient, alterative, anthelmintic, aphrodisiac, astringent, carminative, demulcent, diuretic, emmenagogue, galactogogue, pectoral and tonic (seed and plant); cardiotonic and enhances semen production (plant).

Active Ingredients
Ascorbic acid (leaf); carboline alkaloids (plant and seed); astragalin, harman, ruscogenin (plant); beta-sitosterol, kaempferol, quercetin, stigmasterol (flower); doucosterol, diosgenin, rutin (shoot); glutamic acid, linoleic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid (fruit); harmine (seed).

Medicinal Use
In painful urination and impotency (fruit); in treating impotency in males, nocturnal emissions, gonorrhoea, painful urination, gout, consumption, kidney problems (including kidney stones) and incontinence of urine (decoction of seed); in treating cancer and to promote hair-growth (plant); gas, headache, ophthalmia and stomatitis (dried fruit). It is being studied as a potential herbal remedy against AIDS.

Dosage
250-1500 mg of tribulus per day.

Reference