Musa paradisiaca Linn.

English Name : Edible Banana, Plantain

Family : Musaceae

Description

A tropical tree-like herb, with large leaves of which the overlapping bases form the so-called false trunk. Fully grown, the stem reaches a height of 10 - to 30 feet. From the center of the crown spring the flowers. Only female flowers develop into a banana fruit that vary in length from about 4 - 12 inches.

Habitat
Warmer areas of India


Parts Used : Root, fruit, stem and plant

Herb Effects
Laxative (fruit)

Active Ingredients
Arginine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, valine, serotonin, dopamine, norepinepherine, malic acid and catecholamine (plant)

Medicinal Use
Blood disorders (stem juice and root); in dysentery and diarrhea,promotes the healing of intestinal lesion in ulcerative colitis (fruit); useful in diabetes, uremia, nephritis, gout, hypertension and cardiac diseases (ripe fruit); for dysentery (flower juice).

Reference

Mucuna pruriens Linn.

English Name : Bengal bean, cow itch, florida velvet bean, velvet bean

Family : Fabaceae

Origin : India

Description

M.pruriens is an herbaceous twining annual. The leaves are trifoliolate; the leaflets, broadly ovate, elliptic or rhomboid ovate and unequal at the base; the flowers, purple and in axillary, pendulous racemes; the pods, curved, longitudinally ribbed, turgid and densely clothed with persistent pale brown or grey, irritant bristles; the seeds, black, 4 to 6 in a pod and ovoid.

Habitat
The plant can grow in a range of habitats and could become naturalised in grasslands, bushland, riverine forest and forest edges throughout tropical and subtropical regions.

Parts Used : Roots, seeds and fruits.

Herb Effects
Anabolic, androgenic, analgesic (pain-reliever), anti-inflammatory, anti-Parkinson's, antispasmodic, antivenin, aphrodisiac, febrifuge, hormonal, hypocholesterolemic (lowers cholesterol), hypoglycemic, immunomodulator, nervine (balances/calms nerves), anti-neurasthenic.

Active Ingredients
L-DOPA (plant); mucunine, mucunadine, mucuadinine, pruriendine and nicotine, besides ß-sitosterol, glutathione, lecithin, oils, venolic and gallic acids (plant/seeds); tryptamine, alkylamines, steroids, flavonoids, coumarins, cardenolides, etc (seed with seed coat).

Medicinal Use
To treat roundworm, sterility, difficult urination and emaciation (seed and root);useful in increasing sperm count, ovulation in women, etc.; in leucorrhoea, menorrhagia, spermatorrhoea, Parkinson's (seed); in facial paralysis and nervous disorders (root); purifies the blood, cures rheumatism, asthma, cough, stone in the bladder and improves vitality (root decoction). Leaf paste is applied to ulcers. This herb is being investigated as a possible remedy for AIDS.

Dosage
For seeds as 3 - 6 gm and 10 % L-dopa extract 300 - 600 mg

Contraindication
Contraindicated during Pregnancy.

Reference

Morinda citrifolia L.

English Name : Indian mulberry

Family : Rubiaceae

Origin : Malaysia, Australia and Polynesia

Description

An evergreen shrub or small crooked tree with a conical crown, 3—8(—10) m tall, with a deep taproot; bark greyish or yellowish-brown, shallowly fissured, glabrous; branchlets quadrangular. Leaves opposite and simple, elliptic-lanceolate, (10—)15—50 cm x 5—17 cm, entire, acute to shortly acuminate at apex, cuneate at base, pinnately nerved, glabrous; petioles 0.5—2.5 cm long; stipules variable in size and shape, broadly triangular. Inflorescences globose heads, 1—4 cm long peduncled, in axils of stipules opposite normally developed leaves; flowers bisexual, fragrant; corolla funnel-shaped, up to 1.5 cm long, white; stamens inserted on the mouth of the corolla; stigma bilobed. Fruit an ovoid syncarp of red-brown, pyramidal, 2-seeded drupes, 3—10 cm x 2—3 cm, yellow-white. Seeds black, with hard albumen and distinct air chamber.

Habitat
Grows in shady forests as well as on open rocky or sandy shores.

Parts Used : Bark, root, leaf anf fruit

Herb Effects
Febrifuge and tonic (roots); tonic and antiseptic (bark); febrifuge, tonic and antiseptic (leaves); diuretic, laxative, emollient and as an emmenagogue (fruit); anthelmintic (roots, leaves and fruits).

Active Ingredients
Anthraquinone, asperuloside (root); ascorbic acid, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin (leaf); damnacanthal, lucidin (tissue culture).

Medicinal Use
Used to treat stiffness and tetanus, and to combat arterial tension (roots); as antiseptic on skin lesions, ulcers and wounds (bark); to treat dysentery, diarrhoea, colic, nausea and convulsions (leaves); for asthma and other respiratory problems, as a treatment for arthritic and comparable inflammations, in cases of leucorrhoea and sapraemia and for maladies of inner organs (fruits).

Reference

Momordica dioica ROXB. EX WILLD

English Name : Small Bitter Gourd

Family : Cucurbitaceae

Description

A climber, roots tuberous; tendril simple, leaf-opposed. Leaves alternate, membranous, broadly ovate, 3 to 5 lobed, base cordate; lobes triangular, distantly denticulate; petiole 2 to 7 cm long, channelled above. Male flowers; 2.5 to 3.0 cm long, yellowish, axillary, solitary; pedicels 3 to 5 cm long; bracts spathaceous, enclosing the flower. Calyx 5-lobed. Corolla deeply 5-lobed, or campanulate. Stamens 3, inserted at the mouth of calyx; filaments free, erect; 2 anthers 2-celled and 1 anther 1-celled. Fruit 6 x 3 cm, ovoid, fleshy, 3-valved, muricate; seeds flattened, sculptured.

Parts Used : Tuber, root and seed oil

Herb Effects
Anthelmintic and kills sperm (tuber); as an astringent and antidote, reduces fever and astringent (root).

Active Ingredients
Alpha-eleostearic acid (seed oil)

Medicinal Use
Hemorrhoids, reducing fever, stimulant and astringent. Juice of root is antiseptic. The root is used in piles, urinary complaints, as asedative in high fever, in snake-bite and scorpion-sting.

Reference

Momordica charantia L.

English Name : Balsam-Pear, Bitter Gourd, Bitter cucumber, Karela, Leprosy gourd, Bitter cucumber.

Family : Cucurbitaceae

Origin : Old world tropics

Description

Monoecious and annual vine which reach 5 meters long. The stem is 5-ridged and climbs to the trellises and other structures. The leaves are palmately and deeply 5-to-6 -lobed, the base deeply cordate, margin tooth, blade smooth or with fine hairs. The flowers are solitary; the male and female flowers are found in the same plant with a corolla about 2 to 3.5 cm in diameter across, both having apical bracts which are longer in mallet than in female ones, but the flower stalks are longer in females than in male ones, The fruits are variable in length depending on the cultivar but all are narrower towards the stalk, outside is warty, without hairs, green, when ripe orange yellow, the pulp inside orange when ripe, with bright red seed covering enclosing the seed. Seeds are numerous, flattish, brown, the seed coat ornamented. Propagated by seed and underground stems.

Parts Used : Seed, fruit, leaf and aerial part

Herb Effects
Abortifacient, anthelmintic, contraceptive, emmenagogue, galactagogue, laxative, purgative, tonic, laxative and emetic (leaf), cytotoxic and lowers blood sugar (fruit and seed), lipogenic and antilipolytic (fruit), kills insects (seed oil).

Active Ingredients
Cucurbitacin glycosides and lectins (immature fruit), tetracyclic triterpenes (aerial part and leaf), triterpene glycosides (seed), momordicine and charantin, 5-hydroxytryptamine, ascorbic acid, beta carotene, beta sitosterol, beta sitosterol-D-glucoside, Citrulline, gaba, zeaxanthin (fruit), Linolenic acid, lutein, lycopene.

Medicinal Use
In jaundice and as a laxative (leaf); diabetes. rheumatism and snakebite (fruit), diabetes mellitus, eczema, fat loss, fever (malarial), gout, hydrophobia, hyperglycemia, kidney (stone), leprosy, leucorrhea, liver, piles, pneumonia, psoriasis, rheumatism, scabies and skin diseases. Hot water extract of dried root is taken orally to induce abortion.

Dosage
Decoction: 1 cup of a standard leaf or whole herb, one or two times daily.
Tincture (4:1): 1-3 ml twice daily.

Contraindication
It lowers blood sugar levels and has abortive and contraceptive effects.

Reference

Mollugo pentaphylla L

Family : Molluginaceae

Origin : Australia

Description

A slender, decumbent to erect, much branched, usually annual herb up to 30 cm tall with an angular stem; roots fragrant. Leaves in whorls of 2 to 9 , linear lanceolate to obovate, apex obtuse, acute or apiculate, narrowed at the base; petioles obscure. Flowers white, greenish, orange or pink in lax, corymbose, terminal cymes; peduncles and pedicels filiform; bracts lanceolate. Fruit (capsule) subglobose, about as long as sepals, with thin walls; seeds numerous, dark reddish-brown, covered with raised points.

Habitat
Forests and fields of India.

Parts Used : Plant , leaves

Herb Effects
Antiseptic and induces immobility of sperm; bitter, stomachic, antiperiodic and aperient (leaves); emmenagogue (plant infusion).

Active Ingredients
Mollugogenols A, B and D

Medicinal Use
For eye sores, as an antiseptic and stimulating the secretion of gastric juices; promotes digestion; also promotes menses and suppressed lochia (leaves); to relieve sore legs (poultice); applied to relieve earache (oil).

Reference

Mollugo cerviana SER.

English Name : Three-Stem Carpetweed, Parpadagam

Family : Molluginaceae

Description

An erect slender annual herb up to 20 cm tall, with slender, cylindrical stems, branches umbellate, the nodes thickened; roots aromatic. Leaves in dense whorls of 4 to 8 at each node, sessile or subsessile, often glaucous; radical leaves 6 to 13 mm long, spathulate or linear - spathulate. Flowers numerous, on stiff filiform pedicels to 1.2 cm long, usually in groups of 3 on long filiform axillary and terminal peduncles; sepals 2.5 mm long, elliptic-oblong, obtuse, with white membranous margins. Fruit (capsule) rounded, equaling the sepals, dehiscing into 3 broadly ovate emarginate valves; seeds numerous smooth, yellowish-brown, without tubercular points.

Habitat
Forests and fields; Gujarat upper Gangetic plains, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and southern India.

Parts Used : Root and plant

Herb Effects
The herb is cooling, diuretic, febrifuge, relieves thrist, burning sensation of the body, stomachic, aperient, antiseptic and stimulates the heart. Diaphoretic (flowers and tender shoots).

Active Ingredients
Orientin and vitexin (plant).

Medicinal Use
Reducing fever, as an antiseptic and stimulating the secretion of gastric juices (plant); gout and rheumatism (root); to relieve fevers (flowers and tender shoots). An infusion of the plant promotes lochial discharge and is considered a cure for gonorrhoea.

Dosage
½ to 2 tolas as a decoction with or without sugar or as a compound with other drugs.

Reference

Marsdenia tenacissima Wight & Arn.

English Name : Rajmahal Hemp

Family : Asclepiadaceae

Description

A large, twining shrub. Bark grey or pale brown, corky, deeply furrowed; leaves broadly ovate; flowers in much branched cymes, greenish yellow, with a somewhat offensive odour; follicles ovoid-lanceolate, longitudinally wrinkled; seeds ovate-oblong, flattened.

Habitat
Hedges, waste places and amongst shrubs.

Parts Used
Root

Medicinal Use
For colic (root)

Leptadenia reticulata (RETZ.) WIGHT & ARN.

Family : Asclepiadaceae

Origin : Mauritius, Madagascar, Myanmar, SriLanka, India and Malaysia

Description

It is a much-branched twining shrub. The bark is yellowish brown, corky, deeply cracked; the leaves are ovate-cordate, coriaceous glabrous above, more or less finely pubescent beneath; the flowers are in many-flowered cymes, greenish yellow; the follicles are sub-woody and turgid.

Habitat
Often found on hedges and in forests; Punjab (subHimalayas), peninsular India and Uttar Pradesh.

Parts Used : Leaf, twig, root and plant

Herb Effects
General stimulant, stimulates the secretion and/or flow of milk and antibacterial against gram-positive and gram-negative strains (plant).

Active Ingredients
Leptadenol, leptidin, n-triacontane, cetyl alcohol, lupanol-3-O-diglucoside and beta-sitosterol; alpha and beta-amyrin, stigmasterol, hentriacontanol, flavonoids and gamma-sitosterol (twig and leaf).

Medicinal Use
Skin disorders and wounds (root and leaf).

Reference

Leonotis nepetaefolia R.Br.

English Name : Catnipleaf Lion's-Ear

Family : Lamiaceae

Description

An ornamental herb or shrub, 1.2-1.8 m. Stem stout, puberulous; leaves large, 6.3-15 cm.x 3.8-10 cm., long-petioled, ovate crenate-serrate, membranous; flowers in verticillasters, orange-scarlet, bristly; nutlets oblong-obivoid, 4 mm. long, obliquely truncat. margins ribbed.

Habitat
Mainly forests; warmer areas of India.

Parts Used : Flower and plant

Herb Effects
Anticancer,depurative, emmenagogue, febrifuge, laxative, narcotic and alleviates spasms (plant); anti-malarial (seeds); rheumatic affections (leaves).

Active Ingredients
Leonotinin, nepataefolinol and nepetaefolin (plant); inositol, oleic acid, stearic acid, linoleic acid, palmitic acid (seed).

Medicinal Use
In skin diseases (such as ringworm), burns and scalds (flower).

Reference