Alkaloid theobromine is used for asthma. In Greece, boiled leaves are used for treating enlarged prostate.
An extract of the plant caused a fatal drop in blood pressure in rats.
The ethanolic extract of the fruits yields cyanogenic glucosides.
hex paraguariensis St.-Hil.
Family Aqufoliaceae.
Habitat Native to South America; cultivated in some Indian gardens. In northern India, grows in Lucknow.
English Mate Tea, Yerba Mate. Paraguay Tea.
Action Stimulant to brain and nervous system, mild antispasmodic, eliminates uric acid. Used for physical exhaustion, rheumatism, gout and nervous headache. (A national drink of Paraguay and Brazil.) Causes purging and even vomiting in large doses.
Key application In physical and mental fatigue. (German Commission E, WHO.) In fatigue, nervous depression, psychogenic headache especially from fatigue, rheumatic pains. (The British Herbal Pharmacopoeia.) German Commission E reported analeptic, positively inotropic, positively
chronotropic, glycogenolytic,
lipolytic and diuretic properties.
The leaves contain xanthine derivatives, including caffeine (0.2—2%), theobromine (0.3—00.5%), theophylline (absent in some samples), polyphenolics, tannins and chlorogenic acid, vanillin, vitamin C, volatile oil. Used in the same way as tea, due to its caffeine and theobromine content.
Mate is a world famous tea and is commonly consumed in several South American countries.
The flavour constituents exhibited moderate to weak broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against several Gram-positive bacteria. Some components are bactericidal, particularly against the most carcinogenic bacteria, Streptococcus mutans.
hhhicium anisatum Linn.
Family Magnoliaceae; Illiciaceae.
Habitat Indigenous to China.
English Star Anise.
Unani Baadiyaan (related species).
Action Carminative and pectoral. Used in hard, dry cough where
expectoration is difficult. (Oil of Anise is distilled in Europe from the fruits of Pimpinella anisum.)
The seeds, though used as a substitute for Star Anise, contain toxic constituents, anisatin, neoanisatin, 6-
