Nadu, occasionally planted in West Bengal.
Ayurvedic Muchukunda (var.) Siddha/Tamil Sempulavu.
Action Flowers—anodyne; a paste with rice-water and vinegar is used externally in migraine. Leaves— applied externally in headache.
Flowers gave arachidic, linoleic, myristic, oleic, palmitic and stearic acids and beta-sitosterol, kaempferol-3- beta-D-galactoside and kaempferol3-rutinoside. The flavonoids present in the leaves are kaempferol-3-beta-D- galactoside, kaempferol, quercetin and its 3-0-arabinoside and 3-0-rhamno- side. The leaves also contain betulin, beta- amyrin, lupeol, bauerenol, friede - lin, taraxerone and beta-sitosterol.
Pueraria lobata (Wild.) Ohwi.
Family Papilionaceae; Fabaceae.
Habitat Eastern Himalayas, Assam and Khasi Hills.
English Tropical Kudze.
Ayurvedic Vidaari (var.).
Action Root—antipyretic, antiinflammatory, spasmolytic. Flower—hepatoprotective.
The root ofF lobata is used in Chinese medicine as an antipyretic and spasmolytic agent.
The root contains pueraria glycosides and puerarol. The glycosides showed strong antioxidant activity and inhibited lipid peroxidation. The root also contain several flavones which showed 66.8% inhibition against stomach cancer in vivo in mice. The isoflayvonoids, daidzein, formononetin, daidzin and puerarin. Daidzein and puerarin show significant anti-inflammatory activity.
The cosmetics containing the root extracts with 20—40% puerarin and 20— 45% sugars (as sucrose) are used as moisturizing, skin lightening and sun screening and hair-growth stimulating preparations.
An isoflavonoid, triterpenoid saponm and tryptophan derivative isolated from the flowers showed protective effect against experimental liver injuries in mice.
The tryptophan derivatives and their glycosides exhibited antihyperglycaemic activity.
Pueraria phaseoloides (Roxb.) Benth., synonym P javanica Benth. (Sub-Himalayan regions; Assam
