treatment of gout and rheumatism; also for amenorrhoea. Juice of the leaves—blood purifier. The powder is used for burns and boils. The leaves are used in fever as a substitute for cinchona.
An aqueous extract of the leaves showed diuretic activity. An alkaloidal fraction showed stimulant action on the perfused frog heart. The plant exhibited anticancer activity.
Albizia amara (Roxb.) Boivin 29
Alangium begoniaefolium
(Roxb.) Baffi.
Synonym A. chinense (Lour.) Harms.
Family Alangiaceae.
Habitat The plains and foothills, up to an altitude of 2,100 m.
Ayurvedic Ankola (related sp.). Folk Akhani.
Action Bark and roots—sedative, anthelmintic.
A triterpenoid was responsible for the sedative effect on motor activity of rat brain.
Chloroform extract of the drug, which was devoid of anabasine, exhibited prominent sedative effect in rat. It significantly decreased concentration of norepinephrine in cortex, of dopamine and serotonin (5-HT) in brain stem, but increased concentration of 5-HT in cortex.
Alangium Iamarckii Thw.
Synonym A. salviifolium (Linn. f.) Wang.
Family Alangiaceae.
Habitat The drier parts of India, in plains and foothills of southern India.
Ayurvedic Ankola, Ankota,
Taamraphala, Guptasneha, Dirghakeelaka.
Siddha/Tamil Azinjil.
Action b Rootbark—astringent,
spasmolytic, hypotensive, also diaphoretic and antipyretic. Leaves—
hypoglycaemic. Fruits—acidic, astringent, laxative and refrigerant. Used in haemorrhages, strangury and consumption. The bark is used as a substitute for Cephaelis ipecacuanha. It is a rich source of alkaloids structurally related to ipecac alkaloids (emetin).
The bark contains the alkaloid alangine which shows a selective action of the parasympathetic mechanism, the action being more marked on gastrointestinal tract. The root extract shows hypotensive action. Flowers contain deoxytubulosine, a potent antiplatelet aggregation component, which has a strong binding with DNA.
