Tabernaemontana dichotoma
Roxb.
Synonym Ervatamia dichotoma Blatter.
Rejoua dichotoma Gamble.
Family Apocynaceae.
Habitat Western Ghats at low elevations.
English Eve’s Apple, Forbidden Fruit.
Siddha/Tamil Kandalaippalai, Kattalari-palai.
Folk Tengari (Var.).
Action Seed, leaves, bark— purgative. Latex—cathartic.
The fruit gave the alkaloid, coronaridine. Root bark gave alkaloids— heyneanine and voacristine hydroxyindolenine. The petroleum ether-ex
642 Tacca aspera Roxb.
tractable alkaloids of the fruit showed CNS depressant and hypotensive activities.
Tabernaemontana heyneana Wail., synonym, Ervatam ia heyneana Cooke is also equated with Tengari of Indian medicine.
The wood and stembark yielded in- dole alkaloids; ursolic acid, beta-amyrin and beta-amyrin acetate. A number of alkaloids showed cytotoxic activity. (Phytochemistry, 19, 1980.)
Tacca aspera Roxb.
Synonym T integrfolia Ker-Gawl.
Habitat Aka hills in Arunachal Pradesh.
Ayurvedic Vaaraahikanda (substitute), Vaaraahi. (Dioscorea bulbfera is equated with Vaaraahikanda.)
Folk Duukarkand (Gujarat).
Action Tuber—nutritive and
digestive; applied to haemorrhagic
diathesis, cachexia, leprosy and
other cutaneous affections.
The tuber contains gamma-aminobutyric acid, glycine, leucine, valine, quercetin-3-arabinoside, D (—)-ribose, n -triacontanol, betulinic acid, castanogenin and taccalin.
Tacca pinnatifida Forst. f.
Synonym T leontopetaloides (Linn.) Kuntze.
Habitat Entire Deccan Peninsula, extending into Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
