Anemonin and protoanemonin exhibit sedative and antipyretic activity. Protoanemonin is also antimicrobial. (Topically, Pulsatilla is used for infectious diseases of the skin.)
Anethum sowa Roxb. ex Flem.
Synonym A. graveolens Linn. var.
sowa Roxb.
A. graveolens DC.
Peucedanum sowa Roxb.
Peucedanum graveolens Benth.
Family Umbellferae; Apiaceae.
Habitat Cultivated all over India.
English Indian Dill, Sowa.
Ayurvedic Shataahvaa. Shatapushpaa (also accepted as Foenicuturn vulgare Mill., equated with Mishreya, Mishi, Madhurikaa).
Unani Shibt, Soyaa.
Siddha/Tamil Sadakuppai.
Action Carminative, stomachic, antispasmodic.
Key application In dyspepsia. (Gerrnan Commission E.)
The fresh and dried leaf is used for prevention and treatment of diseases and disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, kidney and urinary tract, for spasms and sleep disorders. (Included
among unapproved herbs by German Comrnission E.)
An aqueous dill extract, administered intravenously, lowers blood pressure, dilates blood vessels, stimulates respiration and slows heart rate in animals. (Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, 2007.)
Dill seeds contain up to 5% volatile oil (about half of which is carvone), flavonoids, coumarins, xanthones and triterpenes. The yield of the oil from Indian A. sowa varies from 1.3 to 3.5%. Carvone is the major constituent (19.5— 69.7%). The oil from seeds is used for flatulence in children and enters into the preparations of gripe water. The oil is also antimicrobial and antifungal.
Dill apiol is considered undesirable and toxic. Vizag fruit var. from Andhra Pradesh is dill-apiol-free and with 54—56%, carvone content having same flavonoid pattern as A. sowa.
Dosage Dried fruit—3—6 g powder. (API Vol. III.) Fruit, leaf—1—3 g powder. (CCRAS.)
Angelica archangelica Linn. var. himalaica (C. B. Clarke) Krishna and Badhwar
Family Umbellferae; Apiaceae. Habitat Native to Syria; now grown
