Coriandrum sativum Linn.
Family Umbelliferae; Apiaceae.
Habitat Cultivated chiefly in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Bihar.
English Coriander.
Ayurvedic Dhaanyaka, Kustumburu, Dhaanyeyaka, Dhanika, Dhanikaa, Dhaanaa, Dhaanya, Dhaniyaa, Kunati, Chhatraa, Vitunnaka.
Unani Kishneez.
Siddha/Tamil Kotthamalli.
Action Stimulant, stomachic, carminative, antispasmodic, diuretic; also hypoglycaemic and anti-inflammatory. Oil—bactericidal and larvicidal. Used in China as a remedy for measles, diabetes, aerophagy and gastroenteritis.
Key application In dyspeptic
complaints, loss of appetite.
(German Commission F, British
Herbal Pharmacopoeia, Indian
Herbal Pharmacopoeia.)
Coriander contains 0.5—1% volatile oil, consisting mainly of delta-linalool (55—74%), alpha-pinene and terpinine. It also contains flavonoids, coumarins, phthalides and phenolic acids (including caffeic and chlorogenic).
Aqueous extract of the roasted seeds contains large amounts of acetylcholine and its precursor choline. (Choline is found useful in preventing and curing certain liver disorders.) The extract shows cholinomimetic effects experimentally.
Coriandrin, an antiviral agent, has been synthesized from the aerial parts. The plant forms an ingredient of a Pakistani herbal drug (Intellan) which is considered to be a neuro-energizer.
In Unani medicine, an infusion of fruits is also used in bleeding piles, neuralgia, cephalalgia and spermatorrhoea.
Dosage Fruit—l—3 g powder. (API Vol. I.)
Corydalis govaniana Wall.
Family Papaveraceae.
Habitat The West Himalayas, from Kashmir to Kumaon.
Ayurvedic Bhootakeshi (a doubtful substitute for Bhootajataa, Nardostachys jatamansi DC.) Species of
