effluents. It can also remove
arsenic effectively. It can be used in purification of silver-containing waste water, also for the treatment of low- level liquid radioactive wastes and mercurial waste water. The plant has a strong capacity for removing phenol. Biomass of non-living dried water Hyacinth roots showed high absorption of copper from aqueous solutions.
The plant exhibits antifungal activity against Candida albicans.
Elaeocarpus ganitrus
Roxb. ex G. Don.
Synonym E. sphaericus K. Schum. Ganitrus sphaericus Gaertn.
Family Elaeocarpaceae.
Habitat West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Western Ghats.
English Utrasum Bead tree.
Ayurvedic Rudraaksha, Panchmukhi.
Siddha/Tamil Rudraaksham.
Action Fruit—used for epileptic fits and headache. Powdered
fruits (0.5 g) mixed with warm water are given two/three times daily in asthma. Stem bark— hypoglycaemic.
The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India indicated the use of the seed in hypertension, insomnia, psychoneurosis and mental diseases.
The fruits contain palmitic, isopalmitic, linoleic and myristic acids. Leaves gave aLkaloids—rudrakine, (+)- elacocarpine and (+)-iso-elacocarpine;
Eleocharis dukis Trin. 233
phenolics—quercetin, gallic acid and ellagic acid. EtOH (50%) extract of stem bark—hypoglycaemic. Aqueous extract of fruits—sedative, hypotensive, spasmolytic, anticonvulsant, choleretic, bronchodilatory and cardiostimulant.
The fruit of E. oblongus Mast. nonGaertn., synonym E. glandulosus Wall. ex Merrill (Western Ghats) is used in mental disorders and tetanus.
Dosage Seed—l—2 g. (API Vol. IV.)
Elaeocarpus serratus Linn.
Synonym E. cuneatus Wt.
Family Elaeocarpaceae.
Habitat Eastern Himalayas and Western Ghats up to 1,000 m.
