Vicia faba Linn.
Family Papilionaceae; Fabaceae.
Habitat Native to North Africa;
commonly grown in North Western India.
English Broad bean, Windsor bean. Unani Baaqlaa.
Action Fresh beans—cooked
alone or with meat, are prescribed in Unani medicine for cough, also for resolving inflammations. Externally, the bean and flowers are used as a poultice for inflammations, warts and burns.
A number of harmful principles are reported in the broad beans. A large amount of Dopa, mainly in free state and partly in the form of its betaglucoside; and gluco alkaloids, vicine and convicine, have been isolated.
Ingestion of fresh, uncooked or partially cooked beans is not recommended.
The seeds gave positive test for hydrocyanic acid and also contain arsenic.
The fresh beans exhibit an oestrogenic activity. Phytoalexins of the immature seeds exhibit antifungal activity.
Malic, citric and glyceric acids are the principal organic acids present in the pods (also present in the hulls). The glyceric acid on subcutaneous injection produced a marked diuresis in rabbit. (A deco ction of the leaves and stems of the field bean, Faba vulgaris Moench, is used as a diuretic.)
An aqueous extract of the root nodules exhibited vaso constricting activity on rabbits.
Vicoa indica DC.
Synonym V auriculata Cass.
Family Compositae; Asteraceae.
Habitat Throughout the drier parts of India, ascending to an altitude of about 1,800 m in the Himalayas.
Ayurvedic Vandhyaavari.
Siddha/Tamil Jimikipoo, Mookuti, Poondu.
Folk Banjhori, Vajarangi.
704 Victoria regia Lindi.
Action Plant—used for contraception.
Aerial parts contain the sesquiterpene lactones (vicolide A-D), the 28- nortriterpenoidal glucosides (vicoside A and B), the triterpenoid vicosigenin and monoterpenediol vicodiol, besides several n-alkanes and n-aLkanoic acid esters.
