Kitamari (Aristolochia bracteata) Medicinal uses and pharmacology

Kitamari- Aristolochia bracteolata is a herb mentioned in Ayurveda for the treatment of wound, intestinal worms, dysmenorrhea, skin diseases and fever. 

Latin name- Aristolochia bracteolata Retz. Aristolochia bracteata
Family- Aristolochiaceae

Names in different languages:
Hindi name – Kitamar
English name– Bracteated birthwort, Pipewine
Bengali name – Kiramar, Patuvanga
Gujarathi name- Kiramar
Kannada name – Adu Muttada gida
Malayalam name– Aduthinnappalai
Marathi name – Kidamar
Oriya name – Paniri
Tamil name – Aduthinnarppalai
Telugu name – Gadide, Gadaparaku
Urdu name- Paniri
Deccan – Gandan, Gandati

Keetamari – Sanskrit Synonyms
Dhumrapatra- The leaf is used for fumigation
Kitamari- Destroys the germs

Morphology of Aristolochia bracteolata:
This is a small herb growing to a height of 1-2 feet and is found all over India in the temperate climate. The stem is smooth and little twining. The branches are sharp and small. The leaves are 2- 3 inch long, kidney shaped and membranous. The under-surface has small mesh like structure. The flowers are purple colored, single, 1.5.2 inch long and covered with small hairy structures. The fruits are oval to round shape, 1 inch long. The seeds are triangular and flat.

Properties:
Rasa (Taste) – Tikta (Bitter)
Guna (Qualities) – Laghu (Light for digestion), Ruksha (Dry in nature), Teekshna (Strong)
Vipaka – Katu (Undergoes Pungent taste after digestion)
Veerya (Potency) – Ushna (Hot)
Karma (Actions) – Kaphavata shamaka (reduces vitiated kapha and vata dosha)

Part used- Leaf, Root

Dosage-
Powder- 1 to 3 g
Decoction- 50 to 100 ml
Fresh juice- 5 to 10 ml

Chemical composition:
Leaves and fruit contain ceryl alcohol, aristolochic acid and beta-sitosterol. Roots contain aristolochic and Potassium chloride nitrates. It also contains bitter principle glucoside in nature named isoaristolochic and Allanton 0.05% alkaloid Aristoloclen, essential oil containing carbonyl compound and a small amount of an oil with above of Isovanilin.

Uses of Kitamari:

• The paste of the leaf of Kitamari is applied over the wounds for helping in quick healing.
• The decoction of the leaf of Aristolochia bracteolate is consumed in a dose of 50 ml to treat dysmenorrhea and difficulty in labor.
• The decoction of the bark or whole plant is taken in a dose of about 40 ml to treat intestinal worm.
• The paste of the leaf of Kitamari is applied over eczema for its treatment.
• The powder of the seed of Aristolochia bracteolate is given with powder of black pepper to treat fever.
• The paste of the root of Aristolochia bracteolate is applied over the area over localized swelling for its treatment.

Adverse effects: No known adverse effect is known or reported after the use Kitamari.

Research articles related to Aristolochia bracteolata:
Anti- microbial activity: The present study describes the antimicrobial activity of the acetone, ethanol and petroleum ether extracts of the leaves, stem and root of Aristolochia bracteolata Lam. using agar diffusion method against human pathogenic bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae. In the present research, all the extracts were found to be effective against four human bacterial species, E.coli, P.aeruginosa, K.pneumoniae and B.aureus sensitive to all the plant extracts.

Anti- bacterial and anti- fungal action: The phytochemical analysis of both the aqueous and methanolic extracts of the medicinal plant Aristolochia bracteolata Retz. and their antibacterial and antifungal activities against six pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Leuconostoc lactis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhi as well as four fungus namely Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus indicus and Mucor indicus were investigated. Antibacterial potentiality of aqueous and methanol solvent extract of mature leaves of A. bracteata was evaluated against the bacteria, highest antibacterial activity was observed against Streptococcus pyogenes (42 mm) and followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (38 mm) in methanol extract. But in the case of antifungal activity the maximum inhibition zone found against Rhizopus indicus (18) in methanol extract. There is no activity antibacterial and antifungal activity found in the aqueous extract.

Anti- inflammatory action: Anti- inflammatory action with the ethanol extract of the leaves of the plant Aristolochia bracteolata showed significant action in wistar rats.