Name - शरपुङ्खः

Botanical name - Tephrosia purpurea

Description - Much branched erect glabrescent undershrubs. Leaves imparipinnate; leaflets oblanceolate, silky-pubescent beneath. Flowers pink, in leaf-opposed racemes. Pods flat, slightly curved.

Chemical Constituents- Whole plant contains pongamol, Beta-sitosterol , ursolic acid, spinasterol. Roots contain flavonoids purpurenone, purpurin, maackiain, isolonchocarpin, pongamol, lancelatins A and B. Leaves contain beta-sitosterol, lupeol, rutin and rotenoids. Flowers contain cyanidins. Seeds yield fatty oil, caffeic acid, flavanone purpurin, pongamol, isolonchocarpin, karanjin, lenceolatin-B, kanjone, sitosterol, purpuritenin, purpureamethide

 

Use - Tonic, laxative, diuretic and deobstruent; used in bronchitis and bilious febrile attacks, also for boils, pimples and bleeding piles. Decoction of roots given in dyspepsia, diarrhoea, rheumatism, asthma and urinary disorders; roots given with black pepper in colic. Aliniment prepared from the roots is used in elephantiasis. Pulverized roots smoked for relief from asthma and cough. Decoction of pods used as a vermifuge and to stop vomiting. Seed oil used in scabies, itch, eczema and other skin eruptions 

Medicinal plants of India ; Ayurveda

Encyclopedia of Indian Medicinal Plants/Herbs mainly using in Ayurveda with good quality pictures and information like therapeutic usage of Medicinal Plants, cultivation, morphology, habitat, flower characters, Chemical content, parts used, research works etc.

medicinal plants