Categories
Herbs & Plants

Irish moss

[amazon_link asins=’B0064OEB4M,B00ESGC67C’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’128de7f1-d1a8-11e7-b8b7-f5b4dff9c389′]

Botanical Name :Chondrus crispus

Family: Gigartinaceae
Genus:     Chondrus
Species: C. crispus
Domain: Eukaryota
Class:     Rhodophyceae
Order:     Gigartinales

Synonyms: Carrageen. Chondrus. Carrahan.
Common Names : Irish moss or carrageen moss

Habitat: Irish moss is a species of red algae which grows abundantly along the rocky parts of the Atlantic coast of Europe and North America.

It is common all around the shores of Ireland and Great Britain and can also be found along the coast of Europe including Iceland, the Faroe Islands  western Baltic Sea to southern Spain. It is found on the Atlantic coasts of Canada and recorded from California in the United States to Japan.However, any distribution outside the Northern Atlantic needs to be verified. There are also other species of the same genus in the Pacific Ocean, for example, C. ocellatus Holmes, C. nipponicus Yendo, C. yendoi Yamada et Mikami, C. pinnulatus (Harvey) Okamura and C. armatus (Harvey) Yamada et Mikami

Description:
Irish moss is a small perennial thallophyte, reaching up to a little over than 20 cm in length. It grows from a discoid holdfast and branches four or five times in a dichotomous, fan-like manner. The morphology is highly variable, especially the broadness of the thalli. The branches are 2–15 mm broad, firm in texture and dark reddish brown in color bleaching to yellowish in sunlight. The gametophytes (see below) often show a blue iridescence and fertile sporophytes show a spotty pattern. Mastocarpus stellatus (Stackhouse) Guiry is a similar species which can be readily distinguished by its strongly channelled and often somewhat twisted thallus. The cystocarpic plants of Mastocarpus show reproductive papillae[clarification needed] quite distinctively different from Chondrus. When washed and sun-dried for preservation, it has a yellowish, translucent, horn-like aspect and consistency.

CLICK & SEE…>…..(1)……...(2)...

Medicinal Uses:

Part Used: Plant, dried.

Constituents: It contains a large amount of mucilage with the presence of a big percentage of sulphur compounds.

Demulcent, emollient, nutritive. A popular remedy made into a jelly for pulmonary complaints and kidney and bladder affections. Can be combined with cocoa. The decoction is made by steeping 1/2 OZ. of the Moss in cold water for 15 minutes and then boiling it in 3 pints of milk or water for 10 or 15 minutes, after which it is strained and seasoned with liquorice, lemon or cinnamon and sweetened to taste. It can be taken freely.

Other Uses:
Chondrus crispus is an industrial source of carrageenan, which is commonly used as a thickener and stabilizer in milk products such as ice cream and processed foods, including lunch meat. In Europe, it is indicated as E407 or E407b. It may also be used as a thickener in calico-printing and for fining beer or wine. Irish moss is frequently mixed with Mastocarpus stellatus (Gigartina mammillosa), Chondracanthus acicularis (G. acicularis) and other seaweeds with which it is associated in growth. Carrageenan and agar-agar are also used in Asia for gelatin-like desserts, such as almond jelly. Presently, the major source of carrageenan is tropical seaweeds of the genera Kappaphycus and Eucheuma.

In parts of Scotland (where it is known as (An) Cairgean in Scottish Gaelic) and Ireland, it is boiled in milk and strained, before sugar and other flavourings such as vanilla, cinnamon, brandy or whisky are added. The end-product is a kind of jelly similar to pannacotta, tapioca, or blancmange.  Similarly, in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago Gracilaria spp is boiled with cinnamon and milk to make a thick drink called Irish Moss that is believed to be an aphrodisiac. In Venezuela it has been used for generations as a home remedy for sore throat and chest congestion, boiled in milk and served with honey before bed.

Irish moss is commonly used as a clarifying agent in the process of brewing (beer), particularly in homebrewing. A small amount is boiled with the wort, attracting proteins and other solids, which is then removed from the mixture after cooling.

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/m/mosiri53.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondrus_crispus

Enhanced by Zemanta
Categories
Herbs & Plants

Iris tenax

[amazon_link asins=’B06Y13D2YR,B004YRDRLY,B00GF0NF6A,B072XKB7QD,B00IZKWH3U,B06Y184JTF,B006HX9AAA,B01LOKZIH4,B00HMEA11U’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’697dd6f8-7cbc-11e7-b283-1f693d2ad6a0′]

Botanical Name :  Iris tenax
Family: Iridaceae
Subfamily: Iridoideae
Tribe:     Irideae
Genus:     Iris
Subgenus: Limniris
Species: I. tenax
Kingdom: Plantae
Order:     Asparagales

Synonym: Iris Minor,  Iris  gormanii.

Common Names : Tough-leaved iris or Oregon iris, Klamath iris

Habitat: Iris tenax is native to southwestern Washington and northwestern Oregon.. It occurs along roadsides and in grasslands and forest openings at low to middle elevations. One subspecies is also known from northern California.

Description:
Iris tenax is a perennial herb growing to 0.3 m (1ft) by 0.6 m (2ft in).
It is not frost tender. It is in flower in May. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects.The plant is self-fertile.  Like most irises, it has large and showy flowers. The flowers bloom in mid to late spring and are usually lavender-blue to purple, but blooms in white, yellow, pink, and orchid shades are known to sometimes occur. The leaves are very slender for an iris, seldom over 5 mm broad; the plant is often mistaken for a type of grass when not in bloom. Its rhizomes spread slowly, causing the plant to grow in a tight clump.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Its species name (tenax) means “tough” or “tenacious” and is in reference to the strong, fibrous leaves of the plant, which were used by indigenous peoples for braiding into snares and other cordage.

Cultivation:
Requires a really well-drained lime-free soil that is dry rather than damp[79, 233]. Succeeds in dry shade according to another report which also says that, once established, it is drought tolerant. Very easy to grow in a lime-free woodland soil. Succeeds in full sun or partial shade. A very ornamental plant. Hybridizes freely, especially with other Pacific Coast Irises. Iris tenax hybridizes with I. bracteata, I. chrysophylla, I. douglasiana, I. hartwegii, I. innominata, I. macrosiphon, I. purdyi, and I. tenuissima. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer or rabbits.

Propagation:
Seed – best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. Stored seed should be sown as early in the year as possible in a cold frame. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the greenhouse or cold frame for their first year. Plant out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer. Division, best done in early September after flowering but it can also be done in March. Very easy, larger clumps can be replanted direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the spring.

Medicinal Uses:
A tincture of the whole plant, or of the bulbous stems, is given in bilious vomiting, and is recommended for depression.

Other Uses:
The American  Indians use the fibres of this plant for making ropes.

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/i/iriten10.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_tenax

.http://www.pfaf.org/User/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Iris+tenax

 

Enhanced by Zemanta
Categories
Herbs & Plants

Irises

[amazon_link asins=’B01B5NVRH0,B006N4IY9Q,B0085B9UAC,1939739748,B00FL0FO82,B00S5NOPDC,B06Y2DNCZL,B01LZQOQ6A,B00OSF1WBY’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’14239a4d-7cbd-11e7-b043-c9bc8d8b164d’]

Botanical Name :Iris
Family: Iridaceae
Subfamily: Iridoideae
Tribe: Irideae
Genus: Iris
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Asparagales

Common Name :Flags or junos

Habitat: The plant is a native of Southern Europe, very frequent in Italy, apart from its cultivation there, and is also cultivated in Morocco. In England, this German Flag or Flag Iris is by far the commonest of the family in gardens and justly deserves its popularity, for it will grow and flower well in the most unpromising situations and will bear with apparent equanimity hardships that few other plants would endure without loss of vitality. It is not moisture-loving – ordinary border soil, well cultivated, suits it well and the heavy clay soils are more or less inimical to its growth. If the best results are to be obtained, deep and rich beds should be prepared for these Irises, for they will well repay liberal treatment by the production of larger and more numerous flowers. Although they may be moved at any time of the year, April is the best month. They will not flower the same year, but they will during the summer, if attended to, become sufficiently strong to bloom freely the succeeding year. Winter is the worst time to move them, as in heavy soil, the plants often remain dormant without forming a single root-fibre until the spring. But they are easily increased in spring by dividing the root-stocks and replanting and watering into rich soil.

The German Iris, or Flag Iris of the nurseryman as it now exists, is a compound of many species and more varieties, as hybridization has been extensively carried on for many years.

Description:
Iris is a genus of 260–300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers. They are perennial plants, growing from creeping rhizomes (rhizomatous irises) or, in drier climates, from bulbs (bulbous irises). They have long, erect flowering stems which may be simple or branched, solid or hollow, and flattened or have a circular cross-section. The rhizomatous species usually have 3–10 basal sword-shaped leaves growing in dense clumps. The bulbous species have cylindrical, basal leaves. CLICK & SEE

Flower:-
The inflorescences are fan-shaped and contain one or more symmetrical six-lobed flowers. These grow on a pedicel or lack a footstalk. The three sepals, which are spreading or droop downwards, are referred to as “falls”. They expand from their narrow base, which in some of the rhizomatous irises has a “beard” (a tuft of short upright extensions growing in its midline), into a broader expanded portion (“limb”), often adorned with veining, lines or dots. The three, sometimes reduced, petals stand upright, partly behind the sepal bases. They are called “standards”. Some smaller iris species have all six lobes pointing straight outwards, but generally limb and standards differ markedly in appearance. They are united at their base into a floral tube that lies above the ovary (known as an epigynous or inferior ovary). The styles divide towards the apex into petaloid branches; this is significant in pollination.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

The iris flower is of interest as an example of the relation between flowering plants and pollinating insects. The shape of the flower and the position of the pollen-receiving and stigmatic surfaces on the outer petals form a landing-stage for a flying insect, which in probing for nectar, will first come into contact with the perianth, then with the stigmatic stamens in one whorled surface which is borne on an ovary formed of three carpels. The shelf-like transverse projection on the inner whorled underside of the stamens is beneath the overarching style arm below the stigma, so that the insect comes in contact with its pollen-covered surface only after passing the stigma; in backing out of the flower it will come in contact only with the non-receptive lower face of the stigma. Thus, an insect bearing pollen from one flower will, in entering a second, deposit the pollen on the stigma; in backing out of a flower, the pollen which it bears will not be rubbed off on the stigma of the same flower.

The iris fruit is a capsule which opens up in three parts to reveal the numerous seeds within. In some species, these bear an aril.

Medicinal and  other uses:

Constituents:The chief constituent of Orris root is the oil of Orris 0.1 to 0.2 per cent), a yellowish-white to yellow mass, containing about 85 per cent of odourless myristic acid, which appears to be liberated from a fat present in the rhizome during the process of steam distillation. Oil of Orris is known commercially as Orris Butter.

Other constituents are fat, resin, a large quantity of starch, mucilage, bitter extractive and a glucoside named Iridin, which is not to be confused with the powdered extracti Iridin or Irisin, prepared from the rhizome of the American plant I. versicolor, by precipitating a tincture of the drug with water and mixing the precipitate with an equal weight of powdered liquorice root, or other absorbent powder.

The odorous constituent of oil of Orris is a liquid ketone named Irone, to which the violet-like odour is due (though it is not absolutely identical with oil of Violets obtained from the natural flower), and it is the presence of this principle in the rhizome that has long led to the employment of powdered Orris root in the preparation of Violet powders, which owe very little of their scent to the real Violet perfume. It was first isolated by the eminent chemist Tiemann and formed the basis of his researches on artificial Violet perfume, and in 1893 he succeeded in preparing an allied body, which was termed Ionone and which had an odour even more like that of Violets than had Irone, and is now largely manufactured for the perfumery trade in making toilet waters and handkerchief extracts. The discovery of Ionone, which costs about one-eighth of the natural oil of Violets, has popularized Violet perfume to an enormous extent: most of the cheaper Violet perfumes on the market contain no trace of true Violet, but are made entirely with the artificial Ionone.

Otto of Orris is a golden-yellow oily liquid, which contains the odorous principles of the concrete oil of the rhizome without the solid, fatty inodorous constituents.

The important industry of Orris root still requires the light of scientific research to be thrown upon the life history of the plant to determine the conditions under which the largest percentage of the volatile oil can be developed.

Orris Root is rarely employed in medicine at the present time.

The fresh root possesses diuretic, emetic and cathartic properties. If given in large doses, it will occasion nausea, vomiting, purging and colic.

The drug was formerly employed in the treatment of bronchitis and chronic diarrhoea, and was considered a useful remedy in dropsy. The internal dose is stated to be from 5 to 15 grains.

The starch of the rhizome was formerly reckoned medicinal.

The dried powder is said to act as a good snuff, useful to excite sneezing to relieve cases of congested headache.

Pieces of the dried root are occasionally chewed for the purpose of overcoming a disagreeable breath.

The principal use of the dried root is, however, in perfumery, in sachet powders and to flavour dentifrices, toothpowders and cachous.

Oil of Orris, obtained by distilling powdered Orris root with steam, has an intense and extremely delicate odour of the fresh Violet and commands a high price. It is used commercially in the preparation of the finest scents and is also blended with artificial Violet perfumes, the odour of which it renders more subtle. Orris has the power of strengthening the odour of other fragrant bodies and is used as a fixative in perfumery.

Powdered Orris root is sometimes put into rinsing water in laundries and imparts a refreshing and fragrant scent to the linen.

Orris root, mixed with Anise, was used in England as a perfume for linen as early as 1480, under which date it is mentioned in the Wardrobe accounts of Edward IV.

One of the most interesting of the MS. still-room books of the later seventeenth century is Mary Doggett: Her Book of Receipts, 1682. In it we find ‘A perfume for a sweet bagg,’ as follows:
‘Take half a pound of Cypress Roots, a pound of Orris, 3 quarter of a pound of Calamus, 3 Orange stick with Cloves, 2 ounces of Benjamin, 3 quarters of a pound of Rhodium, a pound of Coriander seed, and an ounce of Storax and 4 pecks of Damask Rose leaves, a peck of dryed sweet Marjerum, a pretty stick of Juniper shaved very thin, some lemon pele dryed and a stick of Brasill; let all these be powdered very grosely for ye first year and immediately put into your baggs; the next year pound and work it and it will be very good again.’

Dr. Rhind (History of the Vegetable Kingdom, 1868) states that Orris gives the peculiar flavour to artificial brandies made in this country, and the root is much used in Russia to flavour a drink made of honey and ginger which is sold in the streets.

The larger and finer roots are often turned into pretty forms to be used for ornamental purposes, rosary beads, etc., and long pieces of Verona Orris are often shaped for infants’ use when teething. The less handsome rhizomes, as well as the chips, are distilled.

Lyte says ‘the Iris is knowen of the clothworkers and drapers, for with these rootes they use to trimme their clothes to make them sweete and pleasant.’ This was probably the ‘swete clothe’ so celebrated in the reign of Elizabeth.

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/i/irises08.html#hab
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_(plant)

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Ipecacuanha

[amazon_link asins=’B00014G4KA,B000FPABY0,B0006NXGFM,B0006MQ5LA,B000COEBQ8,B000Z92LFI,B005P0S16U,B00I1DW31W,B004NR2B1M’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US‘ link_id=’47b8d55d-7cc0-11e7-be05-edfe1bbdc395’]

Botanical Name :  Psychotria Ipecacuanha
Family:
Rubiaceae
Genus:     
Carapichea
Species:
C. ipecacuanha
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:   
 Gentianales

Synonym: Cephaelis Ipecacuanha,Carapichea ipecacuanha

Common name :Ipecacuanha

Habitat :Ipecacuanha is native to Brazil. It grows in clumps or patches, in moist, shady woods.

Description:
Ipecacuanha has a slender stem which grows partly underground and is often procumbent at the base, the lower portion being knotted.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES
Fibrous rootlets are given off from the knots, and some of them develop an abnormally thick bark, in which much starch is deposited.

The thickened rootlets alone are collected and dried for medicinal use, since the active constituents of the drug are found chiefly in the bark.

Ipecacuanha roots are collected, chiefly by the Indians, during the months of January and February, when the plant is in flower and are prepared by separation from the stem, cleaning and hanging in bundles to dry in the sun.

The drug is known in commerce as Brazilian or Rio Ipecacuanha.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES
The part of ipecacuanha used in medicine is the root, which is simple or divided into a few branches, flexuous, and is composed of rings of various size, somewhat fleshy when fresh, and appearing as if closely strung on a central woody cord. The different kinds known in commerce (gray, red, brown) are all produced by the same plant, the differences arising from the age of the plant, the mode of drying, etc. Various other plants are used as substitutes for it.

Similar plants:
Ipecacuanha is a slow-growing plant, which reduces its commercial appeal as a crop plant. It is seldom cultivated in South America but it has been cultivated in India and elsewhere.

The following plants have been used as substitutes for ipecacuanha.[citation needed]

*Euphorbia ipecacuanhae, wild ipecacuanha from North America
*Sarcostemma glaucum, a Venezuelan plant of the Apocynaceae family
*Tylophora asthmatica, in India
*Gillenia stipulata, American ipecac
*Richardsonia pilosa, Richardsonia rosea, Psychotria emetica and various species of Ionidium have been used too

Medicinal Uses:

Part Used: Root

Constituents: The chief constituents of Ipecacuanha root are the alkaloids Emetine, Cephaelin and Psychotrine, of which the bark may contain from 1.5 to 2 per cent, of which about 72 per cent consists of Emetine and 26 per cent of Cephaelin, while only 2 per cent consists of Psychotrine.

Emetine, to which Ipecacuanha owes its properties and which, with the exception of traces, occurs only in the cortical portion of the root, is an amorphous white powder, but it forms crystalline salts. It has a bitter taste, no odour and turns yellow when exposed to air and light.

Other constituents are a crystalline saponin- like glucoside, an amorphous, bitter glucoside, which is a modification of tannin, and is known as Ipecacuanhic acid, choline, resin, pectin, starch, sugar, calcium oxalate, odorous, fatty matter and a disagreeable-smelling volatile oil.

Cartagena Ipecacuanha contains 2 to 3 per cent more alkaloidal matter than the Brazilian drug, but a smaller proportion of Emetine, Cephaelin being the alkaloid present in largest quantities.

East Indian Ipecacuanha and White Ipecacuanha contain minute quantities of emetic principles, which differ from the alkaloids of true Ipecacuanha, but the Undulated and Striated Ipecacuanha contain Emetine.

In large doses, Ipecacuanha root is emetic; in smaller doses, diaphoretic and expectorant, and in still smaller, stimulating to the stomach, intestines and liver, exciting appetite and facilitating digestion.

The dose of the powdered root is 1/4 to 2 grains when an expectorant action is desired (it is frequently used in the treatment of bronchitis and laryngitis, combined with other drugs, aiding in the expulsion of the morbid product), and from 15 to 30 grains when given as an emetic, which is one of its most valuable functions.

The Pharmacopoeias contain a very large number of preparations of Ipecacuanha, most of which are standardized.

Ipecacuanha has been known for more than a century to benefit amoebic (or tropical) dysentery, and is regarded as the specific treatment, but the administration of the drug by mouth was limited by its action as an emetic. Sir Leonard Rogers showed in 1912 that subcutaneous injections of the alkaloid Emetine, the chief active principle present in Ipecacuanha usually produced a rapid cure in cases of amoebic dysentery. The toxic action of Emetine on the heart must be watched. A preparation from which the Emetine has been removed, known as de-emetized Ipecacuanha, is also in use for cases of dysentery.

The great value of the drug in dysentery and its rapid increase in price from an average of 2s. 9 1/2d. per lb. in 1850 to about 8s. 9d. per lb. in 1870, led to attempts to acclimatize the plant in India, but without much commercial success, owing to the difficulty of finding suitable places for its cultivation and to its slowness of growth. It is grown to a limited extent in the Malay States, at Johore, near Singapore. In December, 1915, the Brazil root was valued at 24s. per lb. and the Johore root at 20s. per lb. At the same time, Cartagena root sold for 16s. per lb. It would probably pay to grow this plant more extensively in the British Colonies.

The diaphoretic properties are employed in the Pulvis Ipecacuanhaea compositus, or Dover’s Powder, which contains 1 part of Ipecacuanha powder and 1 part of Opium in 10.

Known Hazards:
When applied to the skin, Ipecacuanha powder acts as a powerful irritant, even to the extent of causing pustulations.

When inhaled, it causes sneezing and a mild inflammation of the nasal mucous membrane.

Toxic doses cause gastro-enteritis, cardiac failure, dilation of the blood-vessels, severe bronchitis and pulmonary inflammation.

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/i/ipecac07.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carapichea_ipecacuanha

 

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Indigo

[amazon_link asins=’B01BKIBVCG,B01MXRRGD2,B00KVVZJ9U,B003IIN7HO,B009YSTOE2,0373799365,B071RYC8RT,B004IUN7JO,B06Y4TCBR3′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’e88ae09f-7cc0-11e7-a07e-71355084b165′]

Botanical Name : Indigofera tinctoria
Family: Fabaceae
Genus:     Indigofera
Species: tinctoria
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Angiosperms
Class:     Eudicots
Order:     Fabales

Synonyms: Pigmentum Indicum

Common name : Indigo or True indigo

Habitat:Native habitat of Indigofera tinctoria is unknown .But  it has been in cultivation worldwide for many centuries. Today most dye is synthetic, but natural dye from indigofera tinctoria is still available, marketed as natural coloring. The plant is also widely grown as a soil-improving groundcover.

Description:
Indigofera is a large genus of over 750 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Fabaceae.
CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES …...(1)…...(2).…..(3).….….……
True indigo is a shrub one to two meters high. It may be an annual, biennial, or perennial, depending on the climate in which it is grown. It has light green pinnate leaves and sheafs of pink or violet flowers. The plant is a legume, so it is rotated into fields to improve the soil in the same way that other legume crops such as alfalfa and beans are.

A blue dyestuff is obtained from the processing of the plant’s leaves. They are soaked in water and fermented in order to convert the glycoside indican naturally present in the plant to the blue dye indigotin. The precipitate from the fermented leaf solution is mixed with a strong base such as lye,

It does not exist ready formed, but is produced during fermentation from another agent existing in the plant. This is called Indocan, and is yellow, amorphous, of a nauseous bitter taste with an acid reaction; readily soluble in water, alcohol and ether.

Medicinal Uses:
-Indigo was at one time much used in medicine, but now is rarely employed.

Several species of this group are used to alleviate pain. The herbs are generally regarded as an analgesic with anti-inflammatory activity, rather than an anodyne. Indigofera articulata (Khedaish in Arabic) was used for toothache, and Indigofera oblongifolia (hasr in Arabic) was used as an anti-inflammatory for insect stings, snakebites, and swellings.

Indigofera suffruticosa and Indigofera aspalthoides have also been used as anti-inflammatories.[4] A patent was granted for use of Indigofera arrecta extract to relieve ulcer pain.

The Maasai people of Kenya use parts of Indigofera brevicalyx and I. swaziensis as toothbrushes

Main Uses:
Several species, especially Indigofera tinctoria and Indigofera suffruticosa, are used to produce the dye indigo. Colonial planters in the Caribbean grew indigo and transported its cultivation when they settled in the colony of South Carolina and North Carolina Where people of the Tuscarora confederacy adopted the dying process for head wraps and clothing. Exports of the crop did not expand until the mid-to late 18th century. When Eliza Lucas Pinckney and enslaved Africans successfully cultivated new strains near Charleston it became the second most important cash crop in the colony (after rice) before the American Revolution. It comprised more than one-third of all exports in value.

The chemical aniline, from which many important dyes are derived, was first synthesized from I. suffruticosa (syn. I. anil, whence the name aniline).

In Indonesia, the Sundanese use Indigofera tinctoria (known locally as tarum) as dye for batik.

It is a very well-known and highly important dye, millions of pounds being exported from India annually.

Known Hazards: It is said to produce nausea and vomiting.

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/i/indigo05.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigofera_tinctoria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigofera

Enhanced by Zemanta
css.php