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Herbs & Plants

Solanum Xanthocarpum

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Botanical Name:Solanum Xanthocarpum
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Solanum
Species: S. virginianum
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Solanales

Synonyms: Solanum virginianum
Popular Name: Yellow-Berried Nightshade, Choti Katheri, Kantkari, Kantakari, Kateli
Common Name : Yellow-berried Nightshade
Other Names: Choti Katheri, Kantkari, Kantakari, Kateli

Parts Used: Stems, roots, flowers, fruit

Habitat: Throughout India

Description: It is a very prickly perennial herb somewhat with woody base. Stem branched much and younger ones clothed with dense, stellate and tomentose hairs. Prickles are compressed straight, glabrous and shining, often 1 to 3 cm long. Leaves ovate or elliptic, sinuate or subpinnatifid, obtuse or subacute, stellately hairy on both sides, armed on the midrib and often on the nerves with long yellow sharp prickles. Petiole is long, stellately hairy and prickly. Flowers are in cymes or some times reduced as solitary. Calyx tube is short, globose and lobes linear-lanceolate, acute, densely hairy and prickly. Corolla purple, lobes deltoid, acute, and hairy outside. Anther filament is long, glabrous and anthers open by a pore. Ovary is ovoid and glabrous. Berry yellow, green-blotched and sorrounded by enlarged calyx. Seeds are glabrous.

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Flowers are typically conical or funnel form with five petals, usually fused. The leaves are alternate, often with a hairy or clammy surface.

This plant is  used in Ayurvedic practice. Traditionally used as a carminative, diuretic, expectorant and fever reducer. It is also used to treat asthma. The powdered fruit is mixed with honey to make a cough syrup. Produces beautiful inch long fruits. Not Hardy. Zone

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Cultivation
Propagule  Various Pollination method    Planting style    Crop spacing    Row spacing    Cold frame  Planting period    Harvesting period    Frost tolerance    Heat requirement    Fertilizer  Typical Time to harvest

Special qualities
Tolerates drought  no Tolerates high humidity  no Tolerates seaside conditions  no Insect resistant  no Disease resistant  no Deer resistant  no Best uses    Symbiosis  Attracts butterflies  no Attracts hummingbirds  no Autumn foliage  no Colorful berries  no Desirable qualities    Other interest    Other interest color  Other interest period

Uses:Fruits eaten as an anthelmintic and for indigestion. Root is an expectorant, used in Ayurvedic medicine for cough, asthma and chest pain. Also used for flatulence, sore throat, and toothache. Has high concentration of solasodine, a starting material for the manufacture of cortisone and sex hormones. It cures asthma, cough, bronchspasm, sore throat, constipation, an effective expectorant and diuretic.

Bhavamisra, an ancient physician, mentions it as promoting conception in females. Given with honey, tulsi (Ocimum sanctum), datura (Datura metal), and black pepper it can be effective in cases of bronchial asthma. Stem, flowers and fruits are bitter and carminative and are prescribed for relief in burning sensation in the feet.
Leaves are applied locally to relieve pain.

Medicinal Properties :-
Action

Herb: alterative, anthelmintic, aperient, astringent, bitter, digestive, diuretic,  expectorant, stomachic

Stems, fruits, flowers-bitter, carminative

Root- diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge, anodyne

The whole herb is useful for the treatment of fevers, coughs, asthma, flatulence, dropsy, heart disease, pain the chest and gonorrhea.

The roots from this herb (in the form of decoction of confection) are frequently recommended for coughs, dysuria, stone in the bladder, dropsy, asthma, catarrhal fever, pain in the chest. It is also useful for the enlargement of the liver and spleen.

This herb is one of the dashamul roots (ten roots) in ayurveda. So, it is one of the important herbs in Indian Medicine.

Herbal medicine
Medicinal properties  carminative   expectorant   decongestant Medicinal parts  Leaves   Seeds   Root Has medicinal uses  yes Do not self-administer  yes Do no use if pregnant  no Legally restricted  no Toxicity precautions  Medicinal notes  Solanum xanthocarpum is considered by some to be an herbal remedy. It’s used as a carminative, an expectorant or a decongestant. Kantakari is only to be administered with proper professional knowledge. The leaves together with the seeds and the root are considered to be the valuable parts by the herbalist.

As per Ayurveda:
The plant is bitter, acrid, thermogenic, anthelmintic.
anti-inflammatory, anodyne, digestive, carminative, appetiser, stomach depurative, sudorific, febrifuge, expectorant, laxative, stimulant, dime, rejuvenating, emmenagogue and aphrodisiac.

It is useful in vitiated conditions of velta and kapha, helminthiasis, dental caries, inflammatio arthralgia, flatulence, colic, constipation, dyspepsia, anorexia, leprosy, .skin diseases, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, fever, cough, asthma. bronchitis, pharyngitis, hiccough, strangury, urolithiasis, amenorrhoea. dysmenorrhoea, lumbago, haemorrhoids, cardiac disorders, rhinopathy : epilepsy and catarrh.

The root is pungent, bitter, heating; appetiser, laxative, stomachic, anthelmintic; useful in bronchitis, asthma, fever, “vata “, and” kapha”, ozrena, strangury, lumbago, pains, piles, thirst, urinary concretions, and diseases of the heart.-

The fruit is bitter, digestible; improves the appetite;. good in diseases of the heart, pruritus, asthma, fever; anthelmintic, anaphrodisiac; causes biliousness .

The root is an aphrodisiac.

The leaves are a good application for piles.

The fruit has a bitter bad taste; laxative; good in inflammations, chronic bronchitis, asthma, biliousness, fevers, muscular pains, dysuria, stone in the bladder, sterility in women.

The seeds are anthelmintic;’ good for boils, scabies, asthma, and cough

The root is much esteemed as an expectorant, and is used in cough, asthma, catarrhal fever and pain in the chest. Kantikari is used in medicine in various forms, such as decoction, electuary, ghrita, etc.

A decoction of the root is given with the addition of long pepper and honey, in cough and catarrh, and with rock salt and assafretida in spasmodic cough.

The roots beaten up and mixed with wine are given to check vomiting. The juice of berry is also useful in sore throat.

The stems, flowers and fruit are bitter and carminative, and are prescribed in those forms of the burning of the feet , which are attended with a vesicular, watery eruption.

Fumigations with the vapour of the burning seeds of this plant are in high repute in the cure of toothache. It acts as a powerful sialogogue, and by this means probably relief is obtained.
In the Ayurvedic tradition, kantakari leaves are taken to treat gas and constipation, and are made into a gargle for throat and gum disorders. The expectorant, anticongestive seeds may be taken to relieve asthma and to clear bronchial mucus. The root is used to treat snake scorpion bites

Traditional uses
Parts used  Traditional uses  Contemporary uses  Fragrance  Fragrance parts  Fragrance intensity    Fragrance category    Dye parts  Dye color

Adverse factors
Common pests  Poisonous parts  Poisonous indications  Internal poison  no Dermatologic poison  no Livestock poison  no Mechanical injury  no Hay fever pollen    Hay fever season    Adverse qualities

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.iloveindia.com/indian-herbs/solanum-xanthocarpum.html
http://www.motherherbs.com/solanum-xanthocarpum.html
http://www.crescentbloom.com/plants/specimen/SO/Solanum%20xanthocarpum.htm
http://www.holisticonline.com/Herbal-Med/_Herbs/h160.htm
http://www.crimson-sage.com/shop/?shop=1&itemid=84
http://www.impgc.com/plantinfo_A.php?id=76&bc=Raw%20Herbs%20»%20Plant

http://www.ayurvedakalamandiram.com/herbs.htm#kanchanara

http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_IJK.htm

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News on Health & Science

A Step Forward

The Jaipur foot is now even better, thanks to a dedicated group of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Looking for a project to do in his third undergraduate year, Goutam Reddy was sure he would not do anything “fashionable”. He was studying electrical engineering and computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US. “I wanted something that would find application in the developing world, not the next fast car,” he says.

Reddy grew up in Michigan State, but his parents were of Indian origin. During one of his visits to India, he came to know about the Jaipur foot, which was being fitted to patients by the Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti in New Delhi. He visited this organisation, trying to understand and improve the technology as part of his project. But he could not find anything to do immediately.

Anyone who sees the Jaipur foot being fitted to patients will never forget the experience. It was no different for Reddy. The Jaipur foot, developed in the 1970s by the late P.K. Sethi, an orthopaedic surgeon, and artisan Ram Chandra, is the one of the best options in the world if you lose your leg. It is lightweight and strong, made of easily available materials like rubber, and costs only $28. An artificial foot in the US would cost a few thousand dollars at least. It was popular among soldiers in war-ravaged countries like Afghanistan. Soldiers who lost their legs came to Jaipur to be fitted with this low-cost miracle. At least 250,000 of these have been fitted to poor people who have lost their legs.

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The Jaipur foot (above) gave Sudha Chandran(a great dancer) a new lease of life after she lost a leg in a 1981 accident.

Yet the Jaipur foot is far from perfect. Reddy realised that the manufacturing methods needed improvement. Several devices used in the Jaipur foot could be improved as well. This was expected, because they were still using techniques developed 30 years ago. If the knee is also amputated, as often happens, the patient will not be able to bend his or her leg — in this case, the artificial foot. This is a common problem with most low-cost artificial legs. Although he could not develop a project immediately, Reddy realised that he could improve the Jaipur foot sometime in the future. The fitting process, in particular, seemed in need of betterment.

The traditional way of fitting was to use plaster of paris moulds. A year and a half ago, the Centre for International Rehabilitation in Chicago developed a new process. This consisted of making the amputees put their leg inside sand and then applying a vacuum. The vacuum made the sand rock solid, and the resulting impression a perfect mould. The vacuum is created using an air compressor, and this necessitated the use of a generator. Reddy, along with other MIT students, found a way to eliminate this generator. They also gave a new name to the Samiti: the Jaipur Foot Organisation (JFO).

After Reddy finished his master’s degree at MIT, he set up a non-profit organisation called Developing World Prosthetics. Other MIT students also joined him. These students were also studying engineering at MIT, and they chose improving the Jaipur foot as their undergraduate project. Some of them travelled to India — using a grant from MIT’s public Service Centre and a $7,500 prize from a competition — to work on this. Finally, they developed a method using a cycle pump and human power to generate a vacuum in the fitting process. The students returned with a better perspective of the developing world. “I want to work on developing world prosthetic projects,” says Philip Garcia, one of the students.

Meanwhile, Reddy has initiated a course at MIT on wheelchair design in developing countries. He remains deeply interested in robotic prosthetics, and in improving the Jaipur foot farther. Members of the JFO rarely get the time to improve the original invention. “Our primary aim is to make and fit the foot,” says Sanjeev Kumar, manager of the Delhi branch of the JFO. Reddy and his organisation will now attempt this task.

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The dancer enthralls her audience in the hugely popular TV show Jhalak dikhla ja

For example, they are trying to improve the sand-casting system for adoption in rural areas. Another project is to improve the flexibility of the device. If the Jaipur foot is fitted above the knee, the patient has to walk with a straight leg — they can bend the “knee” only when they want to sit. The MIT students and Developing World Prosthetics are now working on this problem. The spring session at MIT has a course on developing world prosthetics, and solving the straight knee problem will be one of their primary tasks.

SourcesL : The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Kurti-Kalai (Horsegram)

 

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Botanical Name:Dolichos biflorus L. (Fabaceae)
Family: Magnoliopsida:Rosidae:Fabales:Leguminosae
Synonyms: Dolichos uniflorus Lam., Dolichos biflorus auct. non L.
Common names: horse gram, horse grain, kulthi bean, Madras gram, Madras bean, grain de cheval, dolico cavallino, hurali, kalai, kallu, kollu, kulat, kulatha, kurtikalai, muthera, muthira, muthiva, ulavalu, pé-bi-zât, kerdekorn
English name: Horsegram.
Sanskrit name: Kulattha.
Vernacular names: Ben: Kurti-kalai; Hin and Mar: Kutthi; Kan : Hurali; Mal:Man Muthiva; : Nagakrijon; Mun : Kurthi; Orn : Anrsga; Sad: Kurthi; San: Horec; Tam: Kollu; Tel:Ulavalu.
Habitat:Widely distributed in India, ascending up to 1000 m in Sikkim; cultivated mainly in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka.

Description:
Annual herb, trailing or suberect, branched; leaves alternate, stipulate, trifoliate, leaflets membranous, ovate, ±2.5-5.0 cm long, young ones finely pilose; flowers axillary, may be more than one together but without a common peduncle, papilionaceous, usually yellow – may be white, ±1.25-1.8 cm long; pods ±3.7-5.0 cm by 0.6-0.8 cm, recurved, tipped with a persistent style; seeds 5-6 per pod, ellipsoid, flattened.

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Flowering:
August-November; Fruiting: September-December.

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A densely growing, low-growing or climbing, slender, herbaceous legume reaching 30-60 cm in height with slightly hairy stems, trifoliate leaves, yellow flowers and linear pods with 5-7 seed. USES It is a cover, fodder and pulse crop. Seeds can be poarched and eaten boiled or fried, whole or ground. The stems, leaves, and husks are used as fodder or green manure and seeds are fed to cattle and horses. Seeds can be processed into a sauce and they also have medicinal properties. GROWING PERIOD Annual or perennial, growing in the summer, mature in 40 days for forage and 120-180 days for seed. COMMON NAMES Horsegram, Leichhardt biflorus, Dolico cavallino, Grain de cheval, Hurali, Kalai, Kallu, Kollu, Kulat, Kulatha, Kurtikalai, Kekara, Muthera, Muthira, Muthiva, Pe-bi-zat, Pferdekorn, Ulavalu, Madras gram, Wulawula. FURTHER INF Synonyms: Dolichos uniflorus, D. biflorus. Horsegram probably originated in South East Asia. In India, horsegram is grown up to 1800 m in elevation. In India average seed yields vary from 200-900 kg/ha, and in Australia from 1.1-2.3 t/ha. Fresh matter production may be 18-30 t/ha.

Ecology and cultivation: Mesophyte; wild and cultivated.

Chemical contents: Stem and Leaf: coumesterol, a lectin-like glycoproticin, psoraliding; Leaf (bacteria treated): dolichin A and dolichin B; Seed : β-sitosterol, coumesterol, delbergiodin, genistein, 2-hydroxy-genistein, isoferreirin, keivitone, phaseollidin, pyranoside.
Medicinal Uses & Application:Traditional use:

SANTAL : (i) plant: dysuria, sores, tumours; (ii) leaf: in burns; (iii) seed: in adenitis, fistula ani, intercostal neuralgia, pleurisy, pneumonia, prolapsus ani; MUNOA : aqueous extract of seed: to women after childbirth; IRULA, KOTA, TOOA (Nilgiri) : seed: in menstrual complaints; RURAL FOLKS: Aqueous extract of seed: in urinary troubles and kidney stone.

CHARAKA SAMHITA : seed: useful in piles, hiccup, abdominal lump, bronchial asthma, in causing and regulating perspiration; SUSHRUTA SAMHITA . seed powder: useful in stopping excessive perspiration; BAGBHATTA: seed: useful in spermatocalcali (Shukrashman); CHAKRADATTA : decoction of seed: beneficial in urticaria; RAJANIGHANTU : beneficial in piles, colic, epistasis, flatulence, ophthalmia, ulcer.

AYURVEDA :
decoction of seed: useful in leucorrhoea, menstrual troubles, bleeding during pregnancy, colic caused by wind, piles, rheumatism, heamorrhagic disease, intestinal worms; seed powder: antidiaphoretic; seed (in combination with milk): work as anthelmintic, soup prepared from seeds is beneficial in enlarged liver and spleen.

A teaspoonful of horse gram boiled in about 2 cups of water makes an infusion which is prescribed for colds and high blood pressure.

SIDDHA : seed: used in preparing a medicine named Kollu.

Modern use: Plant extract: radiolabel reagent in ABa blood grouping of human hair; EtOH (50%) extract of Seed: spasmolytic.

Adulterant: Cassia abrus L. is sometimes confused with this plant.

Remarks: Santals use the plant in treatment of rinderpest of domestic animals. Seeds are often consumed as pulse. Santals consider eating this pulse is good for patients of dysentery and leprosy, but they prohibit eating this by the patients of measles and small pox.

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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.bsienvis.org/medi.htm#Dolichos%20biflorus
http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/cropView?id=1399

http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_IJK.htm

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