Indian Medicinal Plants An Illustrated Dictionary

650 Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers.
T
The Leaves contain tectoleafquinone.
The bark contains 7.14% tannin.
The seed oil contains linoleic acid
(about 53%), along with lauric, myristic,
palmitic, stearic, oleic, linolenic
and arachidic acids. The kernels yield
44.5% of a fatty oil.
Dosage ◮ Heartwood—3–6 g
powder. (API, Vol. III.)
Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers.
Synonym ◮ T. hamiltonii Drumm.
Family ◮ Papilionaceae; Fabaceae.
Habitat ◮ All over India; also grown
as green manure and as cover crop.
English ◮ Purple Tephrosia, Wild
Indigo.
Ayurvedic ◮ Sharapunkhaa,
Vishikha-punkhaa, Sarphokaa.
Unani ◮ Sarponkhaa, Sarphukaa.
Siddha/Tamil ◮ Kattu-kolingi,
Kolingi, Paavali, Mollukkay,
Kollukkayvelai.
Action ◮ The drug is considered
specific for the treatment of
inflammation of spleen and liver (is
known as Plihaa-shatru, Plihaari in
Indian medicine).
Dried herb—diuretic, deobstruent,
laxative. Given for the treatment of
cough, bronchitis, bilious febrile attacks,
insufficiency of the liver, jaundice
(not effective in infantile cirrhosis),
kidney disorders and for the treatment
of bleeding piles, boils, pimples.
Also used as a gargle. Root—decoction
used in dyspepsia, diarrhoea,
cough, bronchitis, adenoids, asthma
and rheumatism. Juice is applied to
skin eruptions. A liniment prepared
from the root is employed in elephantiasis.
Oil from seeds—specific against
eruptions of the skin, eczema, scabies,
leprosy. Seed extract—hypoglycaemic.
Powdered aerial parts prevented
elevation of SGOP, SGPT and bilirubin
levels.
Hepatoprotective effect of aerial
parts was evaluated against (+)-galactosamine-induced
and carbon tetrachloride-induced
hepatotoxicity in
rats.
The leaves contain rutin and rotenoids
(0.65–0.80% on dry basis). Rotenoid
content is highest in the seed
(1.60–1.80%).
The leaves also contain a triterpenoid,
lupeol, and beta-sitosterol.
Seeds contain a diketone-pongamol;
a dimethylchromene flavanone isolonchocarpin;
furanoflavones karanjin
and kanjone; a flavanone purpurin;
and sitosterol. A flavonoid, lanceolarin
B, is also present in seeds.
The plant extract led to marked lowering
of blood glucose level in normal
and alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits.
In diabetic rabbits the extract exerted
60–70% hypoglycaemic effect as compared
to tolbutamide.
Shveta Sharapunkhaa (stems: covered
with white hair; flowers: pale pink
or pale violet) is equated with T. villosa
Pers.
The roots gave a prenylated flavanone
7-methylglabranin; pods contain
rotenoids—villosin, villon, villosol,
villosinol, villinol and villosone.
Thefreshrootiscreditedwithhypoglycaemic
properties, but leaves did