Hemidesmus indicus
| Indian Sarsaparilla | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Gentianales |
| Family: | Apocynaceae |
| Subfamily: | Asclepiadoideae |
| Genus: | Hemidesmus |
| Species: | H. indicus |
| Binomial name | |
| Hemidesmus indicus L. R.Br. |
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| Synonyms | |
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Indian Sarsaparilla (Hemidesmus indicus)( Sanskrit : क्षीरिणी , Kshirini ) is a species of plant that is found in South Asia. It is a slender, laticiferous, twining, sometimes prostrate or semi-erect shrub. Roots are woody and aromatic. The stem is numerous, slender, terete, thickened at the nodes. The leaves are opposite, short-petioled, very variable, elliptic-oblong to linear-lanceolate. The flowers are greenish outside, purplish inside, crowded in sub-sessile axillary cymes. It is occurs over the greater part of India, from the upper Gangetic plain eastwards to Assam and in some places in central, western and South India.
The root is a substitute for sarsaparilla (the dried root of the tropical species of Smilax, Smilacaceae; in India Smilax aspera L., and Smilax ovalifolia Roxb.).It should be distinguished from American Sarsaparilla Smilax aristolochaefolia Mill and Jamaican Sarsaparilla Smilax ornata Hook.f. (Puri 2003)
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[edit] Traditional uses
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It is used to make beverages and also used in traditional medicine. In Ayurveda it goes by the name of ananthamoola or Anantmula. It is also called the False Sarsaparilla. The plant enjoys a status as tonic, alterative, demulcent, diaphoretic, diuretic and blood purifier.[citation needed] It is employed in nutritional disorders, syphilis, chronic rheumatism, gravel and other urinary diseases and skin affections.[citation needed] It is administered in the form of powder, infusion or decoction as syrup. It is also a component of several medicinal preparations.
It is one of the Rasayana plants of Ayurveda, as it is anabolic in its effect.[citation needed] It stimulates the flow of bile and removes toxins from the body.[citation needed] It is a good diuretic and increases flow of urine three to four times.[citation needed] When used with Tinospora, the herb's effect is enhanced further. It relieves inflammation of urethra and burning micturition and is also helpful for third or fourth stages of syphilis.[citation needed]
It is sometimes confused with other Ayurvedic herb called white sariva.
[edit] Chemical constituents
Chemical analysis of the root showed the presence of coumarins, the chief component of which is p-methoxy salicylic aldehyde, two sterols and a pregnane glycoside.[1][unreliable source?]
[edit] References
- ^ Ayurvedic Herbs for Longevity and Rejuvenation by Dr H. S. Puri (2003), published by Taylor & Francis, London, pages 43-45
