Wight & Arn.Family: Asclepiadaceae.
Habitat: Deccan Peninsula; common in the forest areas of Western Ghats.
Unani: Desi Ushbaa.Siddha/Tamil: Mahali kizhangu.Action: Root—appetizer, blood purifier, bacteriostatic. Used as a substitute for Shveta Saarivaa (Hemidesmus indicus). Sold as Saarivaa in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The root powder is given to diabetics.
The root contains quercetin, kaempferol, coumarin and rutin. It has a sweet sarsaparilla-like taste; contains 92% fleshy matter and 8% woody core.The root can be stored for longer periods and remains unaffected by microorganisms and insects, apparently due to the presence of the volatile principle which possesses bacteriostat- ic and toxic properties.The root, on steam distillation, gave 4-O-methyl-resorcylaldehyde in a concentration of 0.8%. (The growth of E. coli was arrested by the aldehyde in 0.041% concentration; fish died within 4 min in 0.02% solution.) The sterols consists mainly of stagma and brassica sterols. Alpha-amyrin and lupeol, both free and as esters are also present in the root.The plant contains lupeol, beta- amyrin 2-hydroxy, 4-methoxy benzaldehyde, and ferulic acid.
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