Lindl.Family Rosaceae.
Habitat: Native to China; now cultivated mainly in Saharanpur, Dehradun, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Kanpur, Bareilly districts of Uttar Pradesh, Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur districts of Punjab.
English: Loquat, Japanese Medlar.Ayurvedic: Lottaaka (non-classical).Unani: Lokaat.Siddha: Ilakotta, Nokkotta (Tamil).Action: Leaves—used in China and India for the treatment of diabetes mellitus and skin diseases. Fruit— sedative, antiemetic. Flower— expectorant.
The plant contains lipopolysaccha- rides (LPS), which exhibit antirheu- matic activity. LPS is also found useful for treating diabetes mellitus and lowering high cholesterol level. The ethanolic extract of the leaves showed anti-inflammatory activity on carra- geenan-induced oedema in rats and significant hypoglycaemic effect in normal rabbits like the standard drug tolbutamide. The sesquiterpene gly- coside and polyhydroxylated triterpe- noids showed a marked inhibition of glycosuria in genetically diabetic mice; also reduced blood glucose level in nor- moglycaemic rats. The hypoglycaemic effect is mediated through the release of insulin from pancreatic beta cells.The leaves gave ionone-derived gly- cosides and triterpenes. Maslinic and ursolic acids have also been isolated. Maslinic acid possesses significant anti-inflammatory activity. It also exhibits inhibitory effect on histamine- induced contraction in isolated ileum of guinea pig.Hot aqueous extract of the leaves showed hepatoprotective activity experimentally.The leaves yield an essential oil containing nerolidol (61-74%).The presence of an antifungal compound, eriobofuran, is also reported.The methanolic extract of the plant exhibits antioxidant and radical scavenging activity.
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