Habitat: Near sea, especially on the West Coast.
English: Goat's Foot Creeper.Ayurvedic: Chhagalaantri, Mar- yaada-valli.Siddha/Tamil: Adambu, Attukkal, Musattalai.Action: Astringent, stomachic, laxative, antidiarrhoeal, antiemetic, analgesic. Leaf—diuretic, anti- inflammatory. Used in colic, prolapsus ani; externally in rheumatism. Essential oil of leaves— antagonistic to histamine. Leaf extract is used for different types of inflammations including injuries caused by poisonous jelly-fish.
Clinical trials have proved that an extract (IPA) inhibited the action of jelly-fish toxins. Its topical application inhibited carrageenan-induced paw and ear oedema induced by arachi- donic acid or ethyl phenylpropionate in rats. The crude extract of leaves also show inhibitory effect on prostaglan- din synthesis in vitro.Crude extract (IPA) of the leaves has also been shown to antagonize smooth muscle contraction induced by several agonists via non-specific mechanism. Antispasmodic isoprenoids, beta-damascenone and E-phytol have been isolated from the extract. The an- tispasmodic activity was found to be in the same range as that of papaverine.The alcoholic extract of leaves showed insulinogenic and hypogly- caemic activities in rats, comparable to the hypoglycaemic drug chlor- propamide.The leaves and seeds contain indole alkaloid. Plant also contains a steroid, an amide, pentatriacontane, triacon- tane, volatile oil and behenic, melissic, butyric and myristic acids.