(Blume) DC.Family: Rubiaceae.
Habitat: Gardens of Kerala and West Bengal.
Action: Leaves, flowers—cytotoxic, antitumour.
The ethanolic, extract of leaves showed cytotoxic activity against Dal- ton's lymphoma, Ehrlich ascites carcinoma and Sarcoma 180 tumour cells in vitro. The flowers have been found to contain antitumour principles, active against experimentally induced tumour models.Jacaranda acutifolia auct. non-Humb. & Bonpl.Synonym: J. mimosifolia D. Don J. ovalifolia R. Br.Family: Bignoniaceae.Habitat: Cultivated in Indian gardens.
Folk: Nili-gulmohar.Action: Leaves' volatile oil—applied to buboes. Leaves and bark of the plant—used for syphilis and blennorrhagia. An infusion of the bark is employed as a lotion for ulcers.
The leaves contain jacaranone, ver- bascoside and phenylacetic-beta-glu- coside along with a glucose ester, jaca- ranose. Flavonoid scutellarein and its 7-glucuronide, and hydroquinones were also isolated. Fruits contain beta- sitosterol, ursolic acid and hentriacon- tane; stem bark gave lupenone and beta-sitosterol.The flowers contain an anthocyanin. In Pakistan, the flowers are sold as a substitute for the Unani herb Gul-e- Gaozabaan.The lyophylized aqueous extract of the stem showed a high and broad antimicrobial activity against human urinary tract bacteria, especially Pseudomonas sp.The fatty acid, jacarandic acid, isolated from the seed oil, was found to be a strong inhibitor of prostaglandin biosynthesis in sheep.J. rhombifolia G. F. W. May., syn. J. filicifolia D. Don is grown in Indian gardens. Extracts of the plant show insecticidal properties.Several species of Jacaranda are used for syphilis in Brazil and other parts of South America under the names carobin, carabinha etc. A crystalline substance, carobin, besides resins, acids and caroba balsam, has been isolated from them.
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