Habitat: Native to Europe and Asia. Conditions for its successful cultivation are reported to exist in Kashmir and parts of Himachal Pradesh.
English: Hops.Unani: Hashish-ut-Dinaar.Action: Flowers—sedative, hypnotic, nervine tonic, diuretic, spasmolytic on smooth muscle, analgesic, astringent. Used for nervous diseases, intestinal cramps, menopause, insomnia, neuralgia and nervous diarrhoea. Also as a tonic in stomach and liver affections. As a blood cleanser, the root is used like sarsaparilla.
Key application: In mood disturbances, such as restlessness and anxiety, sleep disturbances. (German Commission E. ESCOP.)The British Herbal Compendium and The British Herbal Pharmacopoeia reported herb's action as sedative, soporific, spasmolytic and aromatic bitter, and indicated its use for excitability, restlessness, disorders of sleep and lack of appetite.Hop cones consist of the whole dried female inflorescences of Humu- lus lupulus.Hop contains bitter principles— lupulin containing humulon, lupulon and valerianic acid; volatile oil (0.31.0%) including humulene; flavonoids including xanthohumole; polypheno- lic tannins, asparagin, oestrogenic substances.Bitter principles stimulate the digestive system. Valerianic acid is sedative. The resin components, lupulon and humulon are antiseptic against Grampositive bacteria. Asparagin is diuretic. Research suggested that the anti- spasmodic effect is stronger than the sedative, and hops also possess antihis- taminic and anti-oxytocic properties. (Cases of amenorrhoea and dysmen- orrhoea are treated with hops.)Hop extracts exert different effects on CNS in mice. They show hypother- mic, hypnotic, sedative, muscle relaxing and spontaneous locomotor activities, besides potentiating pentobarbital anaesthesia in mice.Humulone inhibited induced inflammation in mice.The dried strobila containing humu- lone and lupulone showed antidiabetic activity in experimental rats.Hop mash or extract is used in the preparation of toothpaste for inhibiting Gram-positive bacteria and in hair preparations for preventing dandruff formation. It is also used in skin- lightening creams.... humulus lupulusHabitat: Native to eastern United States; imported into India.
English: Indian Tabacco, Pukeweed.Ayurvedic: Devanala (var.).Action: Antiasthmatic, antispasmodic, broncho-dilator, expectorant, mild sedative and relaxant. Used as a tabacco deterrent (as a major ingredient in many antismoking mixtures).
Key application: In the treatment of asthma, bronchitis. (German Commission E.) As respiratory stimulant. (The British Herbal Pharmacopoeia.)Lobelia contains piperidine alkaloids, mainly lobeline, with lobelanine, lobelanidine, norlobelanine, isolobi- nine. Lobeline stimulates respiration in animals by stimulating respiratory centre and at high doses stimulates the vomiting centre.Lobeline has similar but less potent pharmacological properties to nicotine but 1/20-1/5 as potent.Lobeline (0.5%) has also been used as an active ingredient in skin-lightening preparations.Clinical research could not demonstrate lobeline efficacy greater than placebo in smoking cessation. It was disallowed as an ingredient in antismoking products in the US in 1993. (Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, 2007.)The leaves contain beta-amyrin pal- mitate which possesses sedative and antidepressant properties comparable to the antidepressant drug mianserin. Methanolic extract of leaves exhibited antidepressant activity.The leaf powder is toxic at 0.6-1.0 , (Francis Brinker.)... lobelia inflataHabitat: Eastern Himalayas, Assam and Khasi Hills.
English: Tropical Kudze.Ayurvedic: Vidaari (var.).Action: Root—antipyretic, antiinflammatory, spasmolytic. Flower—hepatoprotective.
The root of P. lobata is used in Chinese medicine as an antipyretic and spasmolytic agent.The root contains pueraria glyco- sides and puerarol. The glycosides showed strong antioxidant activity and inhibited lipid peroxidation. The root also contain several flavones which showed 66.8% inhibition against stomach cancer in vivo in mice. The isofla- yvonoids, daidzein, formononetin, daidzin and puerarin. Daidzein and puerarin show significant anti-inflammatory activity.The cosmetics containing the root extracts with 20-40% puerarin and 2045% sugars (as sucrose) are used as moisturizing, skin-lightening and sun- screening and hair-growth stimulating preparations.An isoflavonoid, triterpenoid sapo- nin and tryptophan derivative isolated from the flowers showed protective effect against experimental liver injuries in mice.The tryptophan derivatives and their glycosides exhibited antihyperglycae- mic activity.Pueraria phaseoloides (Roxb.) Benth., synonym P. javanica Benth. (Sub-Himalayan regions; Assam, An- dhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, up to 1,100 m) is equated with Tropical Kudze. The plant is used against ulcers and boils.... pueraria lobataThe surface of the affected tooth is painted with oxidizing agents and then exposed to ultraviolet light.... bleaching, dental
Habitat: Distributed in the temperate regions of Europe and West Asia. Grown in Punjab and Kashmir.
English: Common or European Pear.Folk: Bagu-goshaa, Babbu-goshaa.Action: Fruits—a good source of pectin, help in maintaining a desirable acid balance in the body. Recommended to patients suffering from diabetes because of low sucrose content; and included in low antigen content diets to alleviate the symptoms in the management of immune-mediated disease.
Fresh pear juice exhibited good activity against Micrococcus pyogenes var. aureus and Escherichia coli.An aqueous extract of the leaves was active against some strains of E. coli.The leaves contain arbutin, iso- quercitrin, sorbitol, ursolic acid, astra- galin and tannin (0.8-2.9%). The bark contains friedelin, epifriedelanol and beta-sitosterol. Phloridzin is present in the root bark.The plant extract controls the development of freckles and blemishes on the skin and prevents melanin formation. It finds application in skin- lightening creams.... pyrus communisHabitat: Cultivated in Kulu. Occasionally found in hedges and abandoned coffee plantations in Upper Ghats.
Ayurvedic: Rakta-Taruni (non- classical).Action: Fruit—antiseptic, applied to wounds, injuries, sprains and foul ulcers.
The fruityieldedbeta-sitosterol, sco- parone, salicylic and gallic acid. Fruits contained multiflorin; flower petals gave astragalin. A purgative compound, multinoside A acetate, has been isolated from the fruit. Quercetin-3- O-xyloside, isoquercitrin and hyperin were also isolated.Floral absolute oil contains eugenol (22.8), phenylethanol (18.1) and hene- icosane (10.2%).The root gave a triterpenoid, tor- mentic acid.The plant extract, along with kojic acid or its derivatives, produced excellent skin-lightening and sun-burn preventing effects.... rosa multifloraHabitat: Native to China and Japan; distributed in the Himalayas from Himachal Pradesh eastwards and in Assam.
English: Chinese Soap Berry, Soap Nut tree of North India.Ayurvedic: Arishtaka, Phenila.Folk: Reethaa.Action: Fruits—emetic and expectorant; used in excessive salivation, chlorosis and epilepsy. The plant yielded triterpenoid glycosides, sapindosides, derived from hederagenin. Saponins exhibit hypotensive, anticholesterolemic, spermicidal and antimicrobial properties.
Saponin A and C sapindoside A and B, extracted from the fruit rind, showed antifungal activity. Hederagenin, isolated from the fruit rind or pericarp, is used in skin-lightening and anti- inflammatory cosmetics.Other constituents from the plant are flavonoids—quercetin, kaempferol, apigenin and rutin.... sapindus mukorossi
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