(Willd.) Ohwi.Family: Papilionaceae; Fabaceae.
Habitat: 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.