Habitat: Meghalaya, foothills of Assam and Peninsular India.
Ayurvedic: Tumburu (Kerala), Ashvaghra, Tejabala.Siddha/Tamil: Tratechai.Action: Fruits—used for diarrhoea, dyspepsia; asthma, bronchitis; rheumatism; diseases of the mouth and teeth. Pericarp—astringent, digestive, stimulant. Essential oil—disinfectant, used in infective dermatosis. Bark—cholinergic, diuretic, hypoglycaemic, spasmolytic. Root—emmenagogue, febrifuge.
The trunk-bark from Assam gave alkaloids—chelerythrine (0.014%), evodiamine (0.03%) and hydoxyevodi- amine (0.05%). The essential oil from the fruit contains l-sabinene, alpha- terpinene, beta-phellandrene, 1,4-cine- ole, decanal, octanal, terpinen-4-ol, dihydrocarveol, l-cryptone and cumi- naldehyde.The essential oil exhibits anti-inflammatory, anaesthetic and antago- nisic activity.Z. nitidum (Roxb.) DC. (Bihar eastwards to Sikkim and Assam) is known as Tezmul in Assam. The root is used in toothache and stomachache.The plant is used as one of the ingredients in the preparation of pharmaceutical tablets given to drug addicts for the treatment of withdrawl symptoms.Methanolic extract of the roots gave nitidine, chelerythrine and isogari- dine. The extract showed antitumour property.Z. ovalifolium Wight (Eastern Himalayas, Meghalaya, the Western Ghats of South Kanara and Kerala) is known as Armadalu in Karnataka and Diang-shih in Meghalaya (Khasi Hills). The leaf contains diosmetin and the heartwood contains flavonoids of dihydrofisetin and cinnamaldehyde. The bark and fruit possess properties similar to other species of the genus.