Achyranthes aspera
Achyranthes aspera | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
(unranked): | Angiosperms |
(unranked): | Eudicots |
(unranked): | Core eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Amaranthaceae |
Genus: | Achyranthes |
Species: | A. aspera |
Binomial name | |
Achyranthes aspera | |
Achyranthes aspera (common names: chaff-flower,[1] prickly chaff flower,[2] devil's horsewhip,[3] Sanskrit: अपामार्ग apamarga) is a species of plant in the Amaranthaceae family. It is distributed throughout the tropical world.[4] It can be found in many places growing as an introduced species and a common weed.[5] It is an invasive species in some areas, including many Pacific Islands environments.[6]
Uses
The juice of this plant is a potent ingredient for a mixture of wall plaster, according to the Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra, which is a Sanskrit treatise dealing with Śilpaśāstra (Hindu science of art and construction).[7]
It is one of the 21 leaves used in the Ganesh Patra Pooja done regularly on Ganesh Chaturthi day.
Traditional medicine
Achyranthes aspera has occupied a pivotal position in Indian culture and folk medicine. Since ancient times the tribal and rural people of India commonly use this herb in various disorders.
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The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia’ records that this plant was found "in all the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the old world. The herb is administered in India in cases of dropsy. The seeds are given in hydrophobia, and in cases of snake-bites, as well as in ophthalmia and cutaneous diseases. The flowering spikes, rubbed with a little sugar, are made into pills, and given internally to people bitten by mad dogs. The leaves, taken fresh and reduced to a pulp, are considered a good remedy when applied externally to the bites of scorpions. The ashes of the plant yield a considerable quantity of potash, which is used in washing clothes. The flowering spike has the reputation in India (Oude) of being a safeguard against scorpions, which it is believed to paralyse. (Drury.)"[8]
In Uttar Pradesh, the plant is used for medicinal purposes, especially in obstetrics and gynecology, including abortion, induction of labor, and cessation of postpartum bleeding.[9]
The Maasai people of Kenya use the plant medicinally to ease the symptoms of malaria.[10]
Chemical constituents
Achyranthes aspera contains triterpenoid saponins which possess oleanolic acid as the aglycone. Ecdysterone, an insect moulting hormone, and long chain alcohols are also found in Achyranthes aspera.[11]
Other chemical constituents such as achyranthine, betaine, pentatriacontane, 6-pentatriacontanone, hexatriacontane, and tritriacontane are also present.[12]
Names
Achyranthes aspera has different names in various languages:[13][14]
- Sanskrit: Adhoghanta, Adhvashalya, Aghamargava, Aghata, Apamarga, Apangaka, Chamatkara, Dhamargava
- Hindi: Apang, Chirchra, Chirehitta,Latjira, Onga
- Nepali: Datiwan
- Assam: Apang
- Bengali: Apang
- Gujarati: Safed aghedo, Anghadi, Andhedi, Agheda
- Kannada: Uttaranee
- Malayalam: Kadaladi, Katalati
- Manipuri:
Khujum Pere, Khujum Pere
- Marathi: Aghada, Aghara, Pandhara-aghada
- Myanmar: Kyet Mout Sue Pyan
- Persian: Kharevazhun
- Punjabi: Kutri
- Tamil: Nayurivi, Shiru-kadaladi
- Telugu: Antisha, Apamargamu, Uttareni
- Sinhalese: Gaskaralheba, Karal seba
- Indonesia: Jarong
- Arabian: Atkumah
- French: Achyranth a feuilles rudes, collant, gendarme
- Spanish: Mosotillo, rabo de gato, rabo de chango, rabo de raton
- Afrikaans: Grootklits, langklitskafblom
- Tocharian B: apamārga, viśīr[15]
- Vietnamese: Cây cỏ xước
- Somali: sariibiye
References
- ↑ "BSBI List 2007". Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-01-25. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
- ↑ Flowers of India
- ↑ USDA Plants Profile
- ↑ Flora of North America
- ↑ "Achyranthes aspera". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 2018-01-02.
- ↑ Pacific Islands Ecosystems at Risk
- ↑ Nardi, Isabella (2007). The Theory of Citrasutras in Indian Painting. Routledge. p. 121. ISBN 1134165234.
- ↑ J. H. Maiden (1889). The useful native plants of Australia : Including Tasmania. Turner and Henderson, Sydney.
- ↑ Khan, A. V. and A. A. Khan. Ethnomedicinal uses of Achyranthes aspera L. (Amaranthaceae) in management of gynaecological disorders in western Uttar Pradesh (India). Archived November 24, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Ethnoleaflets.
- ↑ Bussmann, R. W.; Gilbreath, G. G.; Solio, J; Lutura, M; Lutuluo, R; Kunguru, K; Wood, N; Mathenge, S. G. (2006). "Plant use of the Maasai of Sekenani Valley, Maasai Mara, Kenya". Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 2: 22. doi:10.1186/1746-4269-2-22. PMC 1475560. PMID 16674830.
- ↑ Indian Herbal Pharmacopia Vol. II, Page-5.
- ↑ Saurabh Srivastav; Pradeep Singh; Garima Mishra; K. K. Jha; R. L. Khosa (2011). "Achyranthes aspera-An important medicinal plant: A review". J. Nat. Prod. Plant Resour. 1 (1): 1–14.
- ↑ Dr. K. M. Nadkarni's Indian Materia Medica, Volume 1, Edited by A. K. Nadkarni, Popular Prakashan, Bombay, 1976, pp. 21-2.
- ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-27. Retrieved 2015-09-28.
- ↑ "Etymological Dictionary of Tocharian B". BrillOnline Dictionaries. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
External links
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