Tephrosia Purpurea (L.) Pers

Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers.

Scientific name: Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers. Synonym: Cracca purpurea L, Glycyrrhiza mairei H.Lév, Tephrosia colonila (Ham.) Benth, Tephrosia diffusa (Roxb.) Wight & Arn, Tephrosia ionophlebia Hayata, Tephrosia lanceifolia Link, Tephrosia piscatoria (Aiton) Pers., Tephrosia purpurea var. diffusa (Roxb.) Aitch. Family: Fabaceae Tribe: Millettieae Genus: Tephrosia Species: purpurea English Name: Fish poison, Wild Indigo Useful Parts: Root, leaves, seeds and bark. Plant Description: Tephrosia purpurea is an erect or spreading annual or short-lived perennial herb, sometimes bushy, 40-80 cm tall, rarely up to 1.5 m; indumentum sericeous, strigose or velutinous; stem slender, erect or decumbent at base. Leaves imparipinnate; stipules narrowly triangular, 1.5-9 mm x 0.1-1.5 mm; rachis up to 14.5 cm long, including the petiole of up to 1 cm; petiolule 1-3 mm long; leaflets 5-25, obovate to narrowly elliptical, terminal leaflet 7-28 mm x 2-11 mm, lateral leaflets 5-30 mm x 2-11 mm, acute at base, apex rounded to emarginate, venation usually distinct on both surfaces. Inflorescence an axillary or leaf-opposed pseudo-raceme, (1.5-)10-15(-25) cm long, sometimes with basal leaf-like bracts; flowers in fascicles of 4-6; bracts to fascicles and to flowers small, bracteoles usually absent; pedicel 2-6 mm long; flower 4-8.5 mm long, purplish to white; calyx campanulate, persistent, cup 1.4-2.3 mm x 1.5-3.2 mm, unequally 4-toothed, teeth pubescent inside; standard broadly ovate, 3.5-7.3 mm x 5-10 mm, clawed; wings 2.5-6 mm x 1.5-3.8 mm, auricled on vexillary side, clawed; keel 2.2- 4.5 mm x 2-3 mm, auricled on vexillary side, clawed; stamens 10, stamina tube 4-6 mm long, filaments alternately longer and shorter, free part up to 3.5 mm long, vexillary filament free at base, connate halfway, 5-8 mm long; style up to 4.5 mm long, upper half glabrous, stigma penicillate at base. Pod flat, linear, 2-4.5 cm x 3-5 mm, somewhat up-curved towards the end, convex around the seeds, flattened between, margins thickened, dehiscent with twisted valves, 2-8(-10)-seeded. Seed rectangular to transversely ellipsoid, 2.5-5 mm x 1.8-3 mm, light to dark brown to black, sometimes mottled. Chemical Constituents: Leaves and roots contain glycosides, which include osyritin, rutin and tephrosin, deguelin, isotephrosin and rotenone, three crystalline compounds, maxima substance A, B and C, which are chemically related to the isoflavone compound, rotenone. Leaves also contain rutin, β-sitosterol, and lupeol. Roots also contain pongamol, rotenone, rotenolone, methyl pongamol, elliptone and a new flavanone. Pods contain purpurin A, purpurin B, maximin and lanceolatin-A. Aerial parts have been reported to contain lanceolatin B, α -toxicarol, O- methylobovatin, dehydro-deguelin, pongamol, β-sitosterol, ursolic acid and spinasterol. Caffeic acid isolated from seeds. Seeds also contain pongamol, solonchcarpin, karanjin, lanceolatin-B,

461 kanjone, sitosterol, a new flavone purpurine, two new prenylated flavonoids pupuritenin and purpureamethide. Delphinidin chloride and cyanidin chloride have been isolated from flowers.

Structures of isolated chemical constituents of T. purpurea

Tephrosin Diguelin

Rotenone Spinosterol

Purpurin β-sitosterol

Pongaglabol Pongamol

462

Quercetin Ursolic acid

Rutin 5-methoxy isolonchocarpin

Butelinic acid Semiglabrin Medicinal Uses: According to Ayurveda, plant is digestible, anthelmintic, alexiteric, antipyretic, alternative, cures diseases of liver, spleen, heart, blood, tumours, ulcers, leprosy, asthma, poisoning etc. According to Unani system of medicine, root is diuretic, allays thirst, enriches blood, cures diarrhea, useful in bronchitis, asthma, liver, spleen diseases, inflammations, boils and pimples; Leaves are tonic to intestines and a promising appetizer. Good in piles, syphilis and gonorrhoea. Action of Herb: Alternative, anthelmintic, antipyretic, astringent, bitter, depurative, digestive, laxative, diuretic, tonic, purifier of blood. Dosage: 3-5 gms powder of dried root. Contraindications: This herb is not recommended during pregnancy or lactation. Phytochemical screening of T. purpurea Phytochemical screening of T. purpurea was carried out by Jain et al. (2013). Table: Phytochemical screening of T. purpurea

Jain A, Nahata A, Singhai AK. 2013. Effect of Tephrosiapurpurea (L.) Pers. leaves on Gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Sci. Pharm. 81: 1071-1087.

463 Thin-layer Chromatography of T. purpurea Thin-layer chromatography of T. purpurea hexane, ethyl acetate, methanol and ethanol extracts were performed by Laishram et al. (2013) using Butanol: acetic acid: ethanol: water (50:10:10:30) solvent system. See figures below.

TLC of hexane extract of T. purpurea TLC of ethyl acetate extract of T. purpurea

TLC of methanolic extract T. purpurea TLC of ethanolic extract of T. purpurea Figure: Thin-layer chromatogram of different extracts of T. purpurea Laishram A, Naik J, Reddy S, Rayalu DJ. 2013. Phytochemical analysis, TLC profiling and antimicrobial activity of Tephrosia purpurea . Int. J. of Pharm. & Life Sci. 4(2): 2375-2379. High Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography of T. purpurea High performance thin-layer chromatography of T. purpurea was carried out by Jain et al. (2013)

Figure: HPTLC densitogram of T. purpurea ethanolic extract at 254nm Jain A, Nahata A, Singhai AK. 2013. Effect of Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers. leaves on Gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Sci. Pharm. 81: 1071-1087.

464 Anti-oxidant activity of T. purpurea Jain et al. (2013) evaluated anti-oxidant activity of T. purpurea by using superoxide free radical scavenging activity, DPPH free radical scavenging activity and total antioxidant activity. See the figures below.

Figure: Superoxide free radical scavenging activity of different T. purpurea extracts Jain A, Nahata A, Singhai AK. 2013. Effect of Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers. leaves on Gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Sci. Pharm. 81: 1071-1087.

Figure: DPPH free radical scavenging activity of different T. purpurea extracts Jain A, Nahata A, Singhai AK. 2013. Effect of Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers. leaves on Gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Sci. Pharm. 81: 1071-1087 .

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Figure: Total anti-oxidant activity of different T. purpurea extracts Jain A, Nahata A, Singhai AK. 2013. Effect of Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers. leaves on Gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Sci. Pharm. 81: 1071-1087. Nephro-protective activity of T. purpurea Jain et al. (2013) assessed nephro-protective activity of T. purpurea ethanolic extract in Gentamicin induced renal injury model. The results revealed that T. purpurea extract alleviated the renal damage caused by Gentamicin.

Jain A, Nahata A, Singhai AK. 2013. Effect of Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers. leaves on Gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Sci. Pharm. 81: 1071-1087.

466 Anxiolytic activity of T. purpurea Kumar et al. (2011) evaluated the anxiolytic activity of hydroalcoholic extract of T. purpurea in two doses, that is, 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg respectively by using elevated plus-maze (EPM), elevated zero-maze (EZM), Y-maze and hole-board models. The results revealed that hydroalcoholic extract T. purpurea(L) Pers. is an effective anxiolytic agent. Table: Effect of hydroalcoholic extract of T. purpurea in elevated plus-maze model

HAETP = Hydroalcoholic extract of T. purpurea Kumar AS, Amudha P, Kannan S. 2011.Evaluation of anxiolytic activity of hydroalcoholic extract of Tephrosia purpurea (L) Pers. on swiss albino mice. Int. J. Pharm. Sci. Res. 2(5): 1262-1269. Table: Effect of hydroalcoholic extract of T. purpurea in elevated zero-maze model

467 Anti-microbial activity of T. purpurea Anti-microbial activity of aerial parts of T. purpurea was assessed by Nivedithadevi et al. (2012) against various bacterial and fungal strains. Significant anti-microbial activity was observed against E. coli , S. marcescens and S. eapidermis . Table: Anti-microbial activity of aerial parts of T. purpurea

Nivedithadevi D, Manivannan P, Somasundaram R. 2012. Evaluation of antimicrobial and anti-histamine activity of the aerial parts of Tephrosia purpurea L. Int. Res. J. Pharm. 3(3):147-149. Anti-histamine activity of T. purpurea Anti-histamine activity of aerial parts of T. purpurea was assessed by Nivedithadevi et al. (2012) in guinea pig isolated ileum preparations. Antagonistic effect of low doses of T. purpurea extracts was observed on the contraction of ileum induced by histamine in a dose-dependent manner. Table: Anti-histamine activity of T. purpurea

Nivedithadevi D, Manivannan P, Somasundaram R. 2012. Evaluation of antimicrobial and anti-histamine activity of the aerial parts of Tephrosia purpurea L. Int. Res. J. Pharm. 3(3):147-149. Anti-hyperlipidemic activity of T. purpurea Anti-hyperlipidemic activity of hydromethanolic extract of T. purpurea was carried out by Dalwadi and Patani (2014). The results revealed that T. purpurea has the potential to reduce triglycerides level. See the tables below. Table: Effect of hydromethanolic extracts of T. purpurea on serum lipid profile at 15hours after Poloxomer 407 induced hyperlipidemia

Dalwadi PP, Pragnesh VP. 2014. Anti-hyperlipidemic activity of T. purpurea plant extracts in poloxomer 407 induced hyperlipidemic rats. Int. J. Pharmacol. Res. 4(4): 186-193.

468 Table: Effect of hydroalcoholic extracts of T. purpurea on serum lipid profile at 24 hours after Poloxomer 407 induced hyperlipidemia

Dalwadi PP, Pragnesh VP. 2014. Anti-hyperlipidemic activity of T. purpurea plant extracts in poloxomer 407 induced hyperlipidemic rats. Int. J. Pharmacol. Res. 4(4): 186-193. Anti-ulcer activity of T. purpurea The anti-ulcer activity of aqueous extract of roots of T. purpurea was carried out by Deshpande et al. (2003) using different models of gastric and duodenal ulceration in rats. The results of the activity exhibited significant anti-ulcer activity. Anti-carcinogenic and Anti-lipid Peroxidative Kavitha et al. (2006) evaluated the chemo-preventive effect of ethanolic root extract of T. purpurea on 7, 12- dimethylbenz (a) anthracene (DMBA)-induced buccal pouch carcinoma in hamster. T. purpurea extract significantly prevented the incidence, volume and burden of the tumor. Vishal et al. (2011) explored the anticancer activity of different fractions of Tephrosia purpurea leaves extract against in vitro anticancer activity using human MCF 7 cell line by trypan blue exclusion method. Anthelmintic activity of T. purpurea Aqueous and methanolic extracts of T. purpurea leaves in various concentrations were evaluated for their anthelmintic activity by Manjula et al. (2013). Methanolic extract of T. purpurea exhibited most significant anthelmintic activity as compared to the standard drug, Albendazole on earthworms. Anti-diarrheal activity of T. purpurea Anti-diarrheal activity of methanolic extract of T. purpurea whole plant was evaluated by Khalid et al. (2013) against castor oil induced diarrhea in mice. Verapamil was used as a standard drug. The group of mice treated with 300 mg/kg T. purpurea extract exhibited partial protection (40%) from diarrhea while group of mice treated with 500 mg/kg of T. purpurea showed 80% protection from diarrhea that is comparable to the protection provided to the group of mice treated with standard drug, Verapamil.

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Figure: Anti-diarrheal activity of T. purpurea extract (Tp.Cr) and Verapamil on castor oil induced diarrhea in mice. ∗p< 0.05. ∗∗p< 0.005 Janbaz KH, Qadir MI, Jan A, Gilani AH. 2013. Anti-diarrheal activity of methanolic extract of Tephrosia purpurea . (L.) Pers. Acta Poloniae Pharmaceutica- Drug Research. 70 (2): 345-347. Anti-leishminal activity T. purpurea n-butanol fraction (50mg/kg) administered orally for five days revealed significant anti-leishmanialacitivity against Leishmaniadonoyani infection in hamsters in research work carried out by Sharma et al. (2003). Further studies on the fraction of T. purpurea in Indian langur monkeys (secondary model) showed noteworthy anti-leishmanial activity. Anti-epileptic activity Asuntha et al. (2010) carried out anti-epileptic activity on wistar albino rats on administration of Piocarpine (30mg/kg i.p.) 24 hours after lithium chloride (3mg/kg, i.p.). Ethanolic extract of T. purpurea was administered orally one hour before the injection of Pilocarpine. The results revealed valuable anti- epileptic activity of T. purpurea . Table: Effect of T. purpurea ethanolic extract on lithium-pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus

Asuntha G, Prasannaraju Y, Sujatha D, Prasad KVSR. 2010. Assessment of effect of ethanolic extract of Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers., Fabaceae, activity on lithium-pilocarpine induced status epilepticus and oxidative stress in Wistar rats. Brazilian Journal of Pharmacognosy 2010; 20(5): 767-772.

470 Anti-asthmatic activity of T. purpurea Lallubhai et al. (2011) assessed mast cell stabilizing potential of ethanolic extract of T. purpurea in the treatment of asthma against 48/80 and clonidine induced mast cell degranulation in adult albino wistar rat. The results of the study revealed significant mast cell stabilizing property of T. purpurea . See the table below. Table: Effect of ethanolic extract of T. purpurea on mast cell degranulation induced by compound 48/80

Lallubhai GP, Mittal DV. 2011. Mast cell stabilizing potential activity of the ethanolic extract of Tephrosia purpurea Linn. in the management of asthma. Intl J Research in Ayurveda & Pharmacy . 2(4):1308-1312.

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