Butea frondosa L.

Scientific Name: Butea frondosa L. Synonyms: Butea monosperma (Lam.) Taub., Erythrina monosperma Lam., Plaso monosperma (Lam.) Kuntze. Family: Fabaceae Genus: Butea Species: frondosa Common Name: Palash, Dhak, Palah, Flame of the Forest, Bastard Teak, Parrot Tree, Keshu Plant Description: It is native to India and is a medium size tree, growing from 20 to 40 feet high, and the trunk is usually crooked and twisted with irregular branches and rough , grey bark . The leaves are pinnate, with an 8-16 cm petiole and three leaflets, each leaflet 10-20 cm long. It is seen in all its ugliness in December and January when most of the leaves fall but from January to March it truly becomes tree of flame, a riot of orange red and vermilion flower covering the entire crown. These flowers, which are scentless, are massed along the ends of the stalk dark velvety green like the cup-shaped calices, and the brilliance of the stiff, bright flower is shown off to perfection by this deep, contrasting color . Each flower consists of five petals comprising one standard, two smaller wings and a very curved beak-shaped keel. It is this keel which gives it the name of Parrot Tree. Chemical Constituents: Fixed oil 18 %, Water soluble albuminoid substances 19% and glucose 6 %.Fatty acids isolated from this oil are orleic linoleic, lenorlenic, palmitic, stearic, arachidic, behenic and lingo cleric acid. Q hydroxy-1-methyo allophonic acid, 15-hydroxy pentasonic acid and 1-carboxy methoxy-2-carboxy hydrazine have been isolated from the seed coat. Seed has shown the presence of alkaloid monospermine from the alcoholic extract of the seeds are identified palasonin & palasonin-N-Phenyl imidine. Aqueous methanolic extract contains a triazine compound, 4-carbo-methoxy-3-dioxo-hydro-1,2,4-triazine 4.Carboxymethoxy 3.6 dioxo hydro 1, 2, 4, triazine.

Isolated Chemical Constituents of Butea frondosa L.

Palasimide Palasonin

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5′2-dihydroxy-3,6,7-trimethoxy flavone-5-O-D-Xylopyransyl-(1-4)-O-ω-glcopyranoside

5,7 Dihydroxy-3,6,4 ′ trimethoxyflavone-7-O-L-xylopyranosyl-(1-3)-O-α-D-galactopyranoside

Butin Butein

Palasitrin Coreopsin

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Isocoreopsin Sulphurein

Monospermoside Isomonospermoside

Quercetin 5-Methoxygenistein

15-Hydroxy pentacosanoic acid

Prunetein

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1-Carbomethoxy-2-carbomethydrazine 3-ω-hydroxy-euph-25-ene

2, 14-dihydroxy-11, 12-dimethyl-8-oxooctadec-11-enylcyclohexane

2, hydroxyl-ω-ω-methyl allophanic acids Palasonin

Nonacosanoic acid

Medicarpin Monospermin

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Lupeol Lupenone

β-Sitosterol Stigmasterol

Stigmasterol-β-D-glucopyranoside β-Sitosterol-β-D-glucoside

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3-Methoxy-8, 9-methylene dioxypterocarp-6-ene pentacosanyl-glucopyranoside

21-methylene-22-hydroxy-24-oxooctasanoic acid methyl ester

4-pentacosanylphenol β-amyrin

Proanthocyanadine

Parts used: Seeds, gum, flowers, bark, roots & leaves Actions of Herb: Astringent, depurate, diuretic, aphrodisiac, anthelmintic, rubefacient, tonic Uses: Roots are used for the treatment of inflammatory conditions, skin diseases, worm infestation & haemorrhoids, anthelmintic. Flowers are used as an emmengogue & as a poultice in orchitis & swellings for bruises & Sprains. They are also effective in leprosy, leucorrhoea & gout. Leaves are used to cure boils. Pimples & tumerous haemmorrhoids & are internally given

128 in flatulent colic, works & Piles. The fresh juice is applied to ulcers and for congested and septic sore throats. The gum is a powerful astringent given internally for diarrhea and dysentery, phthisis and hemorrhage from stomach and the bladder, in leucorrhoa, ringworm and as a substitute for gum Kino. The bark is reported to possess astringent bitter, pungent, alliterative, aphrodisiac and anthelmintic properties. It is useful in tumors, bleeding piles and ulcers. The decoction is useful in cold, cough, fever and menstrual disorders. Roots are useful in elephantiasis and in curing night blindness and other eyesight defects. Also cause temporary sterility in women. It is also applied in sprue, piles, ulcers, tumors and dropsy. Leaves have astringent, tonic, diuretic and aphrodisiac properties. They are also used to cure boils, pimples and tumors hemorrhoids and piles. Also used as beedi wrappers. Flowers are reported to possess astringent, diuretic, depurative, aphrodisiac and tonic properties. They are used as emmenagogue and to reduce swellings. It is very effective in leprosy, leucorrhea and gout. Dosages: Stem bark: 5-10 g powder Flower: 3-6g powder Seed: 3 g powder Gum: 0.5 – 1.5 g Phytochemical Evaluation of B. frondosa Preliminary phytochemical screening of the powdered leaf revealed the following compounds - Alkaloids, Cynogenic glycosides, Phenolic compounds, Flavonoids, Terpenoids, Tannins, Saponins, protein and sterols. Microscopic examination of B. frondosa powder In powdered drug study presence of starch color pigments, oil globules and starch grains have been recorded. Histological Examination of B. frondosa Midrib Region Microscopical evaluation showed, transverse section passing through midrib. Single layered upper and lower rectangular shaped epidermal cells were observed. Epidermis was covered with thick cuticle. Double layered palisade cells were present below the upper epidermis and single layered of it was present above the lower epidermis. Collenchymatous cells were present in cluster above the lower epidermis in the midrib region. Xylem and phloem were arranged in ring. Xylem ring present towards the center and is surrounded by phloem ring. Vascular bundles are of collateral type. Calcium oxylate crystal are scattered throughout the cells. See figure below.

Figure: T.S. of B. frondosa leaf through mid-rob with lamina Rizvi A, Hussain A, Wahab S, Mishra S and Shoaib A. Physico-chemical evaluation and phytochemical potential of a medicinal herb: Buteafrondosa Koen. Ex Roxb (leaves). International Journal of Biomedical and Advance Research 2014. 5(3): 150-154.

129 Petiole region Transverse section of petiole shows single layered flattened epidermal cells, covered with thick walled cuticle. Under the epidermis 2-5 layered circular shaped collenchymatous and 2-6 layered circular, thin walled, chlorenchymatous cells were present. Intracellular spaces were observed in between these cells. Bicollateral vascular bundles were arranged in a single ring. Some bundles were capped by one or two layered, thick walled, polygonal sclerenchymatous cells. Towards the centre pith was observed which was composed of large parenchymatous cells.

Figure: (a) T.S. of petiole showing Cuticle, Collenchymatous cells, Vascular bundles, Cholerenchymatous and Schlerenchymatous cells. (b) T.S. of petiole showing parenchymatous cells in high magnification . Rizvi A, Hussain A, Wahab S, Mishra S and ShoaibA.Physico-chemical evaluation and phytochemical potential of a medicinal herb: Buteafrondosa Koen. Ex Roxb (leaves). International Journal of Biomedical and Advance Research 2014. 5(3): 150-154. Physico-chemical screening of B. frondosa The pH of powdered drug was found to be neutral ranges from 5.78-7 whereas methanolic extract of B. frondosa showed slight acidic pH ranges 5.25-6.69. The drying of powdered drug was carried out in an oven within the temperature range 105°C and recorded as 6.5%. The acid value of crude methanolic extract of B. frondosa seed was found to be 206.2. Crude methanolic extract of B. frondosa seed resulted in mean peroxide value as 11.8. The mean saponification value of methanolic extract of B. frondosa was 181.9±5.94. Thin-layer Chromatography of B. frondosa Rizvi et al . (2014) reported the R f value of thin layer chromatography of the aqueous and ethanolic extracts in toluene-ethyl acetate-formic acid (5:3.5:1.5) for the ethanolic extract and n-butanol- acetic acid-water(5:3:2) for the aqueous extract. The visualizing reagent employed was anisaldehyde-sulphuricacid . Table: Thin-layer Chromatography of B. frondosa extract

130 Ethanolic extract Aqueous extract

Rizvi A, Hussain A, Wahab S, Mishra S and ShoaibA.Physico-chemical evaluation and phytochemical potential of a medicinal herb: Butea frondosa Koen. Ex Roxb (leaves). International Journal of Biomedical and Advance Research 2014. 5(3): 150-154. Infra-red spectroscopy of B. frondosa Infrared spectrophotometric study of powder drug resulted in following wave numbers. 3288.99 cm -1 (OH alcoholic), 3002.95 cm -1 (aromatic C-H), 2962.09 cm -1 (Aliphatic C-H), 2835.41 cm - 1(OH acidic), 1629.97 cm -1 (C=O), 1540.07 cm -1 and 1474.69 cm -1 (Benzene) and 1041.54 cm - 1(C-O-C).

Ahmad M, Sharif H, Alam SM, Mehjabeen, Jahan N, Sherwani SK. Standardization and toxicological studies of Butea frondosa methanolic seeds extract. American Journal of Research Communication. 2013; 1(9): 42-55.

131 Gas chromatography of B. frondosa In gas chromatography major peaks were recorded at retention time 5.5 min (peak area=801282 mV), 6.9 min (peak area=27039 mV), 7.46 min (peak area=28174 mV), 9.68 min (peak area=113160 mV), and 23.7 min (peak area=412923 mV) indicates the presence of stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid and lignoceric acid.

Ahmad M, Sharif H, Alam SM, Mehjabeen, Jahan N, Sherwani SK. Standardization and toxicological studies of Butea frondosa methanolic seeds’extract. American Journal of Research Communication. 2013; 1(9): 42-55.

Anti-microbial activity of B. frondosa The in vitro antimicrobial efficiency of seed oil of B. frondosa was studied by the filter paper disk method against several human pathogenic bacteria and fungi. The oil showed a significant bactericidal and fungicidal effect. Chemopreventive activity The chemopreventive effects of B. frondosa extract were studied on hepatic carcinogenesis and on tumor promoter induced markers and oxidative stress in male Wistar rats. Treatment of male wistar rats for five consecutive days with 2-AAF i.p. induced significant hepatic toxicity, oxidative stress and hyperproliferation. Pretreatment of B. frondosa extract (100 and 200 mg/kg body weight) prevented oxidative stress by restoring the levels of antioxidant enzymes and also prevented toxicity at both doses. Insecticidal activity Insecticidal activity of B. frondosa was determined on Tribolium castaneum at different concentrations of extract. Permethrin (Copex) was used as standard drug. The results of insecticidal activity of crude extract of B. frondosa showed 50% and 70% mortality at the concentration of 25 and 50 mg/ respectively during 30 minutes. The results of drug treated insects when compared with standard Permethrin (Copex) showed that crude extract of B. frondosa has some insecticidal activity. Anthelmintic activity Crude powder of B. Frondosa seeds were administered at doses of 1, 2 and 3 g/kg to sheep naturally infected with mixed species of gastrointestinal nematodes. B. frondosa exhibited a dose and a time-dependent anthelmintic effect. The maximum reduction of 78.4% in eggs per gram of

132 feces was recorded on day 10 after treatment with 3 g/kg. Levamisole (7.5 mg/kg), a standard anthelmintic agent, exhibited 99.1% reduction in eggs per gram of feces. The methanolic extract of B. frondosa seeds, tested in vitro, showed significant anthelmintic activity. Anti-conceptive activity Butin, the chemical constituent present in B. frondosa seeds was administered orally to adult female rats at the doses of 5, 10 and 20 mg/rat from day 1 to day 5 of pregnancy showed anti- implantation activity in 40%,70% and 90% of the treated animals, respectively. At lower doses, there was a dose-dependent termination of pregnancy and reduction in the number of implantation sites. In ovariectomized young female rats, the Butin exhibited estrogenic activity at comparable anti-conceptive doses, but was devoid of anti-estrogenic activity. Butin is a weak estrogen in that a significant uterotrophic effect was discerned evens at 1/20th the anti- conceptive dose. It was reported that seeds oil is used as traditional sexual toner and contraceptive. Hepato-protective activity Hepatoprotective constituents Isobutrin and butrin isolated from B. frondosa were found to exhibit hepatoprotection and might also suppress the advance stage via inhibition of oxidative stress and polyamine biosynthetic pathway by significant reduction of oxidative stress and polyamine biosynthetic pathway by significant reduction in AST/SGOT, ALT/SGPT, LDH, and GGT activities. Anti-diabetic activity Single dose treatment with ethanolic extract of B. frondosa is (200 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly improved glucose tolerance and caused reduction in blood glucose level in Alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Repeated oral treatment for 2 weeks significantly reduced blood glucose, serum cholesterol and improved HDL-cholesterol and albumin as compared to diabetic control group. Ethanolic extract of leaves also have anti-diabetic and antioxidant potential in Alloxan-induced diabetic mice. Ethanolic extract of B. frondosa seeds (300mg/kg) exhibited significant anti- diabetic, hypolipidemic and anti-peroxidative effects in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus rats. Aqueous extract significantly decreases blood glucose level both in normal (p<0.01) and Alloxan induced diabetic (p<0.001) mice at 2 and 5 hr respectively. However, the hypoglycemic effect was maximum at 90min and was not sustained as observed for the standard drug Metformin. The effect of B.frondosa on blood glucose and lipid profiles in normal and diabetic human volunteers was evaluated which indicated a significant decrease (p< 0.05) in 2 h post- prandial blood glucose (mg/dl) on 21st day in the diabetic subgroups treated with 2 g and 3 g of powdered B. frondosa . A significant decrease in total cholesterol (mg/dl) was observed in normal and diabetic subgroups on day 21st post treatment. Both normal and diabetic groups exhibited a significant decrease in total lipids on day 21st. This study indicates that B. frondosa might possess important hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic properties Anti-convulsant activity The acetone soluble part of petroleum ether extract of B.frondosa flowers showed anti- convulsant activity. Anti-oxidant activity Methanol (16.1%), ethyl acetate (25.29%) and butanol (17.74%) fractions showed potent free radical scavenging activity, whereas aqueous fraction was found to be devoid of any radical scavenging properties. The observed activity could be due to the higher phenolic content in the extracts.

133 Anti-diarrhoeal activity B. frondosa stem bark ethanolic extract at 400 mg/kg and 800mg/kg inhibited castor oil induced diarrhoea due to inhibiting gastrointestinal motility and PGE2 induced enter pooling and it also reduced gastrointestinal motility after charcoal meal administration in Wistar albino rats. B. frondosa gum has also been found useful in cases of chronic diarrhoea. It is a powerful astringent and also decreases bilirubin level.

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