Review Article

A review on ethnomedicinal claims and spread of Pothos scandens Linn.

Abstract: Pothos scandens Linn., family Araceae, is popular among local healers for its traditional therapeutic claims. Present review aims to collect all available ethno medicinal information and research updates on Pothos scandens. Material and Methods: Reported ethno medicinal uses of Pothos scandens from available 20 books related to medicinal plants and 25 research articles on ethno medicine, published up till January 2020, were reviewed. Name of the reporting tribe using the plant and their place of reporting, vernacular names, parts used along with its therapeutic indications, with specific method of administration, if any, through either external (E) or internal (I) usages were noted. Results and Discussion: P. scandens is reported for its presence in 13 countries across the globe and in 13 states of India. The plant as a whole or its stem, root and leaf are used in 31 different disease conditions, either through internal administration or external applications. Among these, maximum are indicated in the treatment of asthma, small pox, wounds and bone fracture etc. Its leaves have maximum applications in 11 disease conditions, followed by whole plant in 10, stem in 3, and root in one disease condition. Its leaves are also used as fodder. The plant contains alkaloids, tannins, saponins, glycosides and flavonoids. Pharmacological studies reports its anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antioxidant, wound healing activities. Conclusion: Pothos scandens, a commonly available climbing shrub, is having multifaceted ethno-medicinal uses. Its use in burn, skin diseases, asthma, wounds and bone fracture should be evaluated through pharmacological and clinical studies to establish the ethnic claims. Key words: Ethno medicine, folklore, Pothos scandens, traditional practice, wound healing Introduction Folklore medicine is a major area that is being focused on in health research that involves medicinally important plants. Medicinal plants provide health security to millions of rural people all over the world [1]. Medicinal plants have important contributions in the healthcare system of local communities as the main source of medicine for the majority of the rural population [2]. About 60% of the world population and 80% of the population of developing countries rely on traditional medicine [3]. Pothos scandens Linn. is a traditional medicinal plant belongings to the, family Araceae., It is known as climbing aroid in English, Adke

biluballi and Agachoppu in Kannada, Bemdarli in Konkani, Anapparuva, Parivalli, Paruvakodi, Paruval in Malayalam and Bendarli in Marathi [4,5,6].

The plant is mainly a native to the Himalaya as well as Indo-Burma region and Madagascar. However, it is found in all forest types of paleotropics [7], commonly found on rocks, walls and tree trunks in moist and wet forests in north-eastern, central and southern India [8]. In other parts of India, it is found in Assam, Bihar, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Madras, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamilnadu, Tripura, Udupi, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar Islands [9, 10, 11, 12, 13]. It is also available in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Comoros, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam [9, 14, 15, 16].

Pothos scandens is an epiphytice, climbing shrub having adventitious aerial roots. Leaves are obovate or lanceolate, acute or acuminate, coriaceous, bright green, petiole broadly winged. Flowers are small in globose or ovoid, peduncled yellow spadix. The fruits or berries are oblong and on ripening they become scarlet [10]. (Photo plate 1) Single hand information about the ethno medicinal uses of the Pothos scandens is still lacking. Hence, in the present article, an attempt has been made to congregate data from reported research journals, articles etc.

Material and Methods

Information onf all reported ethno medicinal uses of the Pothos scandens Linn. from available 20 books of ethno botany and 25 ethno medicinal research articles have been compiled from library sources as well as from Google scholar, PubMed, Dhara and Web based search engines during January 2019 to January 2020.

The obtained data are arranged in a tabular form, with regard to reported various local names, name of the reporting tribe and their reporting place, parts used and therapeutic indication. The specific method of administration with reference to their external (E) and internal (I) usage are also noted. Researches carried out on P.scandens till date, with reference to its phytoconstituents and pharmacological research were reviewed.

Result and Discussion

Local name: P. scandens is known by more than 26 names in 16 languages. The details of language wise names are reported in Table-1.

Area of reporting: P. scandens available in 13 states of India and 13 countriesy of the world. It is observed that P. scandens is being used as medicine in 4 states of India viz. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and in 6 countries, such as China, Malaya, Myanmar, Madagascar, Srilanka and Thailand. This shows the wide availability and wide spread use of this plant across India and other part of the world. (Table-1).

Tribes Three tribes/communities (Kani tribes in Tamilnadu, Memba tribe in Arunachal Pradesh, Dai ethnic minority Yunnan) use the species to combat various disease conditions (Table-1).

Therapeutic Uses

The whole plant of P. scandens or its stem, leaves and roots are observed to be used in 31 different disease conditions. Out of the 39 reporteding, 6 reports each for its use in asthma and small pox, 4 in wounds healing andfor snake bite, 2 each in abscesses, bone fracture, convulsions and epilepsy, ulcers, wounds created during delivery, one each in blood coagulant, body heat and conception, burn, cancer, constipation, cuts and sores, diarrhoea, herpes, muscle catch, pain, pustules, skin allergy, sprains, swelling and vomit inducer [Tables 1].

Parts used

It is a climbing aroid. Whole part or its individual parts like root, stem or leaves are used to combat 31 diseases. Leaves, as a part used, haves maximum applications in 11 disease conditions. Whole plant isare being used in 10, stem in 3 and roots is used in one disease condition. (Table-1).

Dosage form

Whole plant, root, stem and leaves of P. scandens are used in 7 dosage form. Among them maximum (5) are powder followed by paste (4), oil (3), decoction (2) and one each as infusion, juice and smoke. (Table-1).

Table 1: Ethno medicine claims of different parts of Pothos scandens Linn.

Sr. Local name Tribes/ Dosage Fform: Therapeutic claims No. areas External (E); internal (I) uses Whole plant 1. Haranga Assam Powder (I) Bone fracture[17,18] 2. Hatilota, Arunachal Powder and decoction (I)

Lomangloset Pradesh 3. Dieduanqiao China Decoction (I) Diarrhoea[19] 4. Hatipata Assam Paste (E) Cuts, wounds and Sores[11] 5. - Thailand - Blood coagulant, wounds[20] 6. - South India - Skin allergy, herpes, muscle catch, sprains[21] Root 7. Pein-gya Myanmar Fried in oil (E) Abscesses[22, 23] Stem 8. Pein-gya, Myanmar The stem cut up with Asthma[5, 6, 22, 24, 25, 26] Anapparuva Malaya, camphor is smoked like Ceylon tobacco (E) Leaves 9. Hati denkiya Assam Powder(I) How is Pain[27] powder used internally? 10. Parattan kodi Tamilnadu, Paste of leaf along with Wounds created Kerala the fruit of Capsicum during delivery[28, 29] annum and rhizome of Allium sativum mixed with coconut oil (E) 11. Anapparuva Malaya, Powder (E) Small pox[5, 6, 23, 24, 25, Ceylon 30] 12. - Ceylon Oil (E) Wounds and ulcers[24, 31] 13. - Kerala Infusion (E) Epilepsy, convulsions [6, 29] 14. Madagascar Juice (I) As a vomit inducer for acid stomach[32] 15. Appachi kaal Western ghats Paste (E) Burn[33] balli, Adikebeelu balli, Agesoppu 16. Pein-gya Myanmar Powder (I/E) Smallpox pustules & fractures[22] 17. - Shrilanka - Swelling due to trauma[34] 18. Tamilnadu - Reduce body heat and helps in conception[35] 19. Yunnan Decoction used as tea[36] - Stem and leaves 20. Ridik Arunachal Boiled stems and leaves are Constipation[37] Pradesh used as vegetables (I) 21. Anapparuva Malaya Bruised stem and leaves are Wounds for snake mixed with ox urine (E) bite[5, 24, 25, 38]

Plant part unspecified 22 - China Decoction Cancer[39] 23 Yunnan - Rheumatic arthralgia, traumatic injuries[36] Economical Uses Leaves are used as fodder [23]. Though this plant is reported for its use as fodder. Animal uses Whole plant heated with water and given to cattle to increase fertility [33].

Recent researches:

Pharmacognosy study

The microscopic character of the leaf and stem of Pothos scandens shows leaf with thick planoconvex midrib and uniformly thin, noded lamina. The midrib with one large median vascular bundle and 6 small vascular bundles. All vascular bundles are collateral with abaxial arc of phloem and adaxial mass of xylem elements, Calcium oxalate crystals of prismatic as well as druses types abundant in the ground parenchyma cells. The stem is circular with flat lateral sides, comprising of wide cortex and cortical vascular bundles and thick, sclerenchymatous endodermis layer. Outer vascular bundles of the cortical bundles have single, wide, circular metaxylem element and a small cluster of phloem elements; Calcium oxalate prismatic crystals are abundant along the endodermoid layer as well as ground parenchyma cells.[40]

Photochemistry The phytochemical screening on Pothos scandens revealed the presence of primary metabolites such as carbohydrates, proteins, amino acides, fixed oils, and fats in appreciable amount in all the parts. The secondary metabolites such as alkaloid, saponin, tannins, terpenoids, catechin, coumarin, phenol, xanthoprotein steroids, flavonoids and glycosides. [41] Identified and characterized chemical compound of root and stem are Hemiterpene glucoside- Pothobanoside A, Pothobanoside B, Pothobanoside C, Canthoside B; Phenyl isobutanol- Pothobanol; Glycosides- Zizybeoside I, Canthoside A; Hydroquinone glycoside- Markhamioside F. Whole plant yield a novel diterpenoid- methyl pothoscandensate; alkaloids- N-trans-cinnamoyl-tyramine, N-trans-feruloyltyramine. Identified and characterized chemical compound by GC-MS analysis of leaf dodecanoic acid, tetra decanoic acid, hexadecenoic acid, octadecanoic acid, 2-methyl-1-Hexadecanol, 2-hexa- decanol, 1, 2- benzene di carboxylic acid.[41]

Pharmacology study Anti-inflammatory, peritoneal mast cell stabilization potential, anticancer, In-Vitro Cytotoxic and thrombolytic Potential, burn wound healing, In-vitro anti-oxidant, antibacterial, anthelmintic and larvicidal efficacy, anti-estrogenic, hyaluronidase inhibition, Antipyretic, anti-diabetic, bronchodilator activity of different parts of Pothos scandens have been reported. (Table 2)

Table 2: Reported Pharmacological studies of different parts P. scandens L. Sr. Activity Part Dosage form Results No. used

1 Anti- Whole ethanol extract/ Exhibited anti-inflammatory inflammatory plant Murine RAW activity activity[42] 264.7 cells 2 Peritoneal mast Aerial Ethanol, Inhibits mast cell-derived cell part aqueous immediate-type allergic reactions stabilization ethanol and and mast cell degranulation. potential[43] aqueous 4 Anticancer Aerial Hydro- Possesses significant cytotoxic Activity[44] part ethanolic activity. Extract

3 In-Vitro leaves Methanolic Methanolic extracts has very good Cytotoxic and extract cytotoxic activity. From in-vitro thrombolytic clot lysis study, we demonstrated [45] that P. scandens has moderate clot Potential lysis activity. 5 Burn wound Leaf Ethanolic Alcoholic extract when formulated healing extract as gel shows significant activity[46] improvement in burn wound contraction. 6 In-vitro anti- Root, - Shown significant antioxidant oxidant stem and property through ABTS, DPPH, activity[47] leaf FRAP and 5 other methods. 7 Antibacterial, - Methanol Showed antibacterial activity Anthelmintic extract against gram positive and gram and Larvicidal negative bacteria. control of arboviral infections Efficacy[48] transmitted by Aedes aegypti. 8 Anti-estrogenic Stem & - Showed strong inhibitory activity activity[49] against MCF-7 and T47D cell lines

9 Hyaluronidase root Pothobanoside A (1) showed inhibition significant hyaluronidase inhibitory activity[49] activity 10 Antipyretic Root Methanol Showed significant reduction of study[47] extract temperature in pyrexia induced rats at 200 and 400 mg/kg doses. 11 Acute toxicity Root Methanol The extract did not alter the general study[47] extract behaviour and failed to produce ant mortality even at highest dose of 1000mg/kg. 12. Anti-diabetic Leaves Methanol Leaf extract exhibit moderate anti- activity(in vitro extract diabetic activity. α-amylase inhibitory activity) [50] 13 Bronchodilator Leaves Methanol Leaf extract have significant activity[50] extract bronchodilator activity.

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