International Journal of Scientific Research and Review ISSN NO: 2279-543X

Thevetia peruviana- A Review on Its Characteristic Features and Toxic Constituents S Rajhans#1, J. Pandya#2A. U. Mankad#3 and H. A. Pandya#3 Department of Botany, University, Ahmedabad-380009 Abstract-

Thevetia peruviana (Pers.) K. Schum. belongs to the family. It is found throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. The is best known as an ornamental. It is also known for its cardiotoxic properties. This paper has made an attempt in presenting a comprehensive review of the plant based on its origin, botanical description, distribution, growing requirements characteristic features and its toxic constituents.

Keywords- Thevetia peruviana (Pers.) K. Schum., evergreen, survival, cardiac glycosides and toxins

Introduction-

Thevetia peruviana (Pers.) K. Schum. is an evergreen shrub belonging to the Apocynaceae family. Native to Mexico, South and Central America this plant is now naturally found in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Commonly known as the yellow oleander in English and as Peeli Kaner in Hindi this plant is easily found in different parts of . The plant is grown mainly as an ornamental in the gardens, road dividers and on road sides. It does not require any kind of maintenance and can easily survive in extreme conditions. The characteristic features of this plant is its milky sap. It is also known for its toxic parts and the various contents of toxins in them.

SYNONYMS- Thevetia neriifoliia A. Juss. Ex Steud; Cerbera thevetia L; thevetia (L.) Lippold.

HABIT-

A straight (erect) and abundantly branched shrub usually growing from 2.5m to 3.5m tall but rarely a small tree reaching a height up to 10 m in height. [1][4] and [7]

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HABITAT-

Roadside areas, gardens, waste areas, waterways, open woodlands, pastures, and arid regions and in areas where drought conditions are dominant. [1][4] and [7]

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION-

Kingdom- plantae

Subkingdom- Magnoliophyta

Class- Magnoliopsida

Order-

Family- Apocynaceae

Genus- Thevetia

Species- peruviana

BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT-

Evergreen ornamental shrub. Leaves: Alternate or sub- opposite, simple with reticulate venation. Inflorescence: Flowers solitary or in cymose clusters. Flower: Ebracteate, pedicellate, complete, actinomorphic, bisexual, hypogynous, pentamerous, large, yellow. Calyx: 5, gamosepalous, campanulate, quincuntial imbricate, green with many glands inside at base, inferior. Corolla: 5, gamopetalous, funnel shaped, slightly hairy at the throat, twisted, yellow, large, inferior. Androecium: 5, polyandrous, epipetalous, anthers are bithecous, basifixed, appendaged at top, dehiscence is longitudinal, introrse. Gynoecium: bicarpellary syncarpous with superior ovary, bilocular and in each loculus there are 2 ovules, axile placentation, style filiform, stigma bilobed, at the base of ovary nectary is present. Fruit: drupe outside fleshy and inside hard portion. [1][2] [4][5] and [7]

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Fig:-1: Fresh leaves, flowers and fruits of Thevetia peruviana (Pers.) K. Schum

REPRODUCTION AND DISPERSAL-

Seeds are the only mode of reproduction of the plant. The seeds get dispersed easily from the dumped garden wastes. [7]

ORIGIN-

The plant is a native to Mexico, South and Central America. [1]

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES-

 Milky sap is present in the plant  The leaves are long and narrow. The upper surface of the leaves are glossy and deep green in colour as compared to the lower surface.  The flowers are bell shaped and are 5-7cm long.  The fruits are fleshy and green. They turn completely black in colour as they mature. [1] [2] [3] and [7]

DISTRIBUTION OF THE PLANT-

The plant is a native of Mexico, south and central America but now it is frequently found in the tropical and the sub-tropical regions of the world. [1] and [4]

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GROWTH REQIUREMENTS-

Thevetia peruviana (Pers.) K. Schum. is an evergreen shrub. It grows best in well-drained soil with pH ranging from 6.6 to 7.5. Exposure of full sunlight provides better condition for its growth. It can easily grow in the soil having less content of water but when ample amount of water is provided its flourishes well. The plant is capable of surviving in cooler temperatures although the foliage gets damaged at the temperature of 28˚F. It can survive in natural conditions without any kind of maintenance. [1]

CULTIVATION AND PROPAGATION-

The cultivation of Thevetia peruviana (Pers.) K. Schum. is very easy as it does not require any kind of maintenance. Green house is used for its cultivation specially in winters. Propagation of the plant can be done using the seeds during spring or in early summer. The plant can also pe propagated using the hard-wood cuttings. The cuttings are specially made during the spring season. [3] and [4]

TOXIC PARTS AND TOXINS-

All the parts of the plant are extremely poisonous. The whole plant exudes a milky sap which is also very toxic. Cardiac toxins are chiefly present in the plant which directly effects the heart. Thevetin A, Thevetin B, Digitoxigenin, Thevetoxin, Theveridoside, Peruvoside, Cerberin, Rhamnose, Galactouronic acid, Aucubin, Ursolic acid, , Quercetin, Alpha and Beta Amyrin, Lupenyl acetate, Ruvoside etc. are some of the toxic chemicals found in the plant. The most important characteristic of these toxins is that they do not get easily destroyed by drying or heating. Out of all the parts the seeds contain most of these chemicals and thus is considered as the most poisonous part. Ingestion of any of the plant parts can lead to death. Many cases of accidental and intentional poisoning of human beings have been reported by different authors. In Northern Srilanka the seeds have been consumed by people for attempting suicides. Each year thousands of self-poisoning cases are reported. [2][3][4][6] and [7]

CONCLUSION-

Commonly known as yellow oleander Thevetia peruviana (Pers.) K. Schum is grown as an ornamental plant. It is an evergreen plant, naturally distributed throughout the tropical and the sub-

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tropical regions of the world. It requires very low maintenance and can easily survive at severe conditions. The plant is cultivated and propagated using the seeds and the hard-wood cuttings. The whole plant exudes milky latex. All the parts of the plant are very poisonous and ingestion of them can ultimately lead to death.

REFERENCES-

1. G. Zibbu and A. Batra (2011). Thevetia peruviana (Pers.) Schum: A Plant with Enormous Therapeutic Potential. Journal of Pharmacy Research, 4(12): 4461-4464. 2. A. S. Deshmukh (2014). Pharmacognostic and Preliminary Physiochemical Investigations of Plant Thevetia peruviana Leaves and Flowers. International Journal of Pharmacognosy, 1(10): 650-653. 3. N. Rajbhar and A. Kumar (2014). Pharmacological Importance of Thevetia peruviana. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Chemical Sciences, 3(1): 260-263. 4. A. Kumar, V. Tyagi, B. Rathi, Priyanka and Manisha (2017). Chronological Review on Phytochemical, Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Clinical Studies on Biodiesel Yielding Good Luck Tree (Thevetia peruviana). International Journal of Pure and Applied Bioscience, 5(6): 1499-1514. 5. G. Singh (2017). Plant systematics: Theory and practice. ISBN 978-81-204-1763-2 (3rd edition), 552-558. 6. M. Eddleston, C. A. Ariaratnam, W. P. Meyer, G. Perera, A. M. Kularatne, S. Attapattu, M.H.R. Sheriff, D. A. Warrell (2002). Epidemic of Self-Poisoning with Seeds of the Yellow Oleander Tree Thevetia peruviana in Northern Srilanka. Tropical Medicine and International Health, 4(4): 266-273. 7. https://keyserver.lucidcentral.org/weeds/data/media/html/cascabela_thevetia.htm

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