Houttuynia Cordata Thunb

Indian Journal of Natural Products and Resources Vol. 4(4), December 2013, pp. 432-435

Ethnobotanical notes on Houttuynia cordata Thunb. in North-eastern region of India

R S Rathi*, Somnath Roy, A K Misra and S K Singh National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR-ICAR), Regional Station, Umiam-793 103, Meghalaya, India Received 29 August 2012; Accepted 16 May 2013

Houttuynia cordata Thunb. (Family-Saururaceae) is an ethnobotanically important plant of North eastern region of India. It is a potential source of antioxidants and used extensively in treating number of diseases such as cancer, coronary heart disease, diabetes, severe acute respiratory syndrome, blood deficiency, dysentery, etc. This herb is sensitive to severe cold and remains dormant during winter and propagated through rhizomes. It is a good soil binder due to spreading nature of roots and leaves. The herb is generally collected from wild and occasionally cultivated as homestead plant. This has resulted great pressure on the populations occurring in the natural habitats and the plant has become endangered in many parts of North-east India. This calls for sustainable management and conservation of wild and cultivated resources of H. cordata.

Keywords: Houttuynia cordata, Saururaceae, Medicinal plant, North-east India. IPC code; Int. cl. (2011.01)−A61K 36/00.

Introduction and gather different plants/herbs from the forests and Houttuynia cordata Thunb(a). is one of the use in different ways. The tribes of NE region collect important plant of the family Saururaceae1. It is native H. cordata from the wild habitats both for to mountainous region of Eastern Asia and occurring consumption and for selling in local markets. up to an elevation of 2500 m asl. It is assumed that the The leaves and rhizomes of H. cordata are used as ancient people in China were the first to discover the vegetable, condiments and spices either cooked or medicinal properties of this plant and they used the raw. The roots and leaves are also consumed as herb both for edible and medicinal purposes. It is salad2. The herb is used as folk medicine as it has widespread in North-eastern (NE) region of India and antiviral, antibacterial, immune-stimulant, diuretic, is known with different local names, viz. Fish mint, anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects3,4. The Fish wort, Chameleon, Lizard’s tail in English; Japanese people use the leaves for preparing a Ja-myrda or Jmyr-doh in Khasi; Machha-turi in Garo; beverage called Dokudami cha. It is considered as a Ashundary, Tengalai, Dimasa - Mojoukhmo, Hmar -Ai good blood purifier. Leaves are used to cure stomach thang and Pnar-Jarmendo in Assam; Mumbre, Siiya ulcer and boiled extract of rhizomes for muscular hamang, Muchandariin in Arunachal Pradesh; Toning pains. The brew made of dried herb is considered very khokin in Manipur; Uithinthang in Mizo; Nuichua or effective for detoxification, hypertension, Nokana in Nagaland; Gandhi Jhar in Nepal and constipation, pulmonary tuberculosis and diuretics. Ghandhay jhar in North Bengal and Sikkim. The Besides, it is a good soil binder to protect soils from entire North-eastern region of India represents a erosion in hilly slopes. Considering the importance of unique set of topography, economic, sociological, this plant, we have collected plant materials from diversity and cultural conditions which differ mostly Nagaon (Assam), W. Kemeng, Lower Subansiri and from the rest of the country. It is inhabitated by more Kurung Kumey (Arunachal Pradesh) which are being than 150 tribes with variegated systems. These tribal conserved in field gene bank at Umiam. people living in the remote forest areas still depends to a great extent on the indigenous traditional systems Distribution and Habitat It is distributed in Bhutan, China, Indonesia, Japan, ______Korea, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, *Correspondent author: Phone: 0364-25701933; Fax: 0364-2570651 North-West Himalayan region and NE Region of E-mail: [email protected] India. It was introduced in European countries and RATHI et al: HOUTTUYNIA CORDATA IN NORTH-EASTERN REGION OF INDIA 433

gained popularity due to various medicinal properties. Propagation It grows well in moist and wet climatic conditions on It is propagated through rhizomes (Plate 1c), root wide range of soils such as sandy loam, clay loam and ball and seeds; however, the plants produced from even on rocky places, with an average pH of 5.9 and seeds are usually sterile. The root balls/rhizomes are 78% moisture5. It is a shade loving plant, thus can be sliced in to small pieces and placed 5 cm below the cultivated easily in areas, which has very low light surface of soil with a spacing of 15×100 cm. It is intensity and are shady. Generally grow in ditch planted early in the month of February. It starts banks, thicket field margins, forests, wet meadows, flowering in the month of April and continued up to slopes, streams sides, ravines, rocky hills or November and fruiting occurs between May to mountains parts and river banks. December. One and half month old plants are suitable for consumption and marketing. Botanical description Perennial herb attained 30 to 60 cm height with Biochemical properties creeping and thin rhizomatous in nature (Plate 1a). The herb contains a variety of flavonoids, Basal part of stems creeping rooted in whorls at glycosides, pyridine alkaloids and essential oils8. Four nodes, apical part erect, glabrous/pubescent on nodes flavonoids, viz. rutin, hyperoside, quercitrin and and sometimes purplish-red in colour. Stipular sheath quercetin, have been reported from H. cordata9. The is 1-2.5 cm in length and one fourth to half as long as protein contents in leaves and rhizomes are 8.13 % petiole, usually ciliate, base enlarged and slightly and 11.5 %, respectively. The herb has disagreeable clasping. Petiole is 1-3.5 cm in length and glabrous. odour which is due to the presence of β-myrcene and The leaf blade broadly ovate to cordate, 4-10 cm long, 2-decanone. The fatty acid content of the essential oil 3-6 cm wide, densely glandular, usually glabrous, is about 81%10. Among the methylated fatty acids, sometimes pubescent at vein axils, generally purplish capric acid methyl (43.66%), methyl laurate abaxially, apex shortly acuminate; veins 5-7, basal or (16.15%), methyl hexadecanoate (9.27%), undecanoic innermost pair arising ca. 5 above base. Inflorescences acid methyl (5.62%), methyl oleate (1.98%) and are yellow in colour with 1.5-2.5 cm long and 3-6 mm methyl linoleate (1.40%) are predominant. Other wide; peduncles are 1.5-3 cm in length and sub major constituents were β-myrcene (1.62%), glabrous; involucral bracts oblong to ovate, 10-15 mm 1-terpinen-4-ol (1.59%), decanal (1.49%) and long, 5-7 mm wide with rounded apex. Bracts are 2-undecanone (1.47%). The roots contain crude fat whitish, linear and inconspicuous (Plate 1b). Stamens (2.07±0.06%), protein (12.22±0.22%), carbohydrate are 3 times longer than ovary and having 2-3 mm (23.45±2.11%) and minerals such as Na (1.30 mg/g), capsule with persistent style. Seed are dicotyledons, K (49.65 mg/g), Ca (8.25 mg/g), Mn (0.08 mg/g) and sterile and sometimes produce false plants and the Fe (0.98 mg/g) 11. The micronutrient profile of this 1000 seed weight is around 0.04g6,7. Its rhizomatous herb was also observed by Murugkar (2006)12 on the root spreads under the soil up to 90 cm on the sides in a basis µ% fresh weight and it has Ca (89.7 %), Fe year. Roots start sprouting after winter months. (3.3%) and β-carotene (28.6). The herb also contains

Plate 1 (a) A bundle of full-grown herb (b) flower and (c) fresh rhizomes of Houttuynia cordata 434 INDIAN J NAT PROD RESOUR, DECEMBER 2013

significant amount of water soluble polysaccharides young shoots and leaves juice is taken in case of cholera, such as galacturonic acid (29.4%) and galactose dysentery and curing blood deficiency by Khasi, Jaintia (24.0%), rhamnose (17.2%), arabinose (13.5%), and Garo and other tribes in Meghalaya26. glucuronic acid (6.8%), glucose (5.3%), xylose (2.1%) and mannose (1.8%)13. Market importance It is sold in small bundles in the local markets of Ethnobotanical uses Assam and Meghalaya and one bundle of The herb has many health benefits and it acts against approximately 50 g of weight costs about Rs.3-5. The allergies, asthma and bacterial infection and removes retail price in plain and hilly areas of Manipur range free radicals (toxins) from the body. It has strong between Rs.75-110 per kg. The aerial parts of herb antioxidant properties which act against stress related have been sold @ Rs.10-15 per bundle (250-300g) in diseases such as cancer, coronary heart disease, 22 retail market of North Cachar Hills area of Assam . diabetes14 and infections15. Leaves have been used to 16 treat the measles, dysentery and gonorrhoea . This Conclusion plant is proven to have antibacterial effects against H. cordata is extensively used as leafy vegetable, many bacteria such as, Trichophyton, Staphylococci, salad and to cure various ailments by the natives of Gonococci, Tubercle bacilli, etc. The whole plant is NE region of India. It contains water soluble dried/brewed and used for treatments in antipyretics, polysaccharides which are useful for medicine and diuretics, pus removal, constipation, colds, food industry. Realizing the importance of this detoxification, swelling, hypertension, tuberculosis and species, a sysematic management and utilization para-nasal sinusitis. The injection prepared from this needs to be initiated. plant is a traditional Chinese medicine used in severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a life-threatening References form of pneumonia owing to the effect of curbing 1 Liang H-X, On the evolution and distribution in Saururaceae, inflammation17,18. It is antidotal astringent, anti- Acta Bot Yunnan, 1995, 17, 255-267. inflammatory, analgesic and slow laxative. The root 2 Haywood VH, Flowering Plants of the World, Oxford University Press, 1979. juice is applied on skin to treat wounds and other skin 19 3 Yoshino H, Imai N, Nabae K, Doi Y, Tamano S, Ogawa K problems by the inhabitants in the North-east region . and Shirai T, Thirteen-week oral toxicity study of Dokudami Externally it is used for abscesses, anal prolapsed, bone extract (Houttuynia cordata Thunb.) in F344/DuCrj rats, growth stimulation, injuries, snake bites15, swelling, J Toxicol Pathol, 2005, 18, 175-182. urinary troubles and detoxification16. 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