CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector Asian Pac J Trop Biomed 2014; 4(3): 245-252 245 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apjtb Document heading doi:10.1016/S2221-1691(14)60240-9 2014 by the Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine. All rights reserved. 襃 An update on Ayurvedic herb Convolvulus pluricaulis Choisy Parul Agarwa*, Bhawna Sharma, Amreen Fatima, Sanjay Kumar Jain Institute of Pharmacy, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi 284121, U.P, India PEER REVIEW ABSTRACT Peer reviewer Convolvulus pluricaulis C. pluricaulis Choisy ( ) is a perennial herb that seems like morning glory. Prof. Vanessa Steenkamp, Department All parts of the herb are known to possess therapeutic benefits. The plant is used locally in 2034 of Pharmacology, P.O. Box , Indian and Chinese medicine to cure various diseases. It is usedetc in Ayurvedic formulation for Pretoria 0001, South Africa. E-mail: chronic cough, sleeplessness, epilepsy, hallucinations, anxiety . Based on the comprehensive [email protected] review C.of plantpluricaulis profile, pharmacognosy, phytochemistry, pharmacological and toxicological data on the C. pluricaulis, there will be more opportunitiesC. pluricaulis for the future research and development Shashi Alok, Assistant Professor, on the herb . Information on the was collected via electronic search Institute of Pharmacy, Bundelkhand (using Pub Med, SciFinder, Google Scholar and Web of Science) and library search for articles University, Jhansi (U.P.), India. published in peer-reviewed journals. Furthermore, information also was obtained from some +91 9450036362 Tel: local books on ethnopharmacology.C. pluricaulisThis paper covers the literature, primarily pharmacological, E-mail: [email protected] from 1985 to the end of 2012. The is an important indigenous medicine, which has a long medicinal application for liver disease, epileptic disease, microbial disease, cytotoxic and Comments viral diseases, central nervous system (CNS) disease in Ayurvedic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine and other indigenousin vitro medicalin vivo systems. The isolated metabolites and crude extract This paper is a good review paper have exhibited a wide of and pharmacological effect, including CNS depression, on AyurvedicC. and pluricaulis pharmacological anxiolytic, tranquillizing, antidepressant, antistress, neurodegenerative, antiamnesic, antioxidant, activities of . Citations hypolipidemic, immunomodulatory, analgesic, antifungal, antibacterial, antidiabetic, antiulcer, used are also a good resources for anticatatonic, and cardiovascular activity. A chemical study of this plant was then initiated, reviewing and very informative to which led to the isolation of carbohydrats, proteins, alkaloids, fatty acids, steroids, coumarins, all the Ayurvedic and traditional flavanoids, and glycosides as active chemicals that bring about its biological effects. A series of practitioners. pharmacognostical studies of this plant show that it is a herb, its stemC. and pluricaulis leaves are hairy, more Details on Page 251 over it has two types of stomata, anisocytic and paracytic. A herb, has emerged as a good source of the traditional medicine for the treatment of liver disease, epileptic disease, microbial disease, cytotoxic and viral diseases, and CNS disease. Pharmacological results have validated the use of this species in traditional medicine. All the parts of the herb are known to possess therapeutic benefits. Expansion of researchC. pluricaulismaterials would provide more opportunities for the discovery of new bioactive principles from . KEYWORDS Convolvulus pluricaulis Choisy, Pharmacognosy, Microscopy, Macroscopy, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology 1. Introduction humans recognized their dependence on nature for a healthy life, and since that time humanity has depended on the In the last few years, there has been an exponential growth diversity of plant resources for food, clothing, shelter, and in the field of herbal medicine, and these drugs are gaining medicine to cure myriads of ailments[2]. Shankhpushpi of popularity both in developing and developed countries the Ayurvedic pharmacopeia of India consists of the whole Convulvulus pluricaulis because of their natural origin and less side effects[1]. Early plant of Choisy (Convolvulaceae) *Corresponding author: Parul Agarwal, Institute of Pharmacy, Bundelkhand Article history: University, Jhansi, 284121, U.P, India. Received 15 Nov 2013 Tel: +919415987306 Received in revised form 27 Nov, 2nd revised form 5 Dec, 3rd revised form 12 Dec 2013 E-mail: [email protected] Accepted 16 Jan 2014 Foundation Project: Supported by Institute of Pharmacy, Bundelkhand University, Available online 28 Mar 2014 Jhansi, U.P, India (Grant No. BU/PHARM/2013/1003). Parul Agarwal et al./Asian Pac J Trop Biomed 2014; 4(3): 245-252 246 C. pluricaulis Convulvulus microphyllus 1.2. Scientific classification syn ( ) and Sieb. ex C. microphyllus C. pluricaulis Spreng ( )[3]. Plants other than C. pluricaulis use the name Shankhpushpi in different parts of the country. The scientific classification of is Evolvulus alsinoides Clitoria ternatea These include Linn, demonstrated as follows[8]: Canscora decussata Linn and Schult. Kingdom: Plantae Indian Council of Medical Research has given quality Sub-kingdom: Tracheobionta C. pluricaulis standards for drug in its publication[4]. Super-division: Spermatophyta Although these plants proved their scientific potential in Division: Magnoliophyta central nervous system depression, anxiolytic, tranquillizing, Class: Magnoliopsida antidepressant, antistress, neurodegenerative, antiamnesic, Sub-class: Asteridae antioxidant, hypolipidemic, immunomodulatory, Order: Solanales analgesic, antifungal, antibacterial, antidiabetic, antiulcer, Family: Convolvulaceae Convolvulus anticatatonic, and cardiovascular activity. These are Genus: pluricaulis reported to contain several types of alkaloids, flavanoids, Species: and coumarins as active chemicals that bring about its 1.3. Vernacular names biological effects[5]. The plant has been found to be effective in reducing C. pluricaulis different types of stress including psychological, chemical The vernacular names of is described as and traumatic. The ethanolic and methanolic extracts of the follows: Sankhapuspa whole plant reduced spontaneous motor activity, potentiated Sanskrit: Sankhapuspi pentobarbitone hypnosis and morphine analgesia, reduced Bengal: Shankhavali fighting response, abolished the conditioned avoidance Gujarathi: Shankhapushpi, Aparajit response, antagonized convulsive seizures and tremorine Hindi: Bilikanthisoppu induced tremors in mice. The juice of whole plant prevents Kannada: Shankhavela excessive menstruation. The fine paste made by grinding the Marathi: Shankhapuspi plant is helpful to cure abscess. Ethanolic extract of whole Punjabi: Sanghupushpam, kakkurattai plant when administred to cholesterol fed gerbils, reduced Tamil: Shankhapushpi serum cholesterol, Low density lipoprotein cholesterol, Telugu: triglycerides and phospholipids significantly after 90 d. 1.4. Description The root extract of this plant regulated hyperthyroidism in C. pluricaulis female mice. The juice of fresh whole plant of C. pluricaulis possessed anti-ulcerogenic effect and is comparable to is a perennial herb that seems like morning sucralfate. Ethanolic extract of the entire plant exerted a glory. Its branches are spread on the ground and can be negative inotropic action on amphibian and mammalian more than 30 cm long. The flowers are blue in color (5 mm) myocardium. It also exerted spasmolytic activity on smooth and the leaves, which are elliptic in shape (2 mm), are muscles[6]. located at alternate positions with branches or flowers. Aloe Known as weed in English, the herb is commonly found 1.1. Plant profile and synonyms in India, especially in the state of Bihar[9]. , 1.5. Chemical constituents Figure 1 shows the profile of this plant and the synonyms C. pluricaulis C. microphyllus of this plant include and [7]. C. pluricaulis The chemical constituents of are shown in Table 1[5]. 1.6. Medicinal importance of C. pluricaulis C. pluricaulis is of various medicinal uses. It is used for treatment of hypertension, neurodegenerative diseases, ulcers, high blood pressure, epilepsy, vomiting, diabetes, sun stroke and bleeding. In addition, it can also be used to improve memory and decrease cholesterol[10]. 1.7. Traditional uses Figure 1. C. pluricalis Many previous studies have reported the traditional uses . Parul Agarwal et al./Asian Pac J Trop Biomed 2014; 4(3): 245-252 247 Table 1 C. pluricaulis Chemical constituents of . Class Chemical constituents Carbohydrats D-glucose, maltose, rhamnose, sucrose, starch and other carbohydrats Proteins and amino acids Proteins and amino acids Alkaloids Shankhapushpine, convolamine, convoline, convolidine, convolvine, confoline, convosine Fatty acids/volatile acids/fixed oil Volatile oils, fatty acids, fatty alcohols, hydrocarbons,myristic acids, palmitic acids and linoleic acids β Phenolic/glycosides/triterpenoids/steroids Scopoletin, -sitosterol, ceryl alcohols, 20-oxodotriacontanol, tetratriacontanoic acids, flavonoid-kampferol, steroids-phytosterols C. pluricaulis. of This plant is reported to be a prominent Table 3 memory improving drug, a psychostimulant and tranquilize, C. Preliminary microscopical characters of ethanolic extracts