CIKITUSI JOURNAL FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ISSN NO: 0975-6876 GENUS SPHAERANTHUS: AN UPDATE Jagadesh Singh1* and Amar Singh2 1University Institute of Pharma Sciences, Chandigarh University, Mohali-140413, Punjab, India *Corresponding author: Dr. Jagadesh Singh, Associate Professor, University Institute of Pharma Sciences, Chandigarh University, Mohali-140413, Punjab, India. Abstract Sphaeranthus indicus is a well-known plant used in the Indian system of medicine. The plant is widely distributed throughout the plains and wet-lands of India, Sri Lanka and Australia. Folklore medicine claims its use in epileptic convulsion, mental illness, hemicranias, as a general tonic, deobstruent, aphrodisiac etc. Various biologically active compounds have been isolated from S. indicus. Sphaeranthus Linn. is a genus of plants belonging to family Asteraceae. Most of the species of this genus are aromatic herbs occurring as weed in paddy fields, in temperate regions. S. indicus is the only plant of this genus which has been widely explored pharmacognostically, phytochemically and pharmacologically. Other important species of this genus are S. africans Linn., S. alatus, S. amaranthoides Burm. f., S. indicus Linn., S. suaveolens and S. zeylanicus. The review article contains ethnopharmacology, morphology, microscopy, physico-chemical parameters, Phytochemistry and pharmacological updates of the genus Sphaeranthus which may be beneficial for the researchers, academicians, medical practitioners working in the field of natural products. Volume 5, Issue 7, July 2018 57 http://cikitusi.com/ CIKITUSI JOURNAL FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ISSN NO: 0975-6876 1. Ethnopharmacology S. indicus (synonym S. hirtus Willd) is an aromatic, much branched herb, 30-60 cm high found abundantly in damp and shady places in Sri Lanka, Africa, Australia, Ceylon, Malay and China. In India it is found in plains all over the country, ascending to an altitude of 1,500 m in the hills. It is an Ayurvedic and Unani drug commonly known as Gul-E-Mundi, Mundi, Gorakhmundi, Alambusta, Sembung delan, Kottakkarantai, Sravani, East Indian globe. The plant is cultivated throughout India in rainy season (Rosenblatt et al., 1976; Kirtikar and Basu, 1998, Chatterjee and Chanderprakashi, 2003; API, 2007). It is widely used in Ayurvedic system for the treatment of mental disorders, diabetes, jaundice, tuberculosis, spleen disease, anaemia, leucoderma, vagina pain, asthma, piles and leprosy. The plant has been used traditionally as tonic, laxative, digestive, anthelmintic, in bronchitis and elephantiasis. Roots are bitter, acrid, sweet, thermogenic, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge and stomachic, use in diabetes, hernia, haemorrhoids, helminthiasis and dyspepsia. Root oil is used in scrofula. Leaf has been used in skin diseases and as a nervine tonic. (Kirtikar and Basu, 1998; Chopra et al., 1956). Flowers are used as alterative, depurative, cooling and tonic. These are also used as blood purifier in skin diseases and employed internally as well as externally in chronic skin ulcerations, irritation, scabies and ringworms. Powdered bark mixed with whey is a valuable remedy for piles. Hindus used to make a kind of confection of the young plant by rubbing it up with clarified butter, flour and sugar. A portion of this taken daily is said to be a good tonic and prevents the hair turning white or falling off (Kirtikar and Basu, 1998). S. amaranthoides has been traditionally used for the treatment of eczema, blood disorder, stomach worms, filaria, fever, skin diseases and as a remover of kapha, vata and piles (Kirtikar & Basu, 1998). Volume 5, Issue 7, July 2018 58 http://cikitusi.com/ CIKITUSI JOURNAL FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ISSN NO: 0975-6876 S. zeylanicus leaves have been traditionally used as astringent, diuretic, stomachic, antispasmodic, anti-syphilitic and anti-emollient (Hasani et al., 2009). 2. Morphology, microscopy and physico-chemical parameters Bafna et al. (2006) reported the morphology of stem and flower of S. indicus. Flower morphology is also documented in Ayurevdic Pharmacopoeia of India (API, 2007). Microscopy of different parts of S. indicus and physico-chemical parameters viz. ash values, extractive values, foreign organic matter, etc. are very well documented (Vikani et al., 2008; Mallya et al., 2014; Gowri et al., 2015; API, 2007). Sphaeranthus indicus is an annual herb with sessile, decurrent, obovate, bristly serrate, downy, glutinous leaves and globular heads of purple flowers. The stem is greenish in colour; roots are brown externally and internally light brown, tuberous with 10-15 cm in length and 0.1-0.4 cm in diameter with longitudinal striations and transverse scars seen at regular intervals (I.K. Makhija et al., 2011). Figure :- 1 Morphology of S. indicus (Varsha J. et al., 2010) Volume 5, Issue 7, July 2018 59 http://cikitusi.com/ CIKITUSI JOURNAL FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ISSN NO: 0975-6876 Table 1: Figure 2: Microscopy of the stolon and root of S. indicus, (A). Photomicrograph showing transverse section of the stolon of S. indicus, (B). A portion of vascular bundle of the stolon (enlarged) Ep-epidermis, En-endodermis, Pf- pericyclic fibres, Ph-phloem, Xy-xylem, Pi-pith, Sph-secondary phloem, Spf- secondary phloem fibres and (C). Microscopy of the root of S. indicus Cr- cork, Xy-xylem, Ph-phloem, Sph- secondary phloem 3. Phytochemistry Phytochemical analysis of air dried roots and rhizome of S. indicus carried out revealed the presence of steroids, fats and oils in petroleum extract; carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, tannins, phenols, steroids, fats and oils in the methanolic extract and carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, tannins, phenolic compounds, saponins and alkaloids in the aqueous extract (Shirwaikar et al., 2006; Ambavade et al., 2006). Volume 5, Issue 7, July 2018 60 http://cikitusi.com/ CIKITUSI JOURNAL FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ISSN NO: 0975-6876 Only one species of the genus Sphaeranthus has been explored with respect to phytoconstituents. Table 1 summarizes the phytoconstituents reported from the plant. Figure 1 shows structures of some selected constituents reported from the genus. Table 2: Various phytoconstituents reported from S. indicus Species Phytoconstituents Glycosides: 5-hydroxy-7-methoxy-6-C-glycosylflavone, β-D-Glucoside of 24(s)24-ethylcholesta-5,22-dien-3-β-ol, sphaerantholide and 5,49- dimethoxy-39-prenylbiochanin 7-O-β-D-galactoside, (Shekhani and Muazzam, 1990; Yadav and Kumar, 1998; Bhuvan et al., 2007; Mishra et al., 2007) Phenols: n-triacontanol, 11α, 13-dihydro-3α, 7α-dihydroxy-4,5-epoxy- 6β,7-eudesmanolide, 11α,13-dihydro-7α-acetoxy-3β-hydroxy-6β, 7- eudesm-4-enolide and 3-keto-β-eudesmol, 2-hydroxycostic acid and 7-hydroxyeudesmanolides (Rojatkar and Nagasampagi, 1992; Sohoni et al., 1988; Supada and Bhimsen, 1992; Prasad et al., 2000; Jadhav et al., 2007; Pujar et al., 2000) Essential oil: d-cadinene, α-ionone, p-methoxycinnamaldehyde, α- terpinene, citral, geraniol, geranyl acetate, methyl chavicol, β-ionone, oscimene, eugenol, sphaeranthene, sphaeranthol, cadiene and Indicusene, (Baslas, 1959; Lodha, 2003; Kaul et al., 2005; Ambavade S. indicus et al., 2006) Alkaloid: sphaeranthine (Basu and Lamsal., 1946) Carbohydrates: arabinose, galactose, glucose, fructose, raffinose, lactose, maltose and rhamnose (Yadav and Kumar, 1998) Terpenoids: 7-hydroxyeudesm-4-en-6, 12-olide, 4-epicryptomeridiol, β-eudesmol, ilicic acid, n-pentacosan, hentriacontane, cryptomeridiol, d-cadinene, p-methoxycinnamaldehyde (Gogte et al., 1986) Phytosterols: β-sitosterol, stigmasterol (Mishra et al., 2007) Inorganic elements: major elements – aluminum (Al), calcium (Ca) magnesium (Mg) and potassium (K); minor elements – iron (Fe), manganese (Mn) and sodium (Na); trace elements – bromine (Br), lanthanum (La), scandium (Sc), vanadium (V) and zinc (Zn) (Moscow and Jothivenkatachalam, 2012; Chavan et al., 2014) Others: 7- hydroxyfrullanolide (Sangeetha et al., 2010) Volume 5, Issue 7, July 2018 61 http://cikitusi.com/ CIKITUSI JOURNAL FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ISSN NO: 0975-6876 H3C CH2 CH3 CH3 Oscimene CHO OCH3 OCH3 Methyl chavicol p-methoxycinnamaldehyde Volume 5, Issue 7, July 2018 62 http://cikitusi.com/ CIKITUSI JOURNAL FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ISSN NO: 0975-6876 Glactose-O O OCH3 OCH O 3 OH HO (CH2)29 CH3 5,4'-dimethoxy-3'-prenylbiochanin 7-O--D-galactoside n-triacontanol Me OH OH HO O HO O Me HO Me O Sphaerantholide O Figure 3: Chemical structures of some phytoconstituents reported from S. indicus 4. Pharmacology S. amaranthoides is reported to have antimicrobial, antidiarrhoeal (Latha et al., 2009), antioxidant (Geethalakshmi et al., 2013; Gayatri et al., 2014), wound healing (Latha et al., 2009; Geethalakshmi et al., 2013), analgesic, anti-inflammatory (Thanigavelan et al., 2012), hepatoprotective (Latha and Reddy, 2012), antidiabetic (Latha and Reddy, 2012) and antibacterial activity (Sathya et al., 2015). Leaves are reported to possess antioxidant, antimutagenic and antimicrobial activitiy (Prabakaran et al., 2011). Latha and Nagalakshmi, (2014) have reported the cytotoxicity of alkaloid fraction of S. amaranthoids in A549 cell lines that can help in developing an anticancer agent. S. indicus is reported to possess analgesic (Nanda et al., 2009), mosquito larvicidal (Lal et al., 1976; Sharma and Saxena, 1996), anticonvulsant (Sander et al., 1996; Harborne 1998), antioxidant (Shiwarkar et al., 2006; Mathew et al., 2009; Tiwari and Khosa, 2009), antihyperglycemic (Prabhu et al., 2008), neuroleptic (Galani