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Family Amaryllidaceae / Asparagaceae
Azucena
Polianthes tuberosa Linn.

TUBEROSE
Ye lai xiang

Scientific names  Common names
Polianthes tuberosa Linn. Azucena (Span., Tag.)
  Baston de San Jose (Span., Tag.)
  Nardo (C. Bis.)
  Tuberose (Engl.)
  Ye lai xiang (Chin.)


Baston de San Jose lists as common names for two different plants: Cordyline fruticosa (Tungkod -pare) and Polianthes tuberosa (Azucena).

Botany
Rootstock is stout and tuberous. The basal leaves are linear, 40 to 60 cm long, less than a cm wide, those on the stem much shorter. The inflorescence is erect, 0.5 to 1 m high. Flowers are fragrant, waxy white, in pairs, 5 to 6 cm long, and the segments, oblong-lanceolate, 1 to 1.5 cm long.

Distribution
Cultivated for its fragrant flowers.

Constituents and chemical properties
Volatile oil from the flowers isolated tuberone.
Methyl anthranilate has been noted in the tuberose oil.
Inulin has been reported in the bulbs.

Uses
Folkloric
• Bulbs have been used in decoction for gonorrhea.
• Poultice of bulbs employed as maturative in the formation of pus in boils or abscesses.
• In India, flowers used as diuretic and emetic.
• In Sind, bulbs are dried, powdered and used for gonorrhea.
Others
Volatile oil used in perfumery/
In aromatherapy, the warm and seductive scent is useful as a hypnotic for women suffering from insomnia and depressed with low sexual drive.


Studies
Steroidal Glycosides / Cytotoxic Activity:
Study of aerial parts of Polianthes tuberosa isolated a new bisdesmosidic cholestane glycoside and 3 new spirostanol saponins along with known cholestane glycoside. The compounds were evaluated for cytotoxic activity on HL-60 human promyelocytic leukemia cells.
Immunosuppressive Activity: Study yielded an acidic polysaccharide (ANK-102) from P tuberosa cells. Pretreatment with ANK-102 deteriorated the murine survival against lethal injection of Listeria monocytogenes, eliminated manily by macrophages through T-cell mediated immune response.
Spirostanol and Furostanol Glycosides / Cytotoxicity: Study yielded six new steroid glycosides - two spirostanols, polianthosides B and C, and four furostanols, polianthosides D-G - from the fresh tubers of PT, together with seven known spirostanols and a known furostanol saponins. The cytotoxic activities against HeLa cells are reported.

Availability
Cultivated.
Wildcrafted.


Last Update July 2010

IMAGE SOURCE: Digitally modified / PD / File:Polianthes tuberosa.jpg / Illustration of Polianthes tuberosa / John Sims (1746-1799) / Curtis's botanical magazine vol. 43 tabl. 1817 from www.botanicus.org / 1816 / Wikimedia Commons

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Polysaccharide (Ank-102) from Polianthes Tuberosa Cells Deteriorates the Resistance of Mice to Listeria Monocytogenes Infection / Toshiro Majima et al / Summary Immunopharmacology and Immunotoxicology1995, Vol. 17, No. 1, Pages 59-68 / DOI 10.3109/08923979509052720
(2)
Steroidal Glycosides from the Aerial Parts of Polianthes tuberosa
/ Yoshihiro Mimaki et al / J. Nat. Prod., 2000, 63 (11), pp 1519–1523 / DOI: 10.1021/np000230r
(3)
Intermittent insomnia: various treatment schemes in Medicina Naturale / Carlo Di Stanislao et al
(4)
Spirostanol and Furostanol Glycosides from the Fresh Tubers of Polianthes tuberosa / Jian-Ming Jin et al / J. Nat. Prod., 2004, 67 (1), pp 5–9 / DOI: 10.1021/np034028a


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