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Botany
· Small stemless herb
with stout and elongated rootstock and with copious, spreading
fibers.
· Leaves: sessile or petiolate, linear or narrowly lanceolate,
15 to 20 cm long, 1 to 2.5 cm wide and with pointed tip. Scape very
short, clavate.
· Flowers: distichous, bright yellow, with the lowest
in the raceme perfect and the upper, male. The perianth produced
above the ovary consists of filiform, hairy, very slender strips
which are 10 to 25 cm long and which alone, with the perianth
segments, appear above ground. Segments 12 to 18 mm long, oblong-ovate,
acute, and dorsally hairy. Stamens small, with short filaments.
· Fruits: oblong, about 10 mm in diameter. Seeds oblong
and black with the testa deeply grooved in wavy lines.
Distribution
in open grasslands, chiefly
in Cogonales areas at low and medium altitudes.
Found in Bontoc, Pangasinan, Rizal and Sorsogon provinces in
Luzon, and in Mindoro, Palawan, Biliran, Panay and Mindanao,
Parts utilized
· Rhizome.
· Collect from early February to late October.
· Remove roots and rootlets, rinse, cut into pieces.
· Sun dry.
Properties
and constituents
According to Ayurveda, root is healing,
aphrodisiac, appetizer, alternative.
According to Unani, root is carminative, tonic, aphrodisiac, antipyretic.
Yields active compounds: flavones, glycosides, steroids, saponins, triterpenoids
and secondary metabolites.
Phytochemical study yielded starch, enzymes, tannins, ash; contains
glycoside, orcinol-1-0-beta-D-apiofuranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside,
curculigoside, syringic acid. source
Uses
Folkloric
· For lumbago, weak kidney,
neurasthenia, urine retention, chronic nephritis, impotency, bed-wetting.
· Hypertension among women at late ages, chronic arthritis.
· Weakening of the knees and lumbar regions, numbness of the
4 limbs, rheumatic arthritis.
· Dosage: use 3 to 9 gms dried materials in decoction. Use pounded
fresh material as poultice for treatment of anonymous infections.
• In Ayurveda, used
for treatment of piles, biliousness, fatigue and blood disorders.
• In Unani, used
for bronchitis, ophthalmic, indigestion, vomiting, diarrhea, lumbago,
joint pains.
• In India, Pakistan
and China, tuberous roots
have been used for cancer, jaundice, asthma, wound healing. Rhizome
juice extract has been used as tonic to overcome impotence.
• In India, plant
rhizome has been used as an aphrodisiac.
Studies
• Anti-osteoporosis:
Curculigo orchioides ethanol extract showed a definite protective effect
on bone loss in ovariectomized rats by inhibiting bone resorption and
increasing S phosphorus and calcium levels.
• Antioxidant / Hepatoprotective:
(1) Study showed the antioxidant and hepatoprotectived capacity of CO in carbon tetrachloride-induced
hepatopathy in rats. (2) In a study of hepatotoxic rats, the co-administration of the methanolic extract of CO rhizomes showed a tendency to attain near normalcy in the biochemical and histopatholigic parameters.
• Anti-asthmatic:
Ethanol extract of C orchioides showed to effective against histamine-induced
contraction and indicated a usefulness of CO in the treatment of asthma.
• Antibacterial:
Study showed the steam distilled extract of C orchioides has a potential
as antiseptic for the prevention and treatment of antibacterial infections..
• Antimicrobial / Anti-tumor / Saponins:
Study showed antibacterial (P aeruginosa, S aureus, K pneumonia), antifungal
(Aspergillus niger and A flavus) and antitumor activities of different
fractioned extracts of CO attributed to the presence of plant glycosides, saponins.
• Spermatogenic Activity:
A study of ethanolic extract in albino rats showed pronounced effect
of orientation of male towards female rates, increased anogenital sniffing
and mounting, increased spermatogenesis, findiings that support the
folk use of the plant as an aphrodisiac.
• Immunostimulatory:
(1) The plant rhizomes have been used to treat declining strength, jaundice
and asthma. The study of its methanolic extract showed significant immunostimulant
activity in an isolated purified glycoside-rich fraction, acting on
both lymphocytes and macrophages. (2) Methanol extract of CO exhibited a potential as a protective agent against cytotoxic drugs. In a study on humoral and cell mediated immunity in normal and cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppressed mice, results showed a dose-dependent increase in humoral antibody titre and delayed-type hypersensitivity.
• Antidiabetic:
In a study of alcohol and aqueous extracts tested with alloxan-induced diabetic rats, both produced significant hypoglycemic activity when compared with diabetic control.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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