An Overview of Important Endemic Plants and Their Products in Iran
Raymond Cooper, Jeffrey John Deakin in Natural Products of Silk Road Plants, 2020
Cannabis sativa (Figure 7.26) is an annual plant growing up to 2.5 m by 0.8 m. The species is dioecious. The plant is not self-fertile. It is suitable to grow in light (sandy), medium (loamy), and heavy (clay) soils. It is suitable to grow in the soil with acid, neutral, and basic (alkaline) pH and can grow in very acid and very alkaline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil. Hemp, or more appropriately cannabis since the form grown for fiber contains much less of the medicinally active compounds, has a very long history of medicinal use, though it is illegal to grow in many countries since the leaves and other parts of the plant are widely used as a narcotic drug. Cannabis contains a wide range of active ingredients, perhaps the most important of which is THC. The principal uses of the plant are as a painkiller, sleep-inducer, and reliever of the nausea caused by chemotherapy, while it also has a soothing influence in nervous disorders. The whole plant is anodyne, anthelmintic, anti-emetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-periodic, anti-spasmodic, cholagogue, diuretic, emollient, hypnotic, hypotensive, laxative, narcotic, ophthalmic, and sedative. It has also been found of use in the treatment of glaucoma and relieves the distressing constant desire to urinate that is suffered by many people with multiple sclerosis. Given to patients suffering from AIDS, it helps them to put on weight. Since it strongly increases the desire for food, it has been found of benefit in treating anorexia nervosa. It is used externally as a poultice for corns, sores, varicose veins, gout, and rheumatism.
Nutraceutical Intervention for Treatment of Alcoholism and Drinking Problems
Raj K. Keservani, Anil K. Sharma, Rajesh K. Kesharwani in Nutraceuticals and Dietary Supplements, 2020
Wormwood is innate to temperate regions of Eurasia and Northern Africa. It is herbaceous silvery-green perennial plant, with a hard, woody rhizome, growing up to 1.5 m tall that contains the volatile oil thujone. It grows naturally on uncultivated, arid ground, on rocky slopes, and at the edge of footpaths and fields. Thujone, the intoxicating chemical in Artemisia, and tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient of marijuana, have similar molecules, and both attach to the related receptor spots in the brain. It is added to distilled ethanol to create absinthe. Its effects alone are not well studied. However, the thujone content of alcoholic beverages containing Artemisia is less than one-twentieth of the amount needed for intoxication. It is a constituent in the liquor absinthe and also used for flavoring some other spirits and wines, such as bitters, vermouth, and pelinkovac. It is also used therapeutically as a liver tonic, in liver failure, stomachic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, carminative, cholagogue, febrifuge, and anthelmintic. It is used to reduce the inflammation of the gall bladder and to treat jaundice and hepatitis caused by the ingestion of chemicals.
Functional Properties of Milk Yam (Ipomoea Digitata L.)
Megh R. Goyal, Hafiz Ansar Rasul Suleria, Ramasamy Harikrishnan in The Role of Phytoconstitutents in Health Care, 2020
It is also used: as a galactagogue, restorative, carminative, expectorant, anthelmintic, stomachic, and appetizer [27]; and for treating leprosy, syphilis, gonorrhea, inflammations, burning sensation, vomiting, gastric ulcer, ulcerative colitis, hoarseness, etc. [18, 119]. It is a blood purifier as well as a voice and complexion improver, but it causes ‘Kapha.’ Its roots are used for applying on swellings of joints [23]. Its flowers are also sweet, cooling, aphrodisiac, used for curing biliousness but, it causes ‘Vata’ and ‘Kapha’ [49]. Khare [48] mentioned its use as a cholagogue, which increases bile flow to the intestine. In India, its seeds are used for coagulating milk [82].
Quality Control Standardization and Evaluation of Antimicrobial Potential of Daruhaldi (Berberis aristata DC) Stem Bark
Published in Journal of Dietary Supplements, 2020
Mohammad Irfan Khan, Md. Azizur Rahman, Mohammad Khalid, Mohammad Khushtar, Md. Mujahid
Berberis aristata DC belonging to the family Berberidaceae is mainly found in the Himalayan region from the Garhwal region to the Bhutan region. It is a very important source of an Unani drug, specifically Zarishk. It is commonly known as Daruhaldi (in Hindi), Zarishk (in Unani), Daruharidra (in Sanskrit), and Indian berberry (in English) (Indian Council of Medical Research 2004). It is used as a bitter tonic, stomachic, cholagogue, antipyretic, diaphoretic, laxative, and antiseptic and is given externally for painful eyes, hemorrhoids, and indolent ulcers (Indian Council of Medical Research 2004). Its bark is also used as antidiabetic and antimalarial (Malhotra and Balodi 1984; Srivastava et al. 1986; Jha et al. 1997; Semwal et al. 2008). Bark of this plant contains isoquinoline alkaloids as well as berberine (the yellow alkaloid) and kakrachine, berbamine, aromaline, palmatine, oxyberberine, oxyacanthine, jatrorrhizine, and taxilamine (Chakravarti et al. 1950). Hence, B. aristata DC bark was evaluated in the present study for its quality control and antimicrobial potential.
Integration of network pharmacology and intestinal flora to investigate the mechanism of action of Chinese herbal Cichorium intybus formula in attenuating adenine and ethambutol hydrochloride-induced hyperuricemic nephropathy in rats
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2022
Na Li, Mukaram Amatjan, Pengke He, Boheng Zhang, Xianyan Mai, Qianle Jiang, Haochen Xie, Xiaoni Shao
Uyghur medicine with a centuries-old history and an independent and complete theoretical system is an inseparable part of the treasure-house of TCM. The formula of Cichorium intybus L. (Asteraceae) originated from the Valuable Prescriptions for Emergency written by Sun Simiao. Cichorium intybus (CF) consisted of five herbs including Cichorii radix (the root of Cichorium intybus, Juju), Gardeniae fructus (the ripe fruit of Gardenia jasminoides J.Ellis [Rubiaceae], Zhizi), Lilii bulbus (the fleshly scale leaf of Lilium brownii F.E.Br. ex Miellez [Liliaceae], Baihe), Mori folium (the folium of Morus alba L. [Moraceae], Sangye) and Puerariae lobatae radix (the root of Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi [Fabacea], Gegen). Among them, Cichorii radix is the traditional medicinal material of Uygur people, which was considered a diuretic and cholagogue and is frequently used in the treatment of jaundice, edoema and oliguria (Rolnik and Olas 2021). Previous articles have demonstrated that chicory or chicory extract can decrease serum UA levels and ameliorate the progression of renal injury in HUA (Bian et al. 2018; Jin et al. 2018). Likewise, studies have assessed the uricosuric and nephroprotective effects of Fructus Gardenia extract (Hu et al. 2013). It has been indicated that the new water-soluble carbon dots of Pueraria lobata radix can lower the blood UA concentration and improve the degree of swelling and pathological damage in gouty arthritis by inhibiting the activity of xanthine oxidase (XO) in model rats (Wang X et al. 2019). And (Wan et al. 2018) have demonstrated the antioxidant activity and XO inhibitory effect of mulberry leaf ethanolic extract, indicating the potential future of mulberry leaves as a natural anti-hyperuricaemia drug. Although CF is typically prescribed for the treatment of gout, little is known about its effect on HN, or its potential mechanism of action.