Holarrhena pubescens Wall. ex G. Don. (Apocynaceae)

Abstract

It is native to central and southern Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Indochina, and parts of China. Bark is bitter, stomachic, astringent, powerful antidysenteric, febrifuge and anthelmintic, and constitutes the principal medicine for dysentery in all systems of traditional Indian medicine. The bark is one of the most important drugs in Hindu Materia Medica, and is described as astringent, cold and digestive, and is a remedy for piles, dysentery, leprosy and phlegmatic humours. Sushruta said it is expectorant, an antidote to poisons, cures dysuria, urinary and skin diseases, checks nausea and vomiting, allays pruritus, improves the condition of bad ulcers, relieves stomach pain and checks the derangement of three humours, i.e. phlegm, air and bile. According to Charaka and Sushruta, every part of the plant except the flower is used as a snakebite remedy; certain authors have disputed this property. Seeds are cooling, appetizer, astringent, anthelmintic, analgesic and used for leprosy, burning sensations, dysentery, skin diseases, biliousness, bleeding piles, fatigue and hallucinations. In Portugese traditional medicine, the bark is used as plaster in rheumatism, hot decoction is used against toothache and bowel affections and the root-bark is used in chronic fevers. Kurchi contains numerous steroidal alkaloids, including norconessine, isoconessine, and kurchine. Conessine hydrobromide is obtained from seeds. Alkaloidal contents seasonally vary in different parts, and in the bark during different stages. Steroidal alkaloids, conessine, conessimine, conarrhimin and conimine show strong AChE inhibitory activity, conessimine being the strongest. In a clinical trial of 40 Indian patients with 15 patients stool positive for E. histolytica cysts, 20 for G. lamblia and five for both, the bark powder for 15-days significantly improved symptoms and stools negative for E. histolytica cyst in 70% cases.