Putranjiva roxburghii Wall

Synonym ► Drypetes roxburghii (Wall.) Hurusawa.

Family ► Euphoriaceae.

Habitat ► Throughout tropical India, wild and cultivated as an avenue tree.

English ► Child-life tree, Indian Amulet Plant, Spurious Wild Olive.

Ayurvedic ► Putranjiva, Putrajivaka, Putrajiva, Yashtipushpa, Arth-saadhana

Siddha/Tamil ► Karupali Garbhadaa and Garbhakaraa are misleading synonyms.

Folk ► Jiyaapotaa.

Action ► Fruit—powered (deseeded) fruits are used against cough, cold and sprue. Rosaries of hard stones are used for protecting children from infections. (Due to misleading nomenclature, the "conception-promoting" property has been attributed to the drug in folk medicine. Its use is possible in vaginal infections and genitourinary diseases, or skin eruptions during pre-conception stage.)

The seed kernel on steam distillation yield 0.5% of a sharp-smelling essential oil of the mustard oil type. The oil contains isopropyl and 2-butyl isothio-cyanates as the main constituents and 2-methyl-butyl isothiocyanate as a minor component. The iso-thiocyanates are produced on enzymic hydrolysis of glycosidic progenitors present in the kernels, viz. glucoputranjivin, gluco-cochlearin and glucojiaputin respec tively. An additional glucoside, gluco-cleomin has been identified in the seed kernel, it affords a non-volatile mustard oil, cleomin. A glycosidic pattern similar to that in the seed is reported in the shoots and roots.

The fruit pulp contains a large proportion of mannitol and small quantities of saponin glucosides and alkaloids.

The seed coat gave putranjivoside, putranoside A, B, C and D, beta-sitosterol and tis beta-D-glucoside.

The leaves gave amentoflavone and its derivatives, beta-amyrin and its palmite, polyphenols, putranjiva sa-ponin A,B,C, and D and stigmasterol.

The bark contains friedelin, friede-lanol, friedelanone, friedelan-3,7-di-one (putranjivadione), 3-alpha-hydro-xy friedelan- 7-one (roxburgholone), carboxylic acid, putric acid, putran-jivic acid.

The essential oil from leaves showed mild antifungal activity against Rhizoc-tonia solani.

and leaf—antirheumatic. (Sold in South Indian market as Bhaarangi.)

A diterpenoid quinonemethide (bharangin) is reported from the plant.

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