Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.Family: Nelumbonaceae
Common name: Lotus, Sacred lotus, East Indian Lotus
Arabic: نيلومبو جوزي
Assamese: Padam
Bengali: কমল Komol, পদ্মা Padma
Bulgarian: Индийски лотос
Chinese: 莲
German: Indische Lotosblume
Gujarati: Motunkamal
Hindi: कमल Kamal, Pundarika, पद्म Padma
Indonesian: Seroja
Kannada: ಕಮಲ kamala, Tavare-gadde
Malayalam: താമര Tamara
Manipuri: থম্বাল Thambal
Marathi: Pandkanda, कमल Kamal
Oriya: ପଦମ Padam
Persian: لاله مردابی
Polish: Lotos orzechodajny
Sanskrit: सरसिज Sarsija, Pankeruha, शारदा Sharada, अम्बुज Ambuj, Kamalam
Tamil: தாமரை Tamarai, அம்பல் Ambal
Telugu: తామర పువ్వు Tamara puvvu,
Turkish: Hint lotusu
Urdu: نیلوفر Nilufer
Vietnamese: Sen hồng
Ayurvedic uses: Rapktapitta, Visarpa, Trishna Daaha, Vvishavikara, Chardi, Mutcha, Kasa, Vatagulam, visarpa, visphota, Mutrakruchha, jvara, Bhrama, Hrudroga (API)
The lotus is revered across Asia wherever Hinduism and Buddhism predominate, and it is the most sacred plant in Thailand. Lotus flowers can be found growing on the grounds of most temples, universities, and government buildings. They are commonly given to monks by the devout as symbols of reverence and are positioned prominently upon Buddhist altars across Thailand. The lotus is symbolic of the human soul’s transmigration through life. Growing in swamps, the plant begins its life-cycle under muddy water, slowly breaking through to the surface, where it blooms. Similarly, in the Buddhist and Hindu belief system, the soul is reincarnated again and again in the “mud” of the world, until it breaks through to the surface and blooms in Enlightenment. [A Thai Herbal Traditional Recipes for Health and Harmony]
Used in Ayurveda, Unani and Sidha. Milky viscid juice of the leaves astringent and cooling, useful in dysentery and diarrhea. Rhizome powder taken to cure piles; rhizome extract given for diarrhea, dysentery and dyspepsia; cooked tubers eaten for dropsy; rhizome paste used against ringworms. Paste of leaves and rhizome used in ringworm. Flowers as cooling astringent in diarrhea and cholera, also a cardiac tonic. Ceremonial, ritual, rosaries made of seeds, wealth rituals for worshipping Lakshmi/Laxmi as goddess; flowers offered to Lord Shiva, offered to deities by Hindus during worship. [CRC World Dictionary of MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS PLANTS Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology]
Phytoconstituents: Nuciferin, nornuciferin, nelumboroside A & B , nelumstemine, dotriacontane, ricinoleic, roemerin, liensinine, neferine, lotusine, liriodenine, asimilobin, pronuciferine and others.
Traditional Medicinal Uses: The leaves are used to treat sunstroke, diarrhoea, dysentery, fever, dizziness and vomiting of blood.[9] The plant is used as an antidote for mushroom poisoning and for smallpox. In Ayurveda, the plant is used to treat cholera, diarrhoea, worm infestation, vomiting, exhaustion and intermittent fever. The fruits are used in decoction for agitation, fever, heart and haematemesis while the stamens are used to “purify the heart, permeate the kidneys, strengthen virility, to blacken the hair, for haemoptysis and spermatorrhoea”. They are also used to treat premature ejaculation, as astringent for bleeding, excessive bleeding from the uterus, abdominal cramps, bloody discharges, metrorrhagia, non-expulsion of the amniotic sac, and as cooling agent during cholera. The seeds are believed to promote virility, for leucorrhoea and gonorrhoea. Powdered beans are used in treating digestive disorders, particularly diarrhoea. They are also used as a tonic, for enteritis, insomnia, metrorrhagia, neurasthenia, nightmare, spermatorrhoea, splenitis and seminal emissions. The roots are for the treatment of diarrhoea, dysentery, dyspepsia, ringworm and other skin ailments and as a tonic as well.
Bio-Activities. Vasodilation (methylcorypalline), uterine smooth muscle relaxation demethylcoclaurine) (1), hypotensive (liensinine, benzylisoquinoline dimer) (2), antihypercholesterolaemic (3). Chemical components. Alkaloids (1): lotusine, demethylcoclaurine, liensinine, isoliensinine, neferine, nornuciferine, pronuciferine, methylcorypalline, norarmepavine, liriodenine. Flavonoids (4): nelumboside. [ Medicinal Plants in the Republic of Korea]
In Asia, the fruits of the lotus, or lian, fu chu (Chinese), and teratai (Malay), are sold in the market for the seeds, which are edible and medicinal. In China, the seeds are used to preserve the body’s health and strength, to cool, to promote blood circulation, and to treat leucorrhea and gonorrhea. The rhizomes are edible and after cooking they form a sweet mucilaginous food that is taken to assuage a stomachache, to strengthen the body, to increase the mental faculties, and to quiet the spirit. The inflorescence is antihemorrhagic, and given as a postpartum remedy. The leaves are used to break fever, as an antihemorrhagic, to precipitate childbirth, and to treat skin diseases. The petiole is used to quiet the uterus. The flowers are spoken of in the Pentsao and believed to drive away old age and to give a fine complexion. [Medicinal Plants of Asia and the Pacific]
Vomiting, haemoptysis, tachycardia, pyrexia, stiffness of neck, giddiness, restlessness, leucorrhoea, spermatorrhoea, impotency and aging. Dosage: Dried powder is orally used in a dose of 8 - 10 gm per day and decoction is used in the dose of 25 - 50 ml per day. [MEDICINAL PLANTS OF MYANMAR]
The lotus is revered across Asia wherever Hinduism and Buddhism predominate, and it is the most sacred plant in Thailand. Lotus flowers can be found growing on the grounds of most temples, universities, and government buildings. They are commonly given to monks by the devout as symbols of reverence and are positioned prominently upon Buddhist altars across Thailand. The lotus is symbolic of the human soul’s transmigration through life. Growing in swamps, the plant begins its life-cycle under muddy water, slowly breaking through to the surface, where it blooms. Similarly, in the Buddhist and Hindu belief system, the soul is reincarnated again and again in the “mud” of the world, until it breaks through to the surface and blooms in Enlightenment. [A Thai Herbal Traditional Recipes for Health and Harmony]
Used in Ayurveda, Unani and Sidha. Milky viscid juice of the leaves astringent and cooling, useful in dysentery and diarrhea. Rhizome powder taken to cure piles; rhizome extract given for diarrhea, dysentery and dyspepsia; cooked tubers eaten for dropsy; rhizome paste used against ringworms. Paste of leaves and rhizome used in ringworm. Flowers as cooling astringent in diarrhea and cholera, also a cardiac tonic. Ceremonial, ritual, rosaries made of seeds, wealth rituals for worshipping Lakshmi/Laxmi as goddess; flowers offered to Lord Shiva, offered to deities by Hindus during worship. [CRC World Dictionary of MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS PLANTS Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology]
Phytoconstituents: Nuciferin, nornuciferin, nelumboroside A & B , nelumstemine, dotriacontane, ricinoleic, roemerin, liensinine, neferine, lotusine, liriodenine, asimilobin, pronuciferine and others.
Traditional Medicinal Uses: The leaves are used to treat sunstroke, diarrhoea, dysentery, fever, dizziness and vomiting of blood.[9] The plant is used as an antidote for mushroom poisoning and for smallpox. In Ayurveda, the plant is used to treat cholera, diarrhoea, worm infestation, vomiting, exhaustion and intermittent fever. The fruits are used in decoction for agitation, fever, heart and haematemesis while the stamens are used to “purify the heart, permeate the kidneys, strengthen virility, to blacken the hair, for haemoptysis and spermatorrhoea”. They are also used to treat premature ejaculation, as astringent for bleeding, excessive bleeding from the uterus, abdominal cramps, bloody discharges, metrorrhagia, non-expulsion of the amniotic sac, and as cooling agent during cholera. The seeds are believed to promote virility, for leucorrhoea and gonorrhoea. Powdered beans are used in treating digestive disorders, particularly diarrhoea. They are also used as a tonic, for enteritis, insomnia, metrorrhagia, neurasthenia, nightmare, spermatorrhoea, splenitis and seminal emissions. The roots are for the treatment of diarrhoea, dysentery, dyspepsia, ringworm and other skin ailments and as a tonic as well.
Bio-Activities. Vasodilation (methylcorypalline), uterine smooth muscle relaxation demethylcoclaurine) (1), hypotensive (liensinine, benzylisoquinoline dimer) (2), antihypercholesterolaemic (3). Chemical components. Alkaloids (1): lotusine, demethylcoclaurine, liensinine, isoliensinine, neferine, nornuciferine, pronuciferine, methylcorypalline, norarmepavine, liriodenine. Flavonoids (4): nelumboside. [ Medicinal Plants in the Republic of Korea]
In Asia, the fruits of the lotus, or lian, fu chu (Chinese), and teratai (Malay), are sold in the market for the seeds, which are edible and medicinal. In China, the seeds are used to preserve the body’s health and strength, to cool, to promote blood circulation, and to treat leucorrhea and gonorrhea. The rhizomes are edible and after cooking they form a sweet mucilaginous food that is taken to assuage a stomachache, to strengthen the body, to increase the mental faculties, and to quiet the spirit. The inflorescence is antihemorrhagic, and given as a postpartum remedy. The leaves are used to break fever, as an antihemorrhagic, to precipitate childbirth, and to treat skin diseases. The petiole is used to quiet the uterus. The flowers are spoken of in the Pentsao and believed to drive away old age and to give a fine complexion. [Medicinal Plants of Asia and the Pacific]
Vomiting, haemoptysis, tachycardia, pyrexia, stiffness of neck, giddiness, restlessness, leucorrhoea, spermatorrhoea, impotency and aging. Dosage: Dried powder is orally used in a dose of 8 - 10 gm per day and decoction is used in the dose of 25 - 50 ml per day. [MEDICINAL PLANTS OF MYANMAR]
