Paederia foetida L.Family: Rubiaceae
Sanskrit : Prasarani, Gandhapatra
Assamese : Bhedilata
Bengali: Gandhabhaaduli
Gujrati : Prasarini
Hindi : Gandha PrasariniKannada : Hesarani, Prasarini bail
Malayalam : Tala nili
Marathi : Hiranvel, HaranvelPunjabi : Prasarini
Tamil : Mudiyar Kundal, Talanili,
Telugu : Gontima goru-Teega
Root - Tap root 2-4 cm long, 0.5-2 cm thick, cylindrical or sub cylindrical, tortuous, having a number of branches and rootlets; dark brown; surface rough due to longitudinal wrinkles, ridges and fissures; remnants of rootlet, thin scars and numerous horizontal lenticels also present; fracture, short in bark region and somewhat fibrous in wood; odour, disagreeable and foetid more marked in fresh samples; taste, indistinct.
Stem - Slender, sub-erect with diffuse branching, upto 4 cm thick; subcylindrical showing a dumb-bell shaped appearance in transverse view due to presence of two prominant furrows running opposite each other on both surfaces, externally dark brown, longitudinal anastomosing wrinkles, ridges and a few transverse cracks and circular lenticels, fracture, fibrous; odour, foetid more marked in fresh samples; taste, indistinct.
Leaf - Simple, petiolate, stipulate; 10-15 cm long, 5-6 cm broad; somewhat glabrous; ovate, entire, base narrow or broad, apex acute or cuspidate; stipule ovate, lanceolate, bifid, entire, acute, base broad with hairy surface, texture, thin; odour, foetid more distinct in fresh samples; taste, indistinct.
Flower - Violet to pink; bracteate, pedicellate, bisexual, calyx campanulate, acutely, toothed; corolla funnel-shaped, usually pubescent, somewhat gibbous and wooly inside, limb narrow, divided into five cordate crenulate segments, lobes short; filament short, inserted irregularly about the middle of the tube, anther erect within the tube; ovary turbinate, two celled containing one ovule, each attached to the bottom of the cell; style, simple; stigma two cleft with lobes bent amongst the anther.
Fruit - Berry, orbicular, ellipsoid, compressed, smooth with five lines on each side, one celled, two seeded, 1.1 cm across, red or black.
Seed - Compressed, smooth, enlarged with somewhat membranous ring all round [API, Part-1, Vol-2]
Uses: Vatarakta, Vata roga. Used as ingredient in dasamularista. (API), Sandhivata (Classical Ayurvedic Prescriptions for Common Diseases)
Leaves used in Cough and cold to prepare soup with a little amount of ginger. [Herbal Cures: Traditional Approach]
Leaf—carminative, antiinflammatory, astringent, spasmolytic, antidiarrhoeal, diuretic, antilithic. Root— anti-inflammatory. Used for rheumatic affections, piles, inflammations of the liver, spleen and chest. [Indian Medicinal Plants An Illustrated Dictionary]
Anti-inflammatory properties: A butanolic fraction of a methanolic extract of the defatted leaves of Paederia foetida L. inhibits significantly the formation of the granulation tissue in cotton-pellet-implanted rats. This fraction inhibits the enzymatic activity of liver aspartate transaminase, without affecting serum aspartate transaminase and reduces the level of serum orosomucoid as well. Antitumor properties:Note that paederoside characterized from Paederia foetida L. is potently antitumoral in vitro. In Burma, Paederia foetida L. is used to treat rheumatism. In China, the plant is used to treat paralysis and to increase fertility.The leaves are used to treat flatulence. The entire plant is used to heal insect bites. A decoction of the roots mixed with pig’s feet is used to stimulate blood circulation and to assuage the rheumatism pain in elderly people. In Vietnam, the leaves are used to promote urination and to combat fever. The leaves and root are used to invigorate health, promote digestion, treat flatulence and to soothe inflammation. In India, Paederia foetida L. is used to stimulate venereal desire, promote urination, and menses, and to treat rheumatism. [Medicinal Plants of The Asia-Pacific: Drugs For The Future]
34 Published articles of Paederia foetida
