Ashwagandh
Common Name: Asvagandha, Asagand.
English Name: Indian Ginseng. Winter Cherry.
It is an erect evergreen tomentose shrub. 30-150 cm high. Roots stout whitish-brown. Leaves simple ovate. Those found in the fortal region small opposite. Flowers inconspicuous, light green or pale yellow, in axillary. Umbellate cymes. Fruit a berry, reddish and globose. Parts used: Roots. Major Constituents: Alkaloids and with anolides (sterodial lactones) are the major groups of the secondary metabolites of medicinal interest isolated and characterized from the plant. Uses: Ashwagandh is a reputed medicinal plant, extensively utilized in Indian System of Medicine for treatment of various diseases such as leprosy, nervous disorders, intestinal infections venereal diseases, rheumatism, enunciation of children and as a tonic for all kinds of weakness and also to promote vigor and vitality.
Bergamot Mint
Common Name: Vilayati-Pudina
English Name: Marsh mint, Bergamot mint, Water mint, Lemon mint.
An erect, branching herb, leaves opposite, thin, petiolate, broadly ovate or elliptical or uppermost lanoeolate, acute, 15-5 cm long. Flowers small, appear in the uppermost axils and in short dense terminal spikes. Parts used: Leaf. Major Constituents: The main constituents of Bergamot Mint oil are linalool (50-56%) and linalyl acetate (30-35%). Uses: The main use of Bergamot Mint oil is in perfumery and cosmetics. The oil is used as such in soaps, perfumes and toiletry items.
Bhumy Amalaki
Common Name: Bhumyamalaki, Tamalaki, Hazardana
English Name: Phyllanthus
Erect annual herb, upto 1 m; main stem simple or branched, smooth, terete, straminous or brownish, Cataphylls: stipules deltoid, dominate, entire, blade subulate, aluminate, 1-1.5 mm long; stipules ovate, lanceolate, entire, leaf blades membranous of thickened, elliptic oblong, 5.11 mm long and 3.6 mm broad, obtuse or rounded. Flowes monoecious with unisexual and bisexual cymules. Inflorescence of bisexual, the pentamerous caiyx with acute lobes, the very short erect styles and the usually 5 lobed female disk. Parts Used: Whole plant. Major Constituents: Pamarus eleborates different classes of organic compounds of medicinal importance including alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, terpenoids, lignans, tannins, benzenoids. Coumarins and lipids. The major compound found to be lignans Phyllanthin and Hypophyllanthin. Uses: The herb is bitter in taste and is reported to possess astringnet, deobstruent, stomachic, diuretic, febrifuge and antiseptic properties. Fresh and dried plants are used in treatment of jaundice. The plant is ingredient of many polyherbal drugs of Ayurveda that are used in the treatment of jaundice. Chemical compounds – Phyllanthin Hypophyllanthin exhibit pronounced antihepatotoxic properties.
Bramhi
Common Name: Brahmi, Jala Brahmi
English Name: Thyme-leaved Gratiola
The plant is creeping succulent herb that branches profusely at nodes. The succulent leaf is sessile, opposite, decussate, obovate-oblanceolate in shape, with inconspicuous veins and produce branches in their axils. Flowers solitary, axillary with while or lilac campanulate corolla and capitate stigma. The fruit is an ovoid capsule with persistent style. Parts used: Whole plant Major Constituents: The herb contains the saponins, monnierin, hersaponin and bacosides. Uses: The plant is used in treatment of mental disorders like epilepsy, insanity and memory loss. Bacosides have been proved to be responsible for improving intellect and memory and are the basis for memory enhance property.
Citronella
Common Name: Java ghas
English Name: Old Cirronella grass, Cirronella Jave
Tall tufted grass up to 2.5m high, leaf-sheath glabrous, yellowish green, basal sheath glabrous, green-reddish up to 1m long, linear, acuminate, Spathate panicie up to 1m long with several racemes in zigzag axis. Sessile spikelets 5mm long: lower glume oblong lanceolate. Pedicelled spikelet 5mm long: lower glime lanoelate. 7-nerved. Parts used: Aerial parts, source of essential oil. Major Constituents: Main constitutes of the oil are citronellot, geraniol, citronellal: minor constituents are limonene, cis-ocimene, linalool, isopuegol and caryophullene, etc. Uses: Citronella oil is used mostly in perfumery, soap flakes, detergent, household cleaners, technical products and as an insecticides
Geranium
Common Name: Geranium
English Name: Geranium
Perennial shrub up to 90 cm tall. Leaves broadly cordate, chartaceous with about 5 innatisect secondary lobes, pubescent on both surfaces. Flowers pinking, leaf opposed, bracteate in umbell. Parts used: Whole plant source of essential oil. Major Constituents: Main constituents are citronellol, geraniol, or pinene, myricine, phellandrene, limonene etc. Uses: Geranium oil has strong rose-like odour with minty top note. It blends well with all kinds of scents, both floral as well as oriental and is used extensively in perfumery and cosmetics.
Evening Primrose
Common Name: Evening primorse
English Name: Evening primorse
Usually biennial, but often flowering the first year, rosettes attaining 60 cm diameter; stems about 30-40 cm high, copiously branched, green to red: lower leaves narrowly oblanceolate, the upper ovate; flowers yellow, Hypanthium about 2 cm long. Fruit linear. Seed angled horizontal in pod. Parts Used: Seeds. Major Constituents: The seeds yield substantial amount of fixed oil containing y-linolenic acid. Uses: The oil is widely used as a dietary supplement, for cosmetic purpose and more specially for the treatment of atopic eczema in the pre-menstrual syndrome.
Ghritakumari
Common Name: Ghritakumari
English Name: A barbadensis Mill
The plant is characterized by succulent leaves having prickles along the margin; leaves arranged in a rosette at the base on the soil. The leaves are suberect or spreading, lanceolate, acuminate, 30-60 cm long and 5-7.5 cm broad. The flowers are 2.5 cm long. Yellow to vermillion and arranged along a central axis, which may be 60-90 cm long. Parts used: Leaves, Aloe juice and Aloe gel. Major Constituents: The principle constituents of aloe is barbaloin, a 10 glucopyranosyl derivatice of aloe-emodine-anthrone, a small amount of free aloe-emodine is also present. Uses: Aloe juice, which on drying forms semiopaque. Dark-brown substance called Mussabar in Indian trade; this plant product is reputed to possess purgative action.
Giloy
Common Name: Amrita, Giloy, Gulancha
English Name: Tinospora
Large, glabrous, deciduous, climbing shrubs. Leaves broadly ovate, cordate, long petiolate. Flowers small, yellow or greenish-yellow, appearing when the plant is leafless, in axillary and terminal racemes or racemose panicles; male flowers clustered females usually solitary. Parts used: Root, stem, leat. Major Constituents: The dry stem with bark constitutes the drug, which have different reported constituents, such as bitter glycoside Gillian a non glucoside giloinin. Three bitter compounds namely tinosporon acid and tinosporol have been reported. Uses: It is an important constituent of several preparations, used in general debility, dyspepsia fever as aphrodisiac in urinary disorders. It is also reported to provide relief in diabetes, piles and dysentery. A part from stem, the decoction of the leaves is used in the treatment of gout. The root is also powerful emetic and also used for visceral obstruction.
Isabgol
Common Name: Ishapgola, isapghul
English Name:Blond Psyllium, Indian Psyllium, Spogel Seeds
It is an annual herb with rosette-like leaves, 3-45 cm in length. Leaves are narrowly linear, 7-20 cm long and 4-6 mm in breath. A large number of flowering shoots emerge from the base. Shoots are cylindrical to ovate in shape and 2-4 cm in length. Flowers are white and minute. Capsule is ovate, 8 mm long with two seeds, pinking-grey brown or pinkish white in colour. Each seed is encased in a thin white transluscent membrance which is odourless and tasteless. Parts used: Seeds and seed husk Major Constituents: The isabgol husk yields a colloidal mucilage consisting mainly of xylose. Arabinose and galacturonic acid. Rhamnose and galactose are also present. The dehusked seeds possess yellow semi-drying oil, rich in lonoleic acid. Uses: The dried seeds and husk are mildly astringent, emollient, demulcent, lubricant and laxative, and used in the treatment of chronic constipation, amoebic and bacillary dysentery and diarrhoea.
Kalmegh
Common Name: Kalmegh, Hara Chirayata
English Name: The Creat
It is an annual herbaceous of shrubby procumbent or erect plant up to one m high. The branches are sharply quadrangular, often narrowly winged towards the apical region. Leaves petiolate, 5.8 cm long and 1-1.25 cm broad, lanceolate, acute. Flowers small, solitary in panicles, with rose colour corolla, which is hairy externally. Parts used: Whole Plant. Major Constituents: The major bitter principle is a diterpene lactone called and andrographolide and non-bitter compound neoandrograph olide. Uses: The plant is extensively used in Indian Systems of Medicine for astringent, anodyne, anit-inflammatory, immunosuppressive and alexipharmic properties. Decoction fo the plant is blood purifier, used for cure of torbid liver, jaundice, dermatological diseases, dyspepsia, febrifuge and anthelminitic. Tincture of the root is tonic, stimulant and aperient. The plant is often used as substitute of chirayita (Swertia chirayita).
Lemon Grass
Common Name: Nibu ghas
English Name: Malabar grass, East Indian lemon grass
Erect grass up to 3m tall. Leaf linear, acuminate, glaucous. Spathate panicle large, loose. Sessile spiketet 4.5-5mm long. Lower glume 2-keeled from the middle upwards, wings on the keels glabrous, margin of the keel minutely toothed, upper glume boat shaped. Pedicelled spiketets male of neuter. Parts Used: Aerial parts, source of essential oil. Major Constituents: Major chemical constituents of East Indian lemon grass is citral; minor constituents are: linalool, geraniol, citronellol, nerol, 1.8 cineol, linayl acetate etc. west Indian lemongrass contains ciutral-a and citral-b myrcene” minor constituents are a pinene, phellandrene, citronellal citronellyl acetate geraniol etc. Uses: Oil of the plant is used in soenting detergents, washing soaps and other home products.
Marigold
Common Name: Wild marigold
English Name: Stinking Roger
Aromatic, grooved annual herb. Leaves opposite or alternate, often both types of same plant odd pinnate, 5-15 cm long: leaflets usually 13-17, linear lanceolate. Sharply serrate. Heads yellowish many crowded together in dusters at the end of branches. Parts Used : Whole plants Major Constituents : the major components essential oil are: (Z) B-ocimene(38.77%) dihydrotagetone (9.07%). (Z) B-tagetone (7%) (Z) ocimene (7%) and (E) ocimenone (13%) Uses : The whole plant is hydro-distilled for its essential oil. The oil is widely used in the perfumer, phamaceutial and agricultural industries.
Menthol Mint
Common Name: Japanese mint, Menthol mint etc
English Name: Japanese mint, Menthol mint etc
A perennial creeping ascending herb propagated by its suckers. Leaves lanceolate-oblong, sharply toothed. Rower in axillary and terminal verticellaster, whitish purpulish. Seeds minute. Smooth. Parts Used: Aerial shoots, source of essential oil. Major Constituents: Major constituents are menthol, other are menthone and methyl acetate. Uses: Menthol is generally used in flavouring toothpaste. Candies, mouth washes, chewing gum, beverages, confectioneries and also in cosmetic preparation. Menthol is also used in medicines like pain balm, analgesic creams and cough syrups etc.
Milk Thistle
Common Name: Chund
English Name: St. Mary’s thistle, Milk thistle. Holy thistle
An armed erect annual undershrubs. Leaves upto 30 cm long. Lower pinnatifid, spiescently dentate. Base amplexicaul with rounded auricles, upper smaller and sessile. Heads homogamous terminal solitary. Involucral bracts 4-6 seriate: outer ovate-lanceolate ending into a long apical spine: inner lanceolate. Acute, usally spine tipped. Achenes black, with an apical rim. Parts used: seeds Major Constituents: seeds contain a number of flavonolignans silybin and silymarin. Uses: Silmarin has marked antihepatotoxic properties and used in the preparations of the drug for liver cirrhosis and jaundice.
Palmarosa
Common Name: Rosha ghas
English Name: Palmarosa grass, Ginger grass
Erect grass up to 2m tall. Leaf sheath glabrous: leaf blade 50 cm long, cordate at the base. Often amplexicual. Spathate panicle erect, narrow sessile spikelet alliptic-oblong. Parts used: Aerial parts, source of essential oil Major Constituents: The main constituents of essential oil are: Geraniol, geranyl acetate, citral, citronell of and linalool etc. Uses: The oil is the source of high grade geraniol, used in perfumery, cosmetics and flavouring industries.
Patchouli
Common Name: patchouli
English Name: Erect aromatic much-branched underhrub. Leaves ovate-oblong, toothed tomentose on both the surfaces. Flowers in axillary and terminal both spikes
Parts used: Leaves Major Constituents : Patchauli alcohol, pathoulene, caryophyllene, bulnesene. Elemene. Etc. Uses: Oil is used in modern perfumery and cosmetic industries. It is also used to flavour food products, alcoholic drinks and non alcohol beverages, frozen food. Dairy products, candies, baked goods and meat products.
Pappermint
Common Name: Pappermint. Vilayati-Pudina
English Name: Peppermint, Brandy Mint
Perennial glabrous erect herb with a strong pepper-like pungent odour. Leaves opposite petiolate ovate. Oblong, lanceolate 1.5-5 cm long, acute or obtuse at the base, serrate. Flowers purplish, 2.5-7.5 cm long terminal spikes. Parts used: Leaves Major constituents: The leaves contain 0.4-0.5% essential oil. The main constituents of the oil are menthol (40-50%) and menthode (25-30%). Uses: Peppermint oil is used mainly in pharmaceutical products and as a flavour in food products,. It is used in flavouring chewing gums, tooth pastes, confectionery, tobacco. Alcoholic beverages, cigarettes and a variety of other food products.
Pudina
Common Name: Pudina, Pahari pudina
English Name: Hill Mint
glabrous perennial herb with creeping rhizome. Leaves ovate-elliptic or lanceolate. Coarsely dentate, glabrous above, glandular below. Flowers lilac in loose, cylindrical, stender interrupted spikes. Parts used: Leaves. Major constituents: Essential oil contains carvone, terpenes, alcohol etc. Uses: Oil is used for flavoring chewing gums, tooth pastes, confectionery and pharmaceutical preparations.
Quinghaosu
Common Name: Quinghaous
English Name: Sweentworm wood
Annual erect plant up to 2m tall. Leaves 2-3 pinnatisect or decompound, serrate or lobulate. Inflorescence panicle (compound raceme) with capitulum. The capitula are inconspicuous hemispherical, pendulous. Achenes surface has longitudinal striations and lack pappus. Parts used: Aerial parts /Artemisinin Major constituents: One of the economically important constituents of the plant is the sesquiterpene lactone artemisinin. The other main constituents are artemisitene, arteannuin B and artemisinic acid. Used: The compound artemisinin has been found to be effective for the treatment of clhoroquin resistant malaria and cerebral malaria. Two semi-synthetic derivatives of artemisinin namely arteehter and artesunate have been found to be more effective than artemisinin in the clinical trails. The plant yield essential oil after steam distillation of fresh herbage which is widely used in pharmaceutical, cosmetics and flavouring industries.
Sadabahar
Common Name: Sadabahar Sadaphul, Sadasuhagan
English Name: Tropical Periwinkle
It is a perennial herb, erect, much branched. 70-80 cm high. Leaves alliptic to obovate, rounded retuse or mucronulate at apex acute at base. Flowers in 1-4 flowered cymes. Calyx segments subulate. Corolla whitish or pinkish. Follicles 2-3 cm long, pubescnt. Parts used: Leaves and roots. Major constituents: More than 100 alkaloids have been isolated from roots and leaves of this plant. The most important alkaloids having anticancer properties from the leaves are: vinblastin. The important alkaloids isolated from roots are: ajmalicine, serpentine and reserpine. Uses: The alkaliod Vinblastin is principally used for the treatment of Hodgkin’s disease., hymphosarcroma, horiocarinoma, neuroblastoma and carcrinoma of the breast lungs and tests also used against leukaemia vincristine is used particularly for the treatment of acute leukaemia,. Hodgkin’s disease, Wilm’s tumour neuroblastoma. Rhabdosacroma and reticulum-cell sarcoma. The alkaloid ajmalicine from root is used as a hypotensive and antiarrhythmic agent.
Shatavari
Common Name: Satavar, Satamuli, Satavali
English Name:Asparagus
Scandant, much-branched spinous undershrub with tuberous, short rootstock bearing numerous fusiform tuberous roots. 30-100 cm long and 1-2 cm thick leaves reduced to minute chaffy scales and spines. Cladodes acicular, 2-6 nate, falcate, finely acuminate. Flowers in raceme: pedicels jointed in the middle: anthers minute, oblong, purplish, ovules 6-8 in each cells. Parts used: Tuberous root. Major constituents: Plant contains several steroidal glycosides satavarin-I IV: sarsapogenin and kaempferol from the woody portion of the root and an alkaloid, asparagamine from the roots has been also isolated. Uses: The roots are exentsively used in the in the indigenous systems of medicine as a nutritive tonic and given for sexual debility. It is also considered. Antispasmodic, refrigerant, demulcent, galactagogue and antispasmodic, useful in diabetes, jaundice, urinary disorders, epilepsy, haemophillic disorders and swelling.
Speramint
Common Name: Spearmint
English Name: Indian Ginseng. Winter Cherry
A perennial herb: leaves lanceolate, sharply serrate. Flowers white in axillary and ternimal verticellasters. Parts used: Aerial shoots, source of essential oil Major constituents: Major constituents of the oil are: carvone and limonene Uses: Essential oil is used in condiments and medicine.
Vach
Common Name: Vach
English Name: Sweet flag, Calamus
A perennial semi aquatic herb. Rhizome creeping, cylindrical, much branched, aromatic, light brown or pinkish brown outside and white, spongy, inside. Leaves ensiform, distichous. Flowers green , bisexual, in sessile spadix: perianath of six orbicular segments (6). Berries green, angular, a few seeded. Parts used: Rhizome. Major constituents: Rhizome contain 2-4% volatile oil containing asarone (upto 82%) and its isomer, pinene, myrcene, camphene, pcymine, camphor and linalool Uses: The rhizome is used as bitter carminative, stomachic, nervine tonic, tranquillizer and useful in bronchial asthma.
Vetiver
Common Name: Khas
English Name: Vertiver
A perennial rhizomatous grass with erect clums. Leaves up to 2m long: ligule, a minute seavour rim. Flower in panicle of spiciform racemes. Panicles branches, usually contracted. Sessile spikelets laterally compressed, line lanceolate: pedicelled spikelets up to 0.6 cm long. Parts used: Roots, source of essential oil. Major constituents: The main constituents of vetiver oil is Khusimol, vetiselinenol, eudesmol vetivone and veticerol etc Uses: Vetiver oil is used perfumery as fixative and as odour stabilizer. Also used in flavouring tobacco, pan masala and soft drinks.
