Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers ex Hook. f. & Thoms.

Family:

Menispermaceae.

Habitat:

Tropical India and the Andamans.

Ayurvedic:

Guduuchi, Guduuchikaa, Guluuchi, Amrita, Amritaa, Amritalataa, Amritavalli, Chinnaruuhaa, Chinnodbhavaa, Madhuparni, Vatsaadani, Tantrikaa, Kundalini. Guduuchi sattva (starch).

Unani:

Gilo, Gulanchaa. Sat-e-Gilo (starch).

Siddha:

Seenil, Amrida-valli.

Folk:

Giloya.

Action:

Herb—antipyretic, antiperiodic, anti-inflammatory, antirheumatic, spasmolytic, hypoglycaemic, hepatoprotective. Water extract increases urine output. Stem juice—prescribed in high fever; decoction in rheumatic and bilious fevers. Aqueous extract of the plant—fabrifuge. Starch—antacid, antidiarrhoeal and antidysenteric.

The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India, along with other therapeutic applications, recommends the dried stems in jaundice, anaemia, polyuria and skin diseases.

The stem contains alkaloidal constituents, including berberine; bitter principles, including columbin, chasmanthin, palmarin and tinosporon, tinosporic acid and...