Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Vitex
Species: V. negundo
Synonyms
Vitex cannabifolia Siebold & Zucc.
Vitex incisa Lam.
Vitex incisa var. heterophylla Franch.
Vitex negundo var. heterophylla (Franch.) Rehder
Vitex negundo, commonly known as the five-leaved cheste tree, is a large aromatic shrub with quadrangular, densely whitish, tomentose branchlets. It is widely used in folk medicine, particularly in South and Southeast Asia.
It is known under a variety of names in different languages: Tamil: nochhi; Hindi: nirgundi; Sanskrit: sindhuvara; Filipino: lagundî; Sinhala: nika; and Bengali: Nishinda
Vitex negundo is an erect shrub or small tree growing from 2 to 8 m (6.6 to 26 ft) in height. The bark is reddish-brown. It leaves are digitate, with five lanceolate leaflets, sometimes three. Each leaflet is around 4 to 10 cm (1.6 to 3.9 in) in length, with the central leaflet being the largest and possessing a stalk. The leaf edges are toothed or serrated and the bottom surface is covered in hair.The numerous flowers are borne in panicles 10 to 20 cm (3.9 to 7.9 in) in length. Each is around 6 to 7 cm (2.4 to 2.8 in) long and are white to blue in color. The petals are of different lengths, with the middle lower lobe being the longest. Both the corolla and calyx are covered in dense hairs.The fruit is a succulent drupe, 4 mm (0.16 in) in diameter, rounded to egg-shaped. It is black or purple when ripe.Vitex negundo is native to tropical Eastern and Southern Africa and Asia. It is widely cultivated and naturalized elsewhere.Countries it is indigenous to include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Vitex negundo are commonly found near bodies of water, recently disturbed land, grasslands, and mixed open forests.
Uses
Medicinal Importance
Folk medicine
The leaves of V. negundo possess discutient properties and are applied to rheumatic swellings of the joints and in sprains. They may be applied locally to swellings from rheumatic arthritis and sprain.
The juice of the leaves is used for the treatment of fetid discharges. The principal constituents the leaf juice are casticin, isoorientin, chrysophenol D, luteolin, p–hydroxybenzoic acid and D-fructose. The plant has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial antifungal and analgesic activities. These properties are useful in the treatment of superficial bruises, injuries, sores and skin infections.
The essential oil of V. negundo has been used to reduce inflammation and swelling of joints due to rheumatism and injuries.The main constituents of the oil are sabinene, linalool, terpinen-4-ol, β-caryophyllene, α-guaiene and globulol constituting 61.8% of the oil.
Vitex negunda is used for treating stored garlic against pests in the Philippines.
Herbal medicine, rather than merely curing a particular disease, aims at returning the body back to its natural state of
health. The phytochemical components of medicinal plants often act individually, additively or synergistically
in improvement of health . After having analyzed the various chemical components present in different parts of
Vn, it is imperative that focus shifts to the medicinal applications of the plant. Myriad medicinal properties have
been ascribed to Vn and the plant has also been extensively used in treatment of a plethora of ailments. These
properties have been categorized under three heads – traditional medicine, folk medicine and pharmacological
evidence.
Traditional medicine
Traditional medicine mainly comprises of Indian Ayurveda, Arabic Unani medicine and traditional Chinese
medicine. In Asia and Latin America, populations continue to use traditional medicine as a result of historical
circumstances and cultural beliefs. Traditional medicine accounts for around 40% of all health care delivered in
China. Up to 80% of the population in Africa uses traditional medicine to help meet their health care needs.
Ayurveda
The plant finds mention in the verses of the Charaka Samhita which is unarguably the most ancient and
authoritative textbook of Indian Ayurveda. Vn has been designated as an anthelminthic and is
prescribed as a vermifuge in the exposition on the Charaka Samhita by Sharma.
Other Ayurvedic uses of Vn are described by Tirtha. People sleep on pillows stuffed with Vn leaves to dispel
catarrh and headache and smoke the leaves for relief. Crushed leaf poultice is applied to cure headaches, neck gland
sores, tubercular neck swellings and sinusitis. Essential oil of the leaves is also effective in treatment of venereal
diseases and other syphilitic skin disorders. A leaf decoction with Piper nigrum is used in catarrhal fever with
heaviness of head and dull hearing. A tincture of the root-bark provides relief from irritability of bladder and rheumatism.
Jadhav and Bhutani report the Ayurvedic use of Vn in dysmenorrhea. Patkar refers to the formulations
described in Anubhoga Vaidya Bhaga, a compendium of formulations in cosmetology, in outlining the use of Vn
leaves along with those of Azadirachta indica, Eclipta alba, Sphaeranthus indicus and Carum copticum in a notable
rejuvenation treatment known as Kayakalpa.
Unani medicine
Khare outlines the applications of Vn, commonly known as Nisinda in Unani medicine. The seeds are
administered internally with sugarcane vinegar for removal of swellings. Powdered seeds are used in spermatorrhoea
and serve as an aphrodisiac when dispensed along with dry Zingiber officinale and milk.
Chinese medicine
The Chinese Pharmacopoeia prescribes the fruit of Vn in the treatment of reddened, painful, and puffy eyes;
headache and arthritic joints.
Folk medicine
Folklore systems of medicine continue to serve a large segment of population, especially those in rural and tribal
areas, regardless of the advent of modern medicine.The entries regarding the multifarious applications of Vn in
folk medicine have been grouped regionally to emphasize the ethnobotanical diversity and ubiquity of the plant.
Anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity
Yunos et al. and Jana et al. established anti-inflammatory properties of Vn extracts in acute and subacute inflammation. Anti-inflammatory and pain suppressing activities of fresh leaves of Vn are attributed to
prostaglandin synthesis inhibition, antihistamine, membrane stabilising and antioxidant activities
Effect on oxidative stress
Leaf extracts of Vn were determined to possess anti-oxidant potential by. The extracts were useful in
decreasing levels of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase in Freund’s adjuvant induced
arthritic-rats . The extracts also possess the ability to combat oxidative stress by reducing lipid peroxidation
owing to the presence of flavones, vitamin C and carotene. Rooban et al.evaluated the antioxidant and
therapeutic potential of Vn flavonoids in modulating solenoid-induced cataract and found it to be effective.
Enzyme-inhibitory activity
Root extracts of Vn showed inhibitory activity against enzymes such as lipoxygenase and butyryl-cholinesterase
; α-chymotrypsin; xanthine-oxidase and tyrosinase . Woradulayapinij et al. reported the
HIV type 1 reverse transcriptase inhibitory activity of the water extract of the aerial parts of Vn.
Effect on reproductive potential
The flavonoid rich fraction of seeds of Vn caused disruption of the latter stages of spermatogenesis in dogs
and interfered with male reproductive function in rats. It must however be noted that these findings are in
sharp contrast with the traditional use of Vn as aphrodisiac. Hu et al.determined that ethanolic extracts
of Vn showed estrogen-like activity and propounded its use in hormone replacement therapy.
Histomorphological and cytotoxic effects
Tandon and Gupta studied the histomorphological effect of Vn extracts in rats and found the stomach tissue
to be unaffected even by toxic doses; while dose-dependent changes were observed in the heart, liver and lung
tissues. Cytotoxic effect of leaf extracts of Vn was tested and affirmed using COLO-320 tumour cells. On
one hand, Diaz et al.found the chloroform extracts of Vn leaves to be toxic to a human cancer cell line
panel while on the other; Yunos et al.reported that Vn extracts were non-cytotoxic on mammary and
genito-urinary cells of mice.
Drug potentiating ability
Administration of Vn extracts potentiated the effect of commonly used anti-inflammatory drugs such as
ibuprofen and phenylbutazone; analgesics such as meperidine, aspirin, morphine and pethidine;
sedative-hypnotic drugs like pentobarbitone, diazepam and chlorpromazine; anti-convulsive agents
such diphenylhydantoin and valporic acid.

Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Commelinales
Family: Pontederiaceae
Genus: Monochoria
Species: M. vaginalis
Synonyms: Pontederia auct. mal.
Common names: M. hastata (L.) Solms: Trakiet, chrach (Khmer); Pak top noy, ‘ il hin (Laos); Pak top, phakpong (Thai); Rau mac (Viet.). M. vaginalis (Burm. f.) J. Presl: Chrach (Khmer); Rau mac la thon, rau choc, rau mac la thon (Viet.); Kae kied, phak-khiat, nin labon (Thai).karinguvalam(tamil),water hyacinth(english),neelolthpalam(sanskrit)
Monochoria vaginalis is a species of flowering plant in the water hyacinth family known by several common names, including heartleaf false pickerelweed and oval-leafed pondweed. It is native to much of Asia and across many of the Pacific Islands, and it is known in other areas as an introduced species and often a noxious weed. An aquatic plant, it is invasive in rice paddies and other water bodies. This is an annual or perennial herb growing in water from a small rhizome. It is quite variable in morphology. The shiny green leaves are up to about 12 centimeters long and 10 wide and are borne on rigid, hollow petioles. The inflorescence bears 3 to 25 flowers which open underwater and all around the same time. Each has six purple-blue tepals just over a centimeter long. The fruit is a capsule about a centimeter long which contains many tiny winged seeds.
Annual or perhaps sometimes perennial, erect, aquatic herbs about 600-750 mm tall. Stems are short and corm-like. Juvenile leaves are submerged, extremely variable in size and shape, scale-like to linear. Adult leaves emergent, differentiated into petiole and blade; blade elliptic to ovate, up to ± 85 ´ 100 mm; petiole erect, ± 500 mm long.
Inflorescence elongated, spike-like, with (20-)25-30(-40) ± equally spaced, blue flowers, and the inflorescence’s peduncle is erect, 20-40 mm long. Petals 6, blue, 10.0-14.5 ´ 3.5-4.5 mm, persistent and enveloping ripe fruit. Stamens 6, of 2 kinds; 5 with simple, up to 5 mm long filaments, and yellow, (1.8-)2-4 mm long anthers. The sixth anther is blue, at least one quarter longer than the yellow ones with a longer filament (up to 5.5 mm long) and has an appendage attached to the filament that curls up along the side of the large blue anther. All six anthers arise from the perianth, opening by an apical pore, which later splits downwards. Capsules ellipsoid to ovoid, ± 9 mm long; style 1.5-2.5 mm in fruit, opening by 3 valves but normally released as a unit and opening later. Seeds numerous, ellipsoid to barrel-shaped, ± 0.75 mm long, with 10, narrow, longitudinal ribs or wings, dispersed in mud and by water.
Very little is known about Monochoria africana, it occurs sporadically in a localized area in South Africa as well as a few localized areas beyond our borders. The lack of information rather hampers an accurate assessment of this rare plant. According to Wendy Fowden, Manager of the Threatened Species Project, SANBI, M. africana is listed as ‘Least Concern’ at the moment.
Monochoria africana has a fairly limited distribution in Mpumalanga Province, in the Kruger National Park of South Africa. The young plants are submerged in the water at the edge of the pan. As the plant grows, the water level drops and the adults grow along the marshy area of the pan. In 1997 while on holiday in the Kruger National Park, we were privileged in spotting this plant in a small pan in the vicinity of Ngumulu Pan. At first glance its habitat and the shape of the leaves resembled that of our common arum lily, Zantedeschia aethiopica. Realizing it had no white flowers, we stopped and studied the plant. To our delight we realized we were looking at Monochoria africana- partly the reason for coming to the Kruger Park! Sadly fellow tourists did not share our excitement; those that stopped behind us were annoyed when we told them it was a plant we were admiring. Also, that evening when asked by a fellow camper at Maroela campsite whether I had seen anything interesting, he was rather annoyed that I could get excited about finding a special plant.
Derivation of name and historical aspects
The genus Monochoria belongs to the family Pontederiaceae that consists of nine genera and 33 species. Five genera are from the New World (Pontederia, Reussia, Eurystemon, Hydrothrix and Zosterella) two (Eichhornia and Heteranthera) from the New and Old World. Monochoria and Scolleropsis are the only two genera from the Old World.
Monochoria is derived from two Greek words, mono, one, and choria, on its own or separate. The name could refer to the fact that when this genus was described; it was the only genus to occur in the Old World ( Asia and Africa ). The genus Scolleropsis from Africa was described later (Cook 1998) and it was therefore on its own in Asia and Africa. More likely it refers to the single large, blue anther. The specific name refers to where the plant was collected, namely Africa.
The first Monochoria species to be collected in Africa was collected by Schweinfurth in 1869 in the Sudan and described by Solms-Laubach as M. vaginalis var. africana. Further researched showed that it differed sufficiently from the Asian species of M. vaginalis and was renamed M. africana ( Verdcourt 1961).
The first plant collected in South Africa was in 1937 by Stevenson-Hamilton, first warden of the Park, at Gomonwane between Lower Sabie and Crocodile Bridge. Since then it has been collected five times: four times in the Kruger National Park in different pans between Lower Sabie and Olifants and Letaba camps in the Lebombo Mountains; and there is one record from outside the Park in Timbavati Private Game Reserve bordering the Kruger Park.

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Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Lamiales
Family: Acanthaceae
Genus: Strobilanthes
Species: S. kunthiana
Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana)is a shrub that used to grow abundantly in the shola grasslands of the Western Ghats in South India above 1800 metres. The Nilgiri Hills, which literally means the blue mountains, got their name from the purplish blue flowers of Neelakurinji that blossoms gregariously only once in 12 years. The Paliyan tribal people apparently used it to calculate their age.
This plant belongs to the genus Strobilanthes which was first scientifically described by Nees in the 19th century. The genus has around 250 species, of which at least 46 are found in India. Most of these species show an unusual flowering behaviour, varying from annual to 16-year blooming cycles, on the national scale there is often confusion about which plant is flowering.
Plants that bloom at long intervals like Strobilanthes kunthiana are known as plietesials, the term plietesial has been used in reference to perennial monocarpic plants “of the kind most often met with in the Strobilanthinae” (a subtribe of Acanthaceae containing Strobilanthes and allied genera) that usually grow gregariously, flower simultaneously following a long interval, set seed, and die. Other commonly used expressions or terms which apply to part or all of the plietesial life history include gregarious flowering, mast seeding, and supra-annual synchronized semelparity (semelparity = monocarpy).
Neelakurinji, the flower of the blue mountain is a shrub that used to grow abundantly in the shola grasslands of Western Ghats in India. The Nilgiris, which literally means the blue mountains, got its name from the purplish blue flowers of Neelakurinji that blossoms gregariously once in 12 years.
Once they used to cover the entire Nilgiris like a carpet during its flowering season. However, now plantations and dwellings occupy much of their habitat.
Neelakurinji is the best known of a genus that has flowering cycles ranging from one to 16 years. There has been record of its flowering every 12 years since 1826. The next flowering is expected to place in September 2006. Stray flowerings do occur in between. What triggers the massive flowering every 12 years is not known.
Neelakurinji belongs to the family of Acanthaceae. The genus has more than 500 species, of which about 50 occur in India. Besides the Western Ghats, Neelakurinji is seen in the Shevroys in the Eastern Ghats. It occurs at an altitude of 1300 to 2400 metres. Flowering takes places between April and December, peaking towards September.
The plant is usually 30 to 60 cms high on the hills. They can, however, grow well beyond 180 cm under congenial conditions at lower elevations. Plants that bloom at long intervals like kurinji are called plietesials.
Neelakurinji (also spelled neelakkurinji) have been referred in the past by names such as Strobilanthes kunthianum, Nilgirianthus kunthianus, Strobilanthus nilgirianthus (nilgirianthes) and Phlebophyllum kunthianum.
Strobilanthes sessilis flowers every year.
In 2006, Kurinji (neelakurinji) bloomed gregariously at several places near Kodaikanal (India) and Munnar. The biggest flowering was at the Eravikulam National Park.
At the National park, carpets of flowers formed at the Turner’s Valley (about 16 km inside the park), Poovar and on the hills near the Lakkom Muthuvakudy besides the tourist zone at Rajamala..
It also bloomed gregariously on the hills between Klavarai in Tamil Nadu and Koviloor in Kerala, especially in the Kadavari area. These areas are now within the newly formed Kurinjimala Sanctuary.
Patches of kurinji occur in the remaining sholas near Koviloor. Koviloor is a few hours drive from Munnar in Kerala. A jeep road connects Koviloor to Klavarai and Kodaikanal (Tamil Nadu). The road need not be motorable all the time (especially during monsoon).
Trekkers could spot kurinji by the sides of the old Munnar Kodaikanal road. Trekking would require permission from the Forest Department. The plants can also be located at places such as Yellapetty and Kanthalloor outside the protected areas. At Yellappetty, you have to trek to the hills south of the Yellapetty estate.
Some areas of the Mukurthi National Park near Ootty and adjoining areas of Silent Valley National Park also have the plant. Besides, blooms have been reported from Attappady and Mangaladevi. Flowerings occur at Shevroys in the Eastern Ghats also.
Gregarious flowering of neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana) takes place once in 12 years between July and December. The peak season will be between August and September. Local variations are possible. (It flowers earlier in some areas of Kodaikanal.)
As there are different species of kurinjis with different flowering cycles, blooms are seen at varying intervals. P. K. Uthaman (then field publicity officer of Government of India) has reported seeing eight species of Strobilanthes bloom at Eravikulam National Park in 1988. It is also possible that the same species in different localities may complete their flowering cycles in different years. However, the flowering cycle for a particular species remains the same, but for variations of a few months triggered possibly by local weather.
Thus, after the 2006 flowering, another mass flowering can be expected to take place near Munnar in 2014– there is a group of plants in the locality whose flowering cycle is four years ahead of the rest of the community in the region. However, one could not be sure whether these plants would survive for the next season. The next massive flowering in the Nilgiris-Palanis-Munnar belt is expected only in 2018.
In August 2008, a group of plants at Thalakkulam, about 35 km from Munnar, flowered on a hill by the side of the Kochi-Madurai National Highway. The next flowering here will be in 2020 if the seedlings survive the onslaught of human interference.
Stray flowerings of kurinji do occur annually towards the end of the 12-year flowering cycle. A few plants here and there may throw up an inflorescence while the other plants remain without flowers. What triggers the massive flowering every 12 years is not known. However, here is an explanation for why they flower only once in 12 years.
Gregarious flowering of kurinji has been documented for 180 years. The first records of ten consecutive flowerings from 1826 to 1934 were published in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History (Vol. 38) by Mrs. Morrison.However, references in the Tamil Sangham literature (200 B. C.-300 A. D.) suggest that kurinji used to flower for hundreds of years.
Kurinji has this wonderful mechanism of flowering massively once in 12 years to save a substantial portion of its seeds. It will survive on its own if its habitat remains.
Man’s excessive curiosity can defeat the evolutionary objective of massive flowering. However, gregarious flowering definitely can accommodate some interference from men.
The Kerala Government has written to the Central Government urging it to include kurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana) in the Sixth Schedule of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. This is hardly needed. What is required is the protection of plant’s habitat.
Kurinji is a plant that grows like a weed at high altitudes on the Western Ghats, provided that there is open space. It is endemic to the Ghats, but no way rare or endangered at the moment. Though it is said to have medicinal properties, there is no trade or exports that would lead to its extinction. (Medicinal properties are actually associated with a black stalked variety of kurinji). The real threat to kurinji and several other endemic species on the Western Ghats is the destruction of their habitat and it is the habitat that needs to be protected.
Chemicals present
The leaf has a lot of amount of pottassium and root has lupiyol.
Medicinal Uses
kurinji prevent all types of rhumatism.it purifies blood.it has the capacity to prevent against the sexual weakness and increases sperm count.the whole plant is used as medicine.
Kurinji and culture
In some temples in Tamil Nadu, kurinji flowers are offered to Lord Murukan. There is little justification of breaking the cultural ties of the people with kurinji. The plant also occurs in some cultivated areas. Its inclusion in the Schedule could lead to even the farmers being booked for violation. Some forest officials may use it an excuse for collecting bribes.
The Government decision to recommend inclusion of the plant in the Schedule may be prompted by fears that visitors to Munnar and other places during the current season would pluck the flowers and uproot plants in large numbers. The inclusion of the plant in the Schedule, however, may not materialise before the season is over. Besides, general provisions of the Wildlife Act and other forest laws are enough to check wanton destruction of the plants. The Government has already taken an informal decision to impose a fine of Rs. 1000 on visitors destroying the plant or its blossoms.
We have a tendency to over-legislation. Our statute books are full of laws, many of them unnecessary. Proliferation of such laws lead to large-scale law breaking, and the people lose their inhibition to break law. So, excessive restrictions should always be avoided.
People have emotional attachment towards gardens and flowers. Most do not develop such attachments towards forests or individuals species there. This is an occasion for the Forest Department to show the people the beauty of kurinji, the wonder of its flowering, and imbibe love for nature.
As the plant occurs widely in a geographical location, it need not be isolated from people. It would not be wrong to offer visitors a flower or two (in limited numbers and possibly at a price) as part of a memento. The tribals could be engaged to make something interesting and sell them. Of course, they can also offer kurinjithen (sweet honey from the kurinji habitat in season). Why not price it a little bit high?
There would be three types of visitors to the kurinji hills this season. Some would be satisfied with just a glimpse of the flowers. Others may want to trek. They may include nature lovers and people bent on vandalism. The Forest Department has to be vigilant against the latter. It is to be remembered that the main threat to kurinji is not people but the spreading plantations including that of the Forest Department.
Shola grasslands– the life giver
Shola grasslands are the habitat of kurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana) and the habitat is more important than the plant itself. They occur in the Nilgiris, Pulneys (Palani) and Anamalai hills of Tamil Nadu and adjoining areas of Kerala at an altitude of more than 1700 metres. Sholas are found at lower altitudes (1300 metres and above) at agastyakoodam and its enviorns. They help to sustain life in the valleys and plains.
In Kerala, the most expansive and protected shola forests are in the Eravikulam National Park in Idukki district. Agastya hills in Thiruvananthapuram district, Brahmagiri hills in Waynad district and Sispara ghat in Palakkad district also harbour shola forests. The New Amarambalam Reserve forests in Malappuram district also have some sholas. This is an extension of sholas in the Nilgiris.
Conservation of sholas is important not only for the protection of the biodiversity of these regions but also the water security of the plains. Many rivers in Kerala and Tamil Nadu originate from the shola grasslands. They arrest surface runoffs from the hills during rains. Held by the foliage, grasses and the humus layers, this water is released gradually. Rains occur in these areas for up to nine months a year. Besides, precipitation occurs in the form of mist condensing on the plants. Watercourses originate from areas covered with trees and join with others on the grasslands. Thus the shola grassland system acts as perennial source of water for the rivers downstream.
Shola forests usually have three layers of plants, many of them endemic. New species have been discovered in shola grasslands even a decade ago. There is high concentration of lichen, mosses, ferns and orchids in these areas. Many plants in these forests have medicinal properties. However, potential of several species are yet to be studied.
Fauna of shola forests
Like in the case of flora, shola forests and grasslands are rich in fauna. The famous among them is the Nilgiri tahr, an endangered species protected at the Eravikulam National Park. Other species include Nilgiri langur, slender loris, giant squirrels, leopards, bears, sambar deer, elephants and jungle fowls. Jungle fowls congregate on the shola grasslands when kurinjis bloom.
Sholas harbour specialised animals such as tree frogs, burrowing snakes and geccos. They have developed or have not faced extinction because sholas are like islands cut off from the mainland. A variety of insects and butterflies also occur on the sholas.
Besides, several species of bees, wasps and ants are found in shola forests. Resident and migrant birds and cold water fishes also add to the faunal diversity of the sholas. The avifauna includes better known species such as black and orange flycatcher and grey-breasted laughingthrush.
Shola grasslands of Munnar, Kodaikanal and the Nilgiris
The kurinji habitats in Munnar, Kodaikanal and the Nilgris are under threat. From the British planters of the Nineteenth century to the present day encroachers, many have converted the habitat of kurinji into plantations. Even the Forest Departments of Kerala and Tamil Nadu share the blame for destruction of the shola forests.
The Britishers had cleared the kurinji habitat mostly for tea plantations. However, they were careful in retaining some of those forests for gaming purposes. Some of them also recognised the importance of having the sholas to maintain the climate.
So, we now have vestiges of the shola vegetation such as that in the Eravikulam National Park. The park area was a gaming sanctuary patronised by the managers of the erstwhile Kannan Devan Hill Produce Company. The early documentation of the plants has also come from people such as Robert Wight and Captain Beddome.
The destruction of the shola forests in later years was more devastating. The Kerala Forest Department raised wattle in large areas to feed the tanning industry. Tamil Nadu raised pine forests on the Eastern slopes of Palani hills. Eucalyptus plantations were raised to meet the needs of wood based industries such as the Hindustan Newsprint Limited and the tea factories (which used wood as fuel). Much revenue and forest lands were encroached upon by planters and settlers. Fires caused further damage. The destruction of kurinji habitat was the most on the Tamil Nadu side between Kodaikanal and Munnar in the latter part of the 20th century.

Shola forests are rich storehouses of biodiversity. The flora show special characteristics, as they have to adapt to extreme climates and winds. As the high altitude sholas are like islands, disconnected from other regions, endemicity is high. Even branches of shola trees are colonised by a variety of species, many of them getting their water supply from the condensing mist. They will include mosses, ferns and other epiphytes besides woody climbers.
Predominant species in the shola forests include Measa indica, Microtropis ramiflora and Rhododendron arboreum. The grasslands will have a number of grass species, Chrysopogon zeylanicus and Eulalia phaeothrix being two of the predominant species in places such as Eravikulam National Park. More than 60 of the grasses here are endemic to Western Ghats.
The best of the grasslands have Dichanthium polyptychum according to studies done by Kerala Forest Research Institute. The Institute has separated several fungi belonging to Penicillium and other genuses from the shola grass lands of Idukki district.
However, it is to be noted that there could be considerable variations in the distribution and abundance of species in different localities. Some species grow only specific locations such as the edges of sholas or watercourses.
The shola grasslands habour several varieties of Strobilanthes species. Of more than 500 species belonging to the genus, more than 50 occur in India. Those reported from the shola grasslands between Kodaikanal and Munnar include Strobilanthes asperrium, Strobilanthes calycina, Strobilanthes cuspidatus, Strobilanthes foliosus, Strobilanthes gracilis, Strobilanthes homotropa, Strobilanthes luridus, Strobilanthes micranthus, Strobilanthes neilgherrensis, Strobilanthes papillosus, Strobilanthes perrottetiana, Strobilanthes pulneyensis, Strobilanthes tristis, Strobilanthes urceolaris, Strobilanthes violaceus, Strobilanthes wightianus and Strobilanthes cuspidatus. All except the first two are endemic to the Western Ghats.
Endemism and rarity in Tropical Montane Forests
Sholas come under the broad class of Tropical Montane Forests. Tropical Montane Forests are found in Central and South America, Africa and Asia.
The sholas that are found in South India above 1700 metres are often referred to as tropical upper montane rain forest and montane temperate forests.
Endemism and rarity are common among shola species as they cannot migrate and survive in different altitudinal and climatic conditions. The trees and smaller plants of the ecosystem colonise the depressions in expansive mountain ranges covered with high altitude grasses. These grasslands themselves harbour several rare and endemic species.
The biodiversity of shola grasslands holds great potential for use in biotechnology and related areas. The economic and ecological importance of these forests is tremendous. This calls for increased efforts for conservation.
Rare and Endangered shola species
Coelogyne mossiae
Cotoneaster buxifolia
Crotalaria kodaiensis
Crotalaria prietleyoides
Eleocarpus blascoi
Pimpinella pulneyensis
Sonerilla pulneyensis
Vernonia pulneyensis
Youngia nilgiriensis
The sholas, which cover only a small percentage of total forest area in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, are shrinking. This needed to be stemmed. Kerala has declared some patches of sholas in Idukki district as national parks in 2003. However, contiguity of these areas with other protected areas has not been ensured.
Scientists M. P. Nayar and A. R. K. Sastry (Red Data Book of Indian Plants) and K. M. Mathew and K. T. Mathew of the Rapinat Herbarium, Thiruchirapalli, have identified more than 75 shola species which are under threat in the Palani hills alone. There is need for protection of the remaining shola forests to conserve the biodiversity.
Ladies Slipper Orchid
The only plant from Kerala that has been included in the Schedule is the Paphiopedilum druryi, which comes under the general category of ladies slipper orchids included in the Schedule. This is a plant that is found only in a limited habitat at Agastyarkoodam and its environs. The plant was rediscovered after decades early in the nineties. It is definitely a plant requiring specific and special protection.
That, however, is not the case with kurinji. It grows on large areas spread from Nilgiris to Palanis and Munnar. (There are some reports that it also occurs at the northern end of the Western Ghats). It even occurs on roadsides. If its habitat is in Kerala and Tamil Nadu are protected as wildlife sanctuary, general protective provisions of the Wildlife Act would apply to kurinji and other species in the sanctuary. This would suffice for its protection (in fact, there are other species needing much more protection in the shola grasslands) and there would be no need to invoke stringent provisions of the Act that apply to Scheduled animals and plants.
Such stringent provisions will impair use of kurinji for medicinal, religious or other purposes and raising of the plant in a nursery (except under licence). You cannot possess or transport the plant, not to speak of any sale in the species.

Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Genus: Achyranthes
Species: A. aspera
Achyranthes aspera (Common name: Prickly Chaff Flower, Devil’s Horsewhip, Sanskrit Apamarga) is a species of plant in the Amaranthaceae family. It is distributed throughout the tropical world.It can be found in many places growing as an introduced species and a common weed.It is an invasive species in some areas, including many Pacific Islands environments.
It is one of the 21 leaves used in the Ganesh Patra Pooja done regularly on Ganesh Chaturthi day. In Uttar Pradesh the plant is used for a great many medicinal purposes, especially in obstetrics and gynecology, including abortion, induction of labor, and cessation of postpartum bleeding.The Maasai people of Kenya use the plant medicinally to ease the symptoms of malaria.
Achyranthes aspera contains triterpenoid saponins which possess oleanolic acid as the aglycone. Ecdysterone, an insect moulting hormone, and long chain alcohols are also found in Achyranthes aspera.
Prickly Chaff-flower is an erect or prostrate, annual or perennial herb, often with a woody base, which grows as wasteland herb every where. Since time immemorial, it is in use as folk medicine. It holds a reputed position as medicinal herb in different systems of medicine in India. Stems 0.4-2 m, pilose or puberulent. Leaf blades elliptic, ovate, or broadly ovate to orbiculate, obovate-orbiculate, or broadly rhombate, 1-20 × 2-6 cm, adpressed-pubescent abaxially and adaxially. Inflorescences to 30 cm; bracts membranous; bracteoles long-aristate, spinose; wings attached at sides and base. Flowers: tepals 4 or 5, length 3-7 mm; pseudostaminodes with margins fimbriate at apex, often with dorsal scale. According to the Black Yajurveda, Indra, having killed Vritra and other demons was overcome by Namuchi and made peace with him, promising never to kill him with any solid or liquid, neither by day or by night. But Indra collected some foam, which is neither solid nor liquid, and killed Namuchi in the morning between night and daybreak. From the head of the demon sprung the herb Apamarga, with the assistance of which Indra was able to kill all demons. Hence this plant has the reputation of being a powerful talisman, and is now popularly supposed to act as a safeguard against scorpions and snakes by paralysing them.
Medicinal uses
Different parts of the plant are ingredients in many native prescriptions in combination with more active remedies. In Western India the juice is applied to relieve toothache. The ashes with honey are given to relieve cough; the root in dosed of one tola is given at bedtime for night blindness, and rubbed into a paste with water it is used as an anjan (eye salve) in opacities of the cornea. The seeds are often used as a famine food in India, especially in Rajputana, where the plant is called Bharotha (grass).

Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Zingiberaceae
Subfamily: Zingiberoideae
Tribe: Kaempferia
Genus: Kaempferia
Species: K. galanga
Kaempferia galanga, commonly known as kencur, aromatic ginger, sand ginger, cutcherry or resurrection lily, is a monocotyledonous plant in the ginger family. It is found primarily in open areas in southern China, Taiwan, Cambodia and India, but is also widely cultivated throughout Southeast Asia. The plant is used as a herb in cooking in Indonesia, where it is called kencur, and especially in Javanese and Balinese cuisines. Its leaves are used in the Malay rice dish, nasi ulam. Unlike Boesenbergia pandurata (grachai or Chinese key), K. galanga is not commonly used in Thai cuisine, but can be bought as a dried rhizome or in powder form at herbal medicine stalls. It is known in Thai as proh horm or waan horm. It is also used in Chinese cooking and Chinese medicine, and is sold in Chinese groceries under the name sha jiang, while the plant itself is referred to as shan nai Kaempferia galanga has a peppery camphorous taste. It is one of four plants known as galangal, and is differentiated from the others by the absence of stem and dark brown, rounded rhizomes, while the other varieties all have stems and pale rosebrown rhizomes.Lesser galangal properly refers to Alpinia officinarum. In common usage, however, it is also erroneously applied to Kaempferia galanga. K. galanga is also erroneously called zedoary.
The rhizomes of aromatic ginger have been reported to include cineol, borneol, 3-carene, camphene, kaempferol, kaempferide, cinnamaldehyde, p-methoxycinnamic acid, ethyl cinnamate and ethyl p-methoxycinnamate. Extracts of the plant using methanol have shown larvicidal activity against the second stage larvae of dog roundworms (Toxocara canis). It was also found to be effective as an amebicide in vitro against three species of Acanthamoeba, which cause granulomatous amebic encephalitis and amebic keratitis. In 1999, the rhizome extract was found to inhibit activity of Epstein-Barr virus. Further research has demonstrated the extract effectively kills larvae of the mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus and repels adult Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, both of which are serious disease vectors. As a result of these findings, research is underway to evaluate the plant extract’s use as an insect repellent, with preliminary findings suggesting that it is not an irritant to the skin of rats.
The rhizomes of the plant, which contains essential oils, have been used in Chinese medicine as a decoction or powder for treating indigestion, colds, pectoral and abdominal pains, headache and toothache. Its alcoholic maceration has also been applied as liniment for rheumatism.Some reports indicate that aside of its use as a medicinal plant against rheumatism and other inflammatory diseases (similar to ginger), and as a flavoring for rice dishes, the decoctions and the sap of the leaves have hallucinogenic properties, which is most likely due to yet unidentified components of the plant’s essential oil fraction.
A purified extract of Kaempferia galanga and polyester-8 stabilize the UV absorptive properties of sunscreen combinations containing avobenzone.
It has been reported recently that the rhizomes of Kaempferia galanga contains chemicals that are potent insecticides and may have potential in mosquito control.A similar finding was also revealed previously for Zingiber cassumunar and Kaempferia rotunda.
K. galanga possesses antioxidant antiinflammatory and analgesic activities.
Kaempferia galanga, yielded an anti-TB molecule, ethyl p-methoxycinnamat a potential anti-TB lead molecule.
Kaempferia galanga cantains up to 2.5% of ethyl p-methoxycinnamate.In an anticancer assay, it was found that ethyl p-methoxycinnamate could inhibit the proliferation of the human hepatocellular liver carcinoma HepG2 cell line.
Two major aromatic compounds found in Kaempferia galanga(compound 1: ethyl trans-p-methoxycinnamate and compound 2: ethyl cinnamate )had sedative effects on mice when inhaled.

Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Violaceae
Genus: Hybanthus
species: Hybanthus enneaspermus
Synonyms: Ionidium suffruticosum
Perennial herb or small shrub to 60 cm high, glabrous or hairy.Leaves linear to lanceolate, 1–5 cm long, margins recurved to revolute, occasionally flat; stipules acuminate, 1–4 mm long.Flowers solitary. Sepals 3–4 mm long. Lower petal broad-spathulate; upper petals linear-oblong, 3–4 mm long; lateral pair 4.5–5 mm long. Anthers without appendages.Capsule 4–9 mm long; seeds 5–12, pitted between ribs.Hybanthus is a genus of the family Violaceae. This genus name is Greek for “humpback flower”, referring to the drooping pedicels of plants that are part of this genus. The genus is gros

sly polyphyletic and may contain up to seven different genera, of which Pombalia Vand., Cubelium Raf. and Pigea DC. have been previously recognised.
Spade Flower is a perennial herb or small shrub to 60 cm high, smooth or hairy. Leaves are linear to lance-like, 1-5 cm long, margins recurved to revolute, occasionally flat; stipules acuminate, 1-4 mm long. Pink-purple spade-shaped flowers occur solitary. Sepals 3-4 mm long. Lower petal broad spade-shaped, pink-purple, with deep purple veins. Upper petals linear-oblong, 3-4 mm long; lateral pair 4.5-5 mm long. Anthers without appendages. Capsule 4-9 mm long; seeds 5-12, pitted between ribs.

Medicinal uses: This herb is considered to be extremely beneficial to men, used as a diuretic, demulcent and tonic. The root is diuretic and is used in urinary affections and bowel complaints of children. Decoction of leaves and tender stalks is demulcent. The fruit is used to treat scorpion sting. It is a hard task to collect adequate quantities of whole plants, let alone individual parts.

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Tribe: Desmodieae
Genus: Desmodium
A suberect undershrub, 0.6-1.2 m high. Leaves 1-foliolate, 9-12.5 cm long, ovate, oblong, acute or slightly acuminate. Flowers violet or white, in a copious ascending terminal and axillary racemes, 15-30 cm long. Pods subfalcate, 12-20 mm. long, deeply indented.
Several Desmodium species contain potent secondary metabolites. They are used aggressively in agriculture as part of the push-pull technology. Tick-trefoils produce extremely high amounts of antixenotic allomones – chemicals which repel many insect pests – and allelopathic compounds which kill weeds. For example, D. intortum and D. uncinatum are employed as groundcover in maize and sorghum fields to repel Chilo partellus stem-borer grass moths. They also suppress witchweeds such as Asiatic Witchweed (Striga asiatica) and Purple Witchweed (S. hermonthica).
Tick-trefoils are generally useful as living mulch and as green manure, as they are able to replenish soil fertility due to their nitrogen fixation. Most also give good animal fodder.
Some Desmodium species were shown to contain elevated amounts of tryptamine alkaloids. This is widespread in this genus and its relatives, and many tryptamine-containing plants treated in Desmodium are not placed herein anymore (see also below).
DMT and 5-MeO-DMT have been shown to occur in all green parts of D. gangeticum, as well as the roots. D. triflorum roots contain DMT-N-oxide.

There do not appear to be many animals that regularly feed on Desmodium, but detailed research in these interesting plants is lacking. Lesser Grass Blue (Zizina otis) caterpillars are known to feed in tick-trefoil, as well as, occasionally, those of the Two-barred Flasher (Astraptes fulgerator).
The taxonomy and systematics of the many dozens of Desmodium species are extremely confusing and far from resolved. Related genera such as Codariocalyx, Hylodesmum, Lespedeza, Ohwia and Phyllodium were and sometimes still are included in Desmodium.
Many of these plants being rather small, inconspicuous and nondescript, the same taxa have been applied to what later turned out to be very different species. For example, D. spirale as described by August Grisebach might refer to a distinct species but its validity is doubtful; the “D. spirale” of other authorities may refer to either of D. neomexicanum, D. ospriostreblum or D. procumbens. Similarly, the plant originally described as D. podocarpum by A. P. de Candolle is Hylodesmum podocarpum today, but “D. podocarpum” might also mean D. hookerianum or Hylodesmum laxum, depending on the taxonomic authority.
Medicinal Uses
bleeding, diarrhoea, dysentery, piles, worm infestations, fever, vomiting, inflammation, cough, asthma, bronchitis, tuberculosis, urinary diseases, heart diseases, pyorrhea, seminal weakness, debility, skin eruptions, malaria.Roots are alterative, tonic, anthelmintic, aphrodisiac and astringent to the bowels; used in typhoid, fever, piles, asthma, bronchitis, dysentery, diarrhoea, biliousness and cough; also useful in chronic affections of the chest and lungs. Root extract is used in whooping cough (Yusuf et al. 2009).

selected species
Desmodium acanthocladum F.Muell.
Desmodium adscendens DC.
Desmodium canadense – Showy Tick-trefoil, Canadian Tick-trefoil
Desmodium canescens – Hoary Tick-trefoil
Desmodium ciliare (Muhl.) DC. – Hairy Small-leaved Tick-trefoil
Desmodium concinnum DC.
Desmodium concinnum var. concinnum (= D. penduliflorum Benth.)
Desmodium cuspidatum (Muhl.) Loudon – Toothed Tick-trefoil, Large-bracted Tick-trefoil
Desmodium dillenii Darl. (sometimes considered a variety of D. paniculatum)
Desmodium discolor Vog.
Desmodium elegans DC.
Desmodium gangeticum
Desmodium glabrum (Mill.) DC. (= D. molle (Vahl) DC.)
Desmodium glutinosum (Willd.) Alph. Wood – Pointed-leaved Tick-trefoil, Large Tick-trefoil
Desmodium hookerianum D. Dietr. (= D. podocarpum Hook. & Arn.)
Desmodium illinoense – Illinois Tick-trefoil
Desmodium incanum – Creeping Beggarweed, Spanish Clover, Spanish Tick-trefoil, Kaimi Clover or kaʻimi (Hawaiʻi)
Desmodium intortum
Desmodium khasianum (= D. oxyphyllum auct. non DC.)
Desmodium laxiflorum DC. (= D. incanum sensu auct.[2])
Desmodium lineatum (Michx.) DC. – Linear-leaved Tick-trefoil
Desmodium marilandicum (L.) DC. – Smooth Small-leaved Tick-trefoil
Desmodium nemorosum F.Muell. ex Benth.
Desmodium neomexicanum (= D. bigelovii, D. humile, D. lilloanum, D. parvum, D. spirale auct. non DC. non Griseb. non (Sw.) DC., D. spirale (Sw.) DC. var. bigelovii)
Desmodium nudiflorum (L.) DC. – Bare-stemmed Tick-trefoil, Naked-flowered Tick-trefoil
Desmodium oojeinense
Desmodium ospriostreblum (= D. spirale DC., D. tortuosum sensu Hepper)
Desmodium paniculatum (L.) DC. – Panicled Tick-trefoil
Desmodium perplexum – Perplexed Tick-trefoil
Desmodium procumbens (= D. spirale (Sw.) DC., D. sylvaticum, D. tenuiculum)
Desmodium psilocarpum
Desmodium rhytidophyllum F.Muell. ex Benth.
Desmodium rigidum (Ell.) DC. – Rigid Tick-trefoil
Desmodium rotundifolium (Michx.) DC. – Prostrate Tick-trefoil, Round-leaved Tick-trefoil, Dollar Leaf
Desmodium spirale Griseb. (disputed)
Desmodium tortuosum (Sw.) DC.
Desmodium triflorum
Desmodium uncinatum – Silver-leaved Tick-trefoil, “silverleaf”
Desmodium varians (Labill.) G.Don

Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Lamiales
Family: Pedaliaceae
Genus: Sesamum
Species: S. indicum
Sesame is among the most im­portant oil seeds of man­kind, and one of its oldest. There are very dif­ferent kinds of sesame oil available, and some know­ledge about their culinary proper­ties is required to make a com­petent choice.
Basically, nearly all seeds contain some kind of stored energy used as a fuel by the young plant in the first phase of its life. Energy is sometimes stored in the form of proteins, e.g. in the bean family (beans, peas, lentils); yet much more common in the use of carbon hydrates (e.g., cereals) or fat to store energy. Oil obtained by pressing such seeds contains besides true fats (lipids) several more constituents: Aroma compounds, which make up for the culinary character of the oil, vitamins, trace elements and more. With respect to lipids, in the plant kingdom nearly pure glycerides, one can further distinguish between saturated and unsaturated fats.
Among the unsaturated fats there are several essential; failure to incorporate enough of them leads to disease. Yet saturated fats are better for cooking, because they can be heated to higher temperatures and have longer shelf life. Also, some aroma compounds decompose at higher temperature, imposing a burnt flavour to the dish.
Cold-pressed oils (in more recent literature also called native oils) contain a wealth of aroma compounds and their aroma resembles the plant they were obtained from. They must be heated carefully to preserve their aroma compounds; otherwise, the advantage of cold pressure is lost. Cold-pressed oils are perfect for salads and well-suited for dishes prepared at temperatures not much higher than the boiling point of water. A famous example is extra vergine olive oil; some other examples are walnut oil, poppy oil and rapeseed oil.
The term cold-pressed is somewhat confusing, because even cold-pressed oils are not obtained at refrigerator or even room temperature; due to friction in the seeds the temperature may rise well up to 40 °C. Some oil mills improve the quality of their products by artificial cooling during the extraction procedure. Cooling increases the quality of the oil; it is particularly important for obtaining highest-quality olive oil.
Some vegetable oils are obtained from seeds that have been toasted before pressing; typically, these products are very flavourful (pumpkin seed oil, hemp oil, Oriental sesame oil). Since the seeds have been exposed to elevated temperatures before pressing, there is no need to keep the temperature low in the following steps: typically, extraction takes place at 60 to 80 °C.
Hot-pressed oils are much cheaper, since pressing yield increases with the tempera­ture; even the waste from a first pressing may be re­processed to give more oil at high tempera­ture (above 100 °C). Solvent extraction, finally, gives nearly quanti­tative yield. Yet in the heat, a large number of un­pleasant smelling or even toxic com­pounds may form and make most hot-pressed oils unsuited for human con­sumption. Thus, a further step called refine­ment​ is needed to remove free fatty acids, solvent residues and all aroma com­pounds, leaving a bland oil con­sisting purely of lipids.
Refined oils are common in the West, on one hand because strong flavours are not popular anyway and on the other hand because they are stable up to high tempera­tures and are thus perfectly suited for deep frying. For the taste, it’s not of much importance which plant they are obtained from, but their thermal stability and content of multiply unsaturated fatty acids depends on the plant species. The most popular refined oils in Europe are sunflower, corn, sesame and safflower oil and the solid coconut fat.
Margarine is made by hydrogenation of vegetable oils, whereby unsaturated fats are converted into saturated fats. Because of loss of the valuable polyunsaturated fatty acids, it is less valuable but, on the other hand, it is a cholesterol-free plant product and thus still bears some dietetic advantages compared to butter. Culinarily, of course, butter is far superior, even if butter-flavoured margarines are sold.
Sesame oil is traded in any of the forms described above: Refined sesame oil is very common in Europe and the USA; most margarine is made therefrom. Cold-pressed sesame oil is available in Western health shops. In most Asian countries, different kinds of hot-pressed sesame oil are preferred.
For example, a hot-pressed sesame oil is the preferred cooking medium in Southwest India (mainly, the union state Maharashtra) and Burma (see also onion for Burmese curries). A specialty particular worth noting is oriental (dark) sesame oil, which is obtained by toasting the seeds before pressing. Dark sesame oil is a common flavouring in Korea and in the Chinese province Sichuan, where it is used drop by drop as a condiment, e.g., for Sichuan hot and sour soup; in parts of China, it is commonly flavoured with crushed dried chiles.
Dark sesame oil is not suitable as a frying medium, unless it is diluted with bland oil; for example, Japanese tempura is made by deep-frying battered vegetables in a mixture of one part sesame oil and ten parts vegetable oil .
Toasted sesame seeds are a common spice in Eastern Asia; it is often sprinkled over Japanese and Korean dishes. It forms part of shichimi togarashi, an exotic spice blend of Japan . A simpler mixture from toasted sesame seeds with about 10% salt is known as gomashio in Japan; it is usually sprikled over dry rice dishes.
Chinese sesame paste is made from toasted sesame seeds and has a very strong flavour resembling Chinese sesame oil; it is used mainly for salad dressings and sauces for cold appetizers like Sichuanese guai wei ji si strange-flavoured chicken threads, which is a salad made from precooked chicken meat cut in fine slivers with a dressing of soy sauce, sugar, black vinegar, sesame paste, sesame seeds, chile oil and toasted Sichuan pepper. The unusual combination of flavours make this dish as unique as delicious. In China, it is also known as bang-bang chicken, named after wooden bludgeons which steet vendors used to force their knives through the bones and to loosen the meat fibers.
Dried but untoasted sesame seeds are popular in the Near East and occur in the Jordanian spice mixture zahtar and in the Egyptian dukka. All over Western Asia, tahini, a paste made from ground dried sesame seeds, is popular and used to thicken and flavour sauces and gravies. Hummus, a bread spread popular in Israel, Syria and Lebanon, is made from cooked chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, a hint of lemon juice and fresh parsley.

Sesame seeds are quite common in Mexican cookery and appear in one of the country’s most famous creations: mole rojo or mole poblano, a sophisticated sauce that is usually served to baked turkey. See also paprika about mole in general and Mexican pepper-leaf about green mole, mole verde. What makes mole Poblano so special is the large number of ingredients that lead to an unsurpassed rich flavour: chicken stock, broiled tomatoes and tomatillos, raisins, three different kinds of paprika (the holy trinity of ancho, mulato and pasilla), a handful of tropical spices (cloves, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg and black pepper), sesame seeds and almonds are combined with a most unusual ingredient, unsweetened chocolate or, even better, toasted cocoa beans. After a long simmering period, the sauce is refried in lard which makes its flavour even more deep and unforgettable.
Some Korean cookbooks refer to a flavouring called wild sesame. This name, however, does not refer to any sesame variety, but means perilla, a different plant with fragrant leaves.
Used plant part
Seeds, which are either simply dried or dried and toasted. Sesame seeds can be off-white, brown, grey or black.
the leaves of the sesame plant are not used in the kitchen. Nevertheless, sesame leaves or wild sesame leaves are sometimes called for in Korean cookbooks. This is due to erroneous translation and should read perilla.
Sensory quality
The dried seeds taste nutty; their flavour is dramatically increased by toasting. Oriental (dark) sesame oil has a strong, somewhat dominant nutty odour.
Main constituents
The seeds contain about 50 to 60% of a fatty oil, which is charac­terized by a two lignanes, sesamin and sesamolin (approximately 300 ppm in the oil), whence during refinement two phenolic antioxidants, sesamol (3,4-methylenedioxyphenol) and sesaminol, are formed.
Sesame oil is mostly composed of tri­glycerides of the singly un­saturated oleic acid (40%) and the doubly un­saturated linoleic acid (45%), besides approxi­mately 10% saturated fats (iodine index 110). Because of its powerful antioxidant and because triply unsaturated fatty acids are missing, sesame oil has an excellent shelf life.
Oriental sesame oil owes its characteristic flavour to a huge number of compounds which form only during the toasting procedure. Most prominent are 2-furylmethanthiol, which also plays an important part in the flavour of coffee and roasted meat, guajacol (2-methoxyphenol), phenylethanthiol and furaneol (4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)furanone); furthermore, vinylguacol, 2,4-decadienal, 2-pentylpyridine and other O- or N-containing heterocycles are reported (2-acetyl pyrroline, 2-pentyl pyridine, alkylated and acylated pyrazines). The heterocyclic compound 2-acetyl pyrroline is thought to be the impact aroma compound of South-East Asian pandanus leaves.
Yet other sources claim that pyrazines are the key aroma compounds of toasted sesame seeds. It was found out that pyrazines dominate the flavour for mild toasting conditions (160 °C), while toasting at higher temperature (200 °C) leads to increased formation of furanes.
Sesame is an ancient cultigen. Today, it is mostly grown in India and the Far East (China, Korea), but its origin is probably tropic Africa (although some other sources seem to favour an Indian origin).
In India, where sesame is cultivated since the Harappan period, there are two independent names for it: Sanskrit tila appears alredy in the Rigveda and is the source of all Names in North India, and some Southern Indian names also, e.g., Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Bengali til Gujarati tal, Sinhala tala and Dhivehi thileyo, but also Telugu tilluThe origin of that word family is not known, but it often suspected to derive from a pre-Aryan Northern Indian language predating Sanskrit, perhaps related to the contemporary Munda languages. Yet there is a similar Akkadian term tallum meaning oil.
In contrast, most of the Dravid­ian languages in South India feature an inde­pendent name for sesame exempli­fied by Tamil and Kannada ellu Quite inter­estingly, the latter name reminds of Greek elaia olive and Akkadian ellu fruit, olive, hinting at a possible common origin for the names of two locally important oil crops; but there is also Sumerian ili sesame. While this group of names seems to be exclusively associated with Southern Dravidian, a remote connection to the til-words cannot be ruled out completely.
From both Indian roots, words with the generalized meaning oil; liquid fat are derived, e.g., Sanskrit taila, Gujarati tel and Dhivehi theyo . Tamil enney , the latter being formed from ellu sesame and ney fat; see coconut for the second element. Cf. also Malayalam enna and Kannada enne oil, probably a parallel construction. Similar semantic shifts from the name of an oil crop to a general word fat, oil are also known for other languages, e.g., olive has given rise to English oil.
English gingelly (now largely obsolete) and Portuguese gergelim (common in Brazil only) have their origin in the early colonial period; their origin is Arabic al-juljulan sesame, which allegedly derives from an Arabic noun jaljala sound, echo, referring to the rattling sound of ripe seeds within the capsule; obviously, the Arabic term has an onomatopoetic character. There are a few cognate names, e.g., Maltese ġulġlien, Hindi gingli and Spanish ajonjolí. Other, now uncommon, names of sesame in English are tilseed (from Hindi/Urdu til) and benseed or benne (from Wolof bene).
A possible Chinese term for sesame is hu ma wild/foreign hemp. In this compound, the element ma means hemp (it can also refer to the numbing taste of Sichuan pepper), and hu signifies barbarrian, foreign (the same sign is used to write black pepper as foreign Sichuan pepper).
The herb has remarkable therapeutic properties. Sesame seeds have a high energetic value and stimulate virility. The seeds can therefore be used in alimentation, strewed on pretzels or bread. From white sesame seeds, through cold pressing, an oil can be obtained which has a high therapeutic value and aphrodisiac effects, being used in massages.
Sesame is recommended in treating insomnia or as a protean infusion in various nutrition affections. Being rich in arginine, sesame seeds deters the development of tumors, help detoxify the liver and kidneys and improving the immune system. They also help increase fertility.
The plant has antirheumatic and anticancerous properties. Having antifungic and bactericide effects, the oil is used in treating gingival affections: gum bolls and gingivitis. In preventing paradontosis 2-3 drops of sesame oil are applied in the evening on the gums, after washing the teeth. The gums are massaged gently and the treatment is repeated every evening, for a period of minimum 3 months.
Sesame oil has laxative effects. The refined sesame oil is used in cosmetics for making soap. The sesame leaves, rich in mucilaginous substances, are used in combinations with other plants for treating dysentery and cholera.
Sesame oil is obtained through cold pressing which causes the preserving of aromatic compounds. The oil must be heated carefully so as not to lose this advantage. This type of oil is indicated for preparing salads. The sesame oil can also be obtained from seeds which are pan-fried before being cold pressed. The pressing is done at 60-80 degrees Celsius. These are refined in order to remove the free fat acids. Margarine is obtained from this refined sesame oil.
Sesame milk is prepared from a cup of sesame, a quarter of a cup of honey and 3 cups of milk. The ingredients are mixed in the blender and the mixture is consumed cold.
Sesame flour results from the seeds. It is rich in amino acids and contains 3 times as much calcium as the same amount of milk. Sesame seeds are used in East Asia as a spice especially in Japanese and Korean foods. Halvah is also obtained from sesame seeds. They can also be used successfully in salads, poultry, pork or beef, cooked vegetables, cheese aromatizing, egg salads, sauces based on butter or bread aromatizing.
Sesame seed is an important condiment which should be included in our daily diet. They are rich in vitamin -B1(thiamine) and vitamin -E and contains several minerals like iron ,manganese, magnesium ,copper and calcium.They contain phytosterols which lower bad cholesterol levels.It is also good fo colon.
These seeds have the highest antioxidant property then any other oil seeds. They also have some anti cancerous properties.There are two types of sesame .They are;
White sesame seeds .
Black sesame seeds.The white sesame seeds are used in several food preparations in asian countries. These seeds are widely used in many countries around the globe. These seeds are used by ancient women to protect their beauty and to look younger. . A preparation made with jaggery and sesame seed powder(or just sesame seed ) is given to the girls during the start of their menstrual period.This is known to provide strength to the young girls.It is also known that consumption of this one laddu for a day makes ones menstrual cycle regular. It also prevents unwanted pregnancy if consumed everyday.It is also helpful during the menopause stage.The Zinc present int hese seeds prevents the bone damage.So overall it is helpful for both men and women during their andropause and menopause.The oil obtained by grinding these seeds is used in several ayurvedic massage treatments to treat several pains (diseases).This oil is used in oil pulling. The black sesame seeds are not used much in any food preparations.
Black Sesame Seeds: Black sesame seeds (Sesamum Indicum L) are similar to the more common white sesame seeds. Black sesame seeds are not hulled, brown (golden) sesame seeds retain their hulls too, and the white seeds are hulled which exposes their true seed color. Lighter colored sesame seeds are used more in the West and in the Middle East, and the black sesame seeds are more popular in Far East cuisine. White and black sesame seeds can be used together for an attractive accent to any meal. Sesame seeds are rich in vitamins and minerals and offer several health related benefits. Black sesame seeds contain about 60% more calcium than hulled sesame seeds.
Sesame seeds are thought to have originated in India. The famous saying “Open sesame!” came from the sesame seed pod which bursts open when ripe. In Africa sesame seeds are called ‘benne’ and are used as food and for their oil content. Sesame seeds have been around for thousands of years, in fact it is said that when the gods created the world they drank sesame seed wine. 
Black sesame seeds are more flavorful and have a stronger aroma than white or brown sesame seeds. Toasting black sesame seeds releases beneficial chemicals as well as enhancing the flavor. Black sesame seeds are rich in a fatty oil. Oil content is high, between 40% and 60%. The oil has a distinctive flavor, and is rich in antioxidants which give it a long shelf life. The seeds also enjoy a long shelf life and resist rancidity. After removing the oil, seeds are 35% to 50% protein. Sesame butter, also known as ‘tahini’, is a paste which resembles peanut butter. Tahini is made from ground, hulled sesame seeds and is used in Hummus and other Middle Eastern and Asian dishes.
Black Sesame Seed Facts:
Black Sesame Seeds are similar to the more common white sesame seeds.
Black Sesame Seeds are not hulled.
Black sesame seeds are more flavorful than hulled seeds.
Sesame seeds are 40 to 60 percent oil.
Sesame seeds are high in protein.
Black Sesame Seeds add an attractive accent to food.
Nutritional data per 100g:
Alanine – 0.927 g
Arginine – 2.630 g
Ash – 4.45 g
Aspartic acid – 1.646 g
Calcium, Ca – 975 mg
Carbohydrate, by difference – 23.45 g
Carotene, beta – 5 mcg
Copper, Cu – 4.082 mg
Cystine – 0.358 g
Energy – 2397 kj
Energy – 573 kcal
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated – 18.759 g
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated – 21.773 g
Fatty acids, total saturated – 6.957 g
Fiber, total dietary – 11.8 g
Folate, DFE – 97 mcg_DFE
Folate, food – 97 mcg
Folate, total – 97 mcg
Glutamic acid – 3.955 g
Glycine – 1.215 g
Histidine – 0.522 g
Iron, Fe – 14.55 mg
Isoleucine – 0.763 g
Leucine – 1.358 g
Lysine – 0.569 g
Magnesium, Mg – 351 mg
Manganese, Mn – 2.460 mg
Methionine – 0.586 g
Niacin – 4.515 mg
Pantothenic acid – 0.050 mg
Phenylalanine – 0.940 g
Phosphorus, P – 629 mg
Phytosterols – 714 mg
Potassium, K – 468 mg
Proline – 0.810 g
Protein – 17.73 g
Riboflavin – 0.247 mg
Selenium, Se – 5.7 mcg
Serine – 0.967 g
Sodium, Na – 11 mg
Sugars, total – 0.30 g
Thiamin – 0.791 mg
Threonine – 0.736 g
Total lipid (fat) – 49.67 g
Tryptophan – 0.388 g
Tyrosine – 0.743 g
Valine – 0.990 g
Vitamin A, IU – 9 IU
Vitamin B-6 – 0.790 mg
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) – 0.25 mg
Water – 4.69 g
Zinc, Zn – 7.75 mg
According to Assyrian legend, when the gods met to create the world, they drank wine made from sesame seeds.
In Hindu legends and beliefs, tales are told in which sesame seeds represent a symbol of immortality and the God Maha Vishnu’s consort Maha Sri Devi herself representing the properties of the sesame seed, as such it is considered as the most auspicious oil next to ghee used in Hindu rituals and prayers.
In Orissa, Raashi ladu (sweet made of sesame) is a must as an offering to Lord Ganesha. Black sesame seeds are mixed with grains of rice and offered to the manes. White sesame seeds mixed with rice are offered to the gods and seers of the Veda. Both of these offerings are called tarpanam. Sesame oil is used to pacify the malefic effect of Lord Shani (Saturn).
In Tamil literature and medicine, it has been mentioned as the “very good healthy” oil as such it is called Nala + Enney (Good Oil), old Tamil medicinal proverbs such as “ilaythavannakku yellum kohluthavanukkum kohlum”; meaning “prescribe for underweight/unnourished it boost up and also may apply for the overweight/corpulent as well to reduce down, sometimes misinterpreted as “prescribe sesame to underweight and horse gram to overweight” thus the word kohlum is mistaken for Horse Gram. Tamil medicine holds that gargling with sesame oil after brushing one’s teeth will reduce gum disease and mouth ulcers while eliminating plaque. Taking a sesame oil bath with a simple self massage are considered mandatory in Tamil tradition at least once in a week on Wednesday and Saturday for male and Fridays for female as per quoted by a Siddha Yogic Tamil medicine philosopher Auvaiyaar as quoted “Sani Neeraadu” means at least take a full shower once a week with oil which will reduce ones body heat on a rest day which is Saturday for those who live in the hot humid tropical regions. According to Bhavishya-uttara-Purana, one who distributes sesame in charity (etc.) on day of Shat-Tila-Ekadashi, in the end of life comes back to home, back to Godhead, to spiritual world, abode of Lord Krishna.
In recent times, sesame seeds have become an ingredient in wiccan practices. Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen suggests their use to aid conception, to draw money, or for protection.
Nutrition and health treatments
Sesame seed kernels, toasted (decorticated)
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 2,372 kJ (567 kcal)
Carbohydrates 26.04 g
- Sugars 0.48 g
- Dietary fiber 16.9 g
Fat 48.00 g
Protein 16.96 g
- Tryptophan 0.371 g
- Threonine 0.704 g
- Isoleucine 0.730 g
- Leucine 1.299 g
- Lysine 0.544 g
- Methionine 0.560 g
- Cystine 0.342 g
- Phenylalanine 0.899 g
- Tyrosine 0.710 g
- Valine 0.947 g
- Arginine 2.515 g
- Histidine 0.499 g
- Alanine 0.886 g
- Aspartic acid 1.574 g
- Glutamic acid 3.782 g
- Glycine 1.162 g
- Proline 0.774 g
- Serine 0.925 g
Water 5.00 g
Vitamin C 0.0 mg (0%)
Calcium 131 mg (13%)
Iron 7.78 mg (60%)
Magnesium 346 mg (97%)
Phosphorus 774 mg (111%)
Potassium 406 mg (9%)
Sodium 39 mg (3%)
Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient Database
Sesame seed kernels, dried (decorticated)
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 2,640 kJ (630 kcal)
Carbohydrates 11.73 g
- Sugars 0.48 g
- Dietary fiber 11.6 g
Fat 61.21 g
Protein 20.45 g
- Tryptophan 0.330 g
- Threonine 0.730 g
- Isoleucine 0.750 g
- Leucine 1.500 g
- Lysine 0.650 g
- Methionine 0.880 g
- Cystine 0.440 g
- Phenylalanine 0.940 g
- Tyrosine 0.790 g
- Valine 0.980 g
- Arginine 3.250 g
- Histidine 0.550 g
- Alanine 0.990 g
- Aspartic acid 2.070 g
- Glutamic acid 4.600 g
- Glycine 1.090 g
- Proline 1.040 g
- Serine 1.200 g
Water 3.75 g
Vitamin C 0.0 mg (0%)
Calcium 975 mg (98%)
Iron 14.5 mg (112%)
Magnesium 345 mg (97%)
Phosphorus 667 mg (95%)
Potassium 370 mg (8%)
Sodium 47 mg (3%)
Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient Database
The seeds are exceptionally rich in iron, magnesium, manganese, copper, and calcium (90 mg per tablespoon for unhulled seeds, 10 mg for hulled), and contain vitamin B1 (thiamine) and vitamin E (tocopherol). They contain lignans, including unique content of sesamin, which are phytoestrogens with antioxidant and anti-cancer properties. Among edible oils from six plants, sesame oil had the highest antioxidant content.Sesame seeds also contain phytosterols associated with reduced levels of blood cholesterol. The nutrients of sesame seeds are better absorbed if they are ground or pulverized before consumption, as in tahini.
Sesame seeds contain a high amount of the anti-nutrient phytic acid.
Women of ancient Babylon would eat halva, a mixture of honey and sesame seeds to prolong youth and beauty, while Roman soldiers ate the mixture for strength and energy.
Sesame seeds produce an allergic reaction in a small percentage of the general population.
There have been erroneous claims that sesame seeds also contain THC which may be detectable on random screening. This error stems from a misunderstanding of the commercial drug Dronabinol, a synthetic form of THC. The normal delivery mechanism for synthetic dronabinol is via infusion into sesame oil and encapsulation into soft gelatin capsules. As a result some people are under the mistaken assumption that sesame oil naturally contains THC. In fact, THC, CBD, CBN and the other cannabinoids are unique to the Cannabis genus.
Sesame oil is used for massage and health treatments of the body (abhyanga and shirodhara) and teeth (oil pulling) in the ancient Indian ayurvedic system. Ayurveda views sesame oil as the most viscous of the plant oils and believes it may pacify the health problems associated with Vata aggravation.

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Papaveraceae
Subfamily: Papaveroideae
Tribe: Papavereae
Genus: Argemone
Hindi: Shialkanta, Satyanashi
Gujrati: Darudi
Danarese: Balurakkisa, Datturi, Pirangi, datturi
Marathi: Daruri, Firangi-kote-pavola, dhotara.
Sanskrit: Brahmadandi, Pitopushpa, Srigalkanta, Svarnakshiri.
Malyalam: Ponnummattu, Kantankattiri
Tamil: Kutiyotti, Ponnummuttai
Telugu: Brahmadandicettu
Mexcian prickly poppy, Satyanashi (Hindi), Kudiyotti (Tamil), Ponnummattu (Malayalam), BaraShil-Kantal (Bengali), Firangi dhotra (Marathi), Datturigidda (Kannada), Kshirini (Sanskrit), Brahmadandi (Telugu), Phirangi dhutro (Konkani)
Synonyms: Argemone leiocarpa • Argemone mucronata • Argemone ochroleuca • Argemone spinosa • Argemone sulphurea • Argemone versicolor • Ectrus mexicanus • Papaver spinosum
Argemone is a genus of flowering plants in the family Papaveraceae. It contains 30 to 32 species, commonly known as prickly poppies,that are native to the Americas and Hawaii. The generic name originated from Greek and was applied by Dioscorides to a poppy-like plant used to treat cataracts.
The seeds contain 22–36% of a pale yellow non-edible oil, called argemone oil or katkar oil, which contains the toxic alkaloids sanguinarine and dihydrosanguinarine. Four quaternary isoquinoline alkaloids, dehydrocorydalmine, jatrorrhizine, columbamine, and oxyberberine, have been isolated from the whole plant of Argemone mexicana.
The seeds resemble the seeds of Brassica nigra (mustard). As a result, mustard can be adulterated by argemone seeds, rendering it poisonous. Several significant instances of katkar poisoning have been reported in India, Fiji, South Africa and other countries. The last major outbreak in India occurred in 1998. 1% adulteration of mustard oil by argemone oil has been shown to cause clinical disease.
The Seri of Sonora, Mexico use the entire plant both fresh and dried. An infusion is made to relieve kidney pain, to help expel a torn placenta, and in general to help cleanse the body after parturition.
When the Spanish arrived in Sonora they added this plant to their pharmacopia and called it cardosanto, which should not be mistranslated to blessed thistle (Cnicus benedictus). Use in Hispanic cultures includes as a sedative and analgesiac tea, including for use to help alleviate migrane headaches. The seeds are taken as a laxative.
The seed-pods secrete a pale-yellow latex substance when cut open. This argemone resin contains berberine and protopine, and is used medicinally as a sedative.
Argemone mexicana is used by traditional healers in Mali to treat malaria.
Katkar oil poisoning causes epidemic dropsy, with symptoms including extreme swelling, particularly of the legs.
It is a prickly, glabrous, branching herb with yellow juice and showy yellow flowers, The Sanskrit name svarnakshiri is given because of the yellow juice (Svarna – Gold; Kshiri – Juice ). The height of this plant varies between 0.3 to 0.12 meters, Leaves are thistlelike. Stem clasping, Oblong, sinuately pinnatifid, spinous and viens are white. Flowers are terminal, yellow and of 2.5–5.0 cm diameter. Fruits are capsule. Prickly and oblong ovoid. Seeds numerous, globose, netted and brownish black. Flowering time is all round the year in Indian conditions. The plants is toxic to animals and cattle avoid grazing this plant. Harmful allelopathic effects of Argemone mexicana on germination and seedling vigour of wheat, mustard, fenugreek, sorghum, fingermillet, tomato, cucumber etc. (important crops in India ) have been reported. The allelochemicals cinnamic and benzoic acid are identified as harmful chemicals responsible for inhibition of germination and seedling vigor.

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