MedicinalPlants

ARTABOTRYS HEXAPETALUS (L.f.) Bhandari

Family: Annonaceae

Synonyms: A. uncinatus (Lam.) Merr., A. odoratissimus R. Br.

Bengali/Vernacular Name: Katchampa, Kanthalichapa, Guichapa.

Description of the Plant:

A robust climber or scandent shrub. Leaves 5-20 cm long, oblong-lanceolate, dark green, glabrous, shining. Flowers yellow, solitary or in pairs; petals 2.5-4 cm, nearly equal, thick, odorous. Fruit obovoid, 6-10 in a bunch, yellow.

Using Information:

Decoction of the leaves is given for the treatment of cholera. The flowers are heating and alexiteric; useful in vomiting, biliousness, itch, sweats, foul breath, leucoderma, erysipelas and diseases of the blood and the heart.

EtOH extract of fruits is cardiac depressant followed by cardiac stimulant, hypotensive and spasmogenic. Flower extract possesses strong antifungal properties (Asolkar et al., 1992).

Chemical Constituents:

Leaves and roots contain an alkaloid, artabotrine and a volatile principle. Flowers contain an essential oil. Roots contain yingzhaosu A & B. Glycosidic priniciples like kaempferol, quercetin, myricetin, quercetin-3-O-arabinoside, quercetin-3-O-glucoside and quercetin-O-galactoside and gallic acid have been isolated from the leaves. Stem bark has been reported to contain sterols, ß-sitosterol, stigmasterol; benzylbenzoate; spathulenol, nor-stephalgine, isopiline, anonaine, iriodenine, atherospermidin, asimilobine and N-methylcoclaurine (Ghani, 2003).

Distribution:

Planted in gardens.