Salpani

Overview

Salpani is native to Tropical Africa, China, Japan, Indian subcontinent, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia. Frequently used as medicinal plant, it is also cultivated, especially in southeast Asia, as a green manure. The plant produces a heavy, matty growth in open sandy areas, making it useful as a weed-controlling ground cover, and it is also recommended as a cover crop for rubber plantations and for erosion control. As a medicinal plant, Salpani is under category of most important herbs in ayurveda. This herbs is packed with innumerable ayurvedic properties. This herb has the anthelmintic, anticatarrhal, carminative, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge, nervine tonic, antidiarrheal, and stomach properties. The fibrous stems are reported to be useful for paper production, and in the Philippines they are used to make prawn traps.

Vernacular Names

Da ye shan lu dou, Heng he shan lu dou, Chan dou, Da ye shan ma huang (Chinese), Kareti, Salwan, Sarivan (Hawaiian), Dikit-dikit (Philippines), tük hma:, do:yz tük hma:, ph'è:ng kh'am h'o:yz (Laos), I-nio, Yaa tuet maeo (Thai), Cây thóc lép, Cỏ cháy, Bài ngài (Vietnam).

Agroecology

Salpani is a very common weed in Malesia, mainly found in anthropogenic habitats in the lowlands, under everwet or seasonal conditions. In Indo-China it is found in savannahs and deforested terrains, in hedges and along forest paths, at elevations up to 1.900 m.

Morphology

• Root - Taproot, yellowish white with leathery texture.
• Stems - Slender, woody, somewhat angular and grayish-hairy, rootstock thickened, branches are covered with soft hairs.
• Leaves - Unifoliolate, alternate, green, oblong-ovate, with rounded bases and pointed tips, upper surface variously hairy, lower surface densely hairy, lateral veins 6-12, margins are waved or entire. Stipules narrow, tapering to a point, and striate at the base
• Flowers - Inflorescence a terminal or axillary raceme or panicle, numerous, flowers in clusters of 2-4, calyx 4-lobed, densely covered with minute hooked hairs and longer straight hairs, corolla white to pale yellow or rose to violet.
• Fuits - Pod, thin, flat, curved carrying 6-8 nodes, bear the hair lika structures on them.
• Seeds - Pale yellow, reniform.

Cultivation

• Propagated by seed, division, and root cutting.
• The seed usually germinates within 1 - 4 months at 25 °C.

Chemical Constituents

N, N-dimethyltryptamine, 5-methoxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine, Nb- oxides, Nb-methyltetrahydroharman, 6-methoxy-2-methyl-ß-carboliniumderivative, Nb-methailtetrahydroharman, hypaphorine, hordenine, caudicine, N-methyl tyramine, ß-phenylethylamine, gangetin-(7, 12α- dihydro-13-methoxy-3, 3-dimethyl-11-13-methyl- 2butenyl)-3H, 7H-benzofuro [3,2-C] pyrano [3,2-g]-benzpyran-10-ol, gangetinin, desmodin, 24-ethylcholesta-5, 22-dien-3ß-ol, flavones glucoside, 4-5,7-trihydroxy-8-prenylflavone-4’-0-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 to 6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside, alkaloid, 5 phospholipids.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• Root is considered alternative, antithetical, tonic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, aphrodisiac, constipating, diuretic, cardiologist, expectorant, astringent, terminative, antiemetic, and anti-catarrh.
• Studies have shown antidiabetic, antioxidant, inman-leishmanial, noninflammatory, overprotective, febrifuge, antiinflammatory, antiamnesic, antibacterial, anticancer, anticompetitive, anthelmintic, antidiarrheal and stomach properties.
• Decoction of whole plant is used for treating edema, digestive problems, intermittent fevers, diarrhea, urinary tract infections and malaria.
• A decoction of the leaves is used against stones in the gall bladder, kidneys or bladder. The leaves are applied as a poultice to the head as a treatment for headache.
• In Bangladesh leaves are used for treatment of toothache, chest pains, and fungal infections.
• A decoction of the root is employed to treat kidney problems, oedema, swellings, fever, coughs, asthma, biliousness, diarrhoea and dysentery, or as a sedative for children and the decoction is also used externally to clean wounds and ulcers. The roots are applied to the gums as a treatment for toothache.
• In west tropical Africa, bark is used as laxative, root used as abortiveness, antidotes for venomous stings, pain killer, tumors and cancers.