MEDICINAL PLANTS OF SIKKIM

 

 

Basic Information

 

                 

Species                       : Fagopyrum esculentum Moench.

Local Name                : Phapar (Nep), Kuru (Lep).

Synonym                    :

Family                        : Polygonaceae.

Habitat                      : A herb, thrives well in a moist cool climate and a well-drained sandy soil.

Distribution                : Distributed to sub- tropical and temperate region.

Sikkim                         : Chungthang.

Out side                      : Kashmir, Khasi hills, Manipur, Nilgiris.

General                       : Central Europe and North Asia, cultivated in the Khasia Mountains, throughout the Himalaya and Western Tibet at elevations of

                                    2000- 12,000 ft and in the Nilgiris.

Morphological information

An annual herb, 3- 5 ft, high with alternate, hastate, acute leaves 1- 3 inches long; flowers in axillary or terminal cyrnes, pinkish white, fragrant, dimorphic and highly self-sterile; fruit a 3- cornered achene, 0.2- 0.4 inches long with keeled edges, varying in colour from silvery grey to brown or black.

Flowering                        : May-September .

Fruiting                           : October-December.

History                           :

Parts                              : Leaves, seeds, flowers.

Status                            : Cultivated, endangered in wild.

Phytochemistry

Kaempferol -3- rhamnosylglucoside, p- cumaroylquinic and feruloylquinic adds isolated from leaves (Z. Pflanzenphysiol. 1972, 68, 115; Chem. Abstr. 1973, 78, 26518 k); L -2- (2- furoyl) alkaline (I) isolated from seeds and its structure elucidated (Tetrahedron Lett. 1973, 37); two new amides- N5- (2 hydroxybenzyl)- all- 4- hydroxyglutamine (II) and N5- (4-hydroxybenzyl)- l-glutamine (III)- isolated from seeds (Agric. Biol. Chem. 1973, 37, 2749; Chem. Abstr. 1974, 80, 80077v); a new piperidine derivative- fagomine, m.p. 176 degree-  from seeds characterized as 3,4- dihydroxy- 2- hydroxymethylpiperidine (Agric. Biol. Chem. 1974, 38, 1111; Chem. Abstr. 1974, 81, 148445s); quercetin (0.0021), quercitrin (0.0047), hyperin (0.17) and rutin (0.0006%) isolated from seeds (Nippon Nogel Kagaku Kaishi 1975, 49, 53; Chem. Abstr. 1975, 83, 4922p).

Agrocultivation

The plant is propagated by seeds. In northern India buckwheat is usually grown as a rainy season crop, sown in July and harvested in October. In Nilgiris it is generally sown in April and harvested in August. It is reported to be grown in some regions all the year round, except during the cold dry season, November-January.

 

Medicinal

The flour from the seeds is used in sprain, as an emollient and resolvent. Rutin from the plant is used in medicine in the treatment of increased capillary fragility with associated hypertension. It is useful in a variety of haemorrhagic conditions that includes certain types of purpura bleeding from the kidney, hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia and haemophillia. Rutin is administered orally in the form of tablets. The usual dosage is 20- 30 mg. Repeated 3 or 4 times daily for several weeks.

 


Reference

1. Anonymous. (1956). The Wealth of India (Vol. IV). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1- 5.   

 2.  Kirtikar, K.R and Basu, B.D. (1994). Indian Medicinal Plants (Vol. 3). Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehradun. 2106.

3. Progress Report of the Project "Studies on Medicinal Plants of Sikkim" (1998- 2001). State Council of Science and Technology for Sikkim