The whole fruit and pulp produced significant hypocholesterolaemic, hypotriglyceridaemic and hyper-phospholipidaemic effects in normal and midly diabetic human subjects.
Extracts of seeds exhibit haemagglunating activity.
Dosage Leaf—10—2 ml juice. (CCRAS.)
Trichosanthes nervifolia Linn.
Family Cucurbitaceae.
Habitat Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Ayurvedic Patoli (related species of Patola).
Siddha/Tamil Kombu Pudalai.
Action Herb—bitter tonic,
febrifuge. Root—purgative. Fruit— used as dentifrice.
Tridax procumbens Linn.
Family Asteraceae; Compositae.
Habitat Waste places, road sides and hedges throughout India.
English Mexican Daisy.
Ayurvedic Jayanti (doubtful synonym).
Siddha/Tamil Vettukkaaya-thalai. Folk Akala Kohadi (Bihar).
Action ø Leaves—styptic, antidiarrhoeal, antidysenteric. Also used for bronchial catarrh.
The leaf juice exhibits antiseptic, insecticidal and parasiticidal properties. It is used to check haemorrhage from wounds, cuts and bruises, also for restoring hair growth.
An aqueous extract of the plant produced reflex tachycardia and showed a transient hypotensive effect on normal blood pressure of dogs; it had also showed a marked depressant action on the respiration.
Alcoholic extract of the whole plant (excluding roots) at a dose of 300 mg showed good anti-secretory antidiarrhoeal activity against E. coli enterotox in-induced secretory response in rabbit and guinea-pig ileal loop models. Alcoholic extract of aerial parts also showed hepatoprotective action against acute hepatitis induced by CC14 in albino rats.
The leaves contain fumaric acid. The plant gave n-alkanes, saturated and unsaturated fatty acids along with dotriacontanol, beta-amyrin, beta-amyrone, lupeol, fucosterol and beta-sitosterol. Flowers contain glucoluteolin, isoquercetin and quercetin. Presence
674 Trifolium pratense Linn.
of lauric, myristic, palmitic, stearic, arachidic, behenic, palmitoleic, linoleic and linolenic acid is reported in aerial parts except flower tops.
