कुसुम्भं  – Carthamus tinctorius

 

Name – कुसुम्भं

Botanical name – Carthamus tinctorius

Description – An annual herb, 30-60 cm in height; leaves ovate, spiny, toothed; leafy bracted heads of tubular flowers, entire or broken, orange-red to brownish red tubular florets, up to 40 mm long when entire, consists of an oblong ovary with tubular corolla, style terminating in a bifid stigma.

Chemical Constituents- Buds, flowers, leaves and stems contain volatile oil which is a mixture of polyacetylenes; yellow and ivory white flowers contain carthamin, neocarthamin; ivory white flowers contain quercetin, kaempferol, kaempferol-3-rhamnoglucoside and kaempferol glycoside. Seed contains oil, phenolic amide serotobenine.

Use – Capitula laxative and diaphoretic, used in jaundice. Modern use : Flower: used in preparation of medicines for poliomyelitis, paralysis of brain and spine, other nerve disorders, heart diseases; Corolla-extract: effective in coronary occlusion in animals; Seed(50% EtOH extract): spasmolytic; Seed-oil: lowers blood cholesterol in human, increase plasma insulin