छुरिका – Spinacea oleracea

 

Name – पालक्या

Botanical name – Spinacea oleracea

Description – Erect herbs. Leaves ovate-oblong, lobed, smooth, succulent. Flowers unisexual, greenish. Fruit an urticle enclosed in a spiked capsule-like body.

Chemical Constituents- Roots contain spinasaponins A and B. Leaves contain f Spinatoside, proteins, stigmasterol, stigmastanol, a- spinasterol, patuletin and spinacetin. Seeds yield fatty oil.

Use – Leaves diuretic. Fruits demulcent and diuretic, employed in fevers and inflammations of bowels