Name – शरपुङ्खः

Botanical name – Tephrosia purpurea

Description – Much branched erect glabrescent undershrubs. Leaves imparipinnate; leaflets oblanceolate, silky-pubescent beneath. Flowers pink, in leaf-opposed racemes. Pods flat, slightly curved.

Chemical Constituents- Whole plant contains pongamol, Beta-sitosterol , ursolic acid, spinasterol. Roots contain flavonoids purpurenone, purpurin, maackiain, isolonchocarpin, pongamol, lancelatins A and B. Leaves contain beta-sitosterol, lupeol, rutin and rotenoids. Flowers contain cyanidins. Seeds yield fatty oil, caffeic acid, flavanone purpurin, pongamol, isolonchocarpin, karanjin, lenceolatin-B, kanjone, sitosterol, purpuritenin, purpureamethide

 

Use – Tonic, laxative, diuretic and deobstruent; used in bronchitis and bilious febrile attacks, also for boils, pimples and bleeding piles. Decoction of roots given in dyspepsia, diarrhoea, rheumatism, asthma and urinary disorders; roots given with black pepper in colic. Aliniment prepared from the roots is used in elephantiasis. Pulverized roots smoked for relief from asthma and cough. Decoction of pods used as a vermifuge and to stop vomiting. Seed oil used in scabies, itch, eczema and other skin eruptions