Erythrina indica and its medicinal uses :-
~✍️Ranjan Shaw
Erythrina Indica (Indian Coral Tree) is a species of flowing plant in the genus Erythrina which contains approximately a hundred trees and shrubs. It is native to the tropical and subtropical regions of eastern Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, northern Australia, and the islands of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean east to Fiji.Erythrina indica (Fabaceae) is one of the important medicinal plants of coasts of India and Malaysia. Some of its medicinal usage has been mentioned in traditional system of medicine such as ayurveda,siddha and unani. As it is also an excellent nitrogen fixer, the Erythrina Indica is often planted in fields to improve yield.
Meaning :-
Erythrina is comes from Greek word erythros, meaning red in allusion to the colour of the bloom and Indica to its country of origin.
Taxonomy :-
Erythrina indica falls under the scientific classification as follows
Scientific classification
Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Order : Fabales
Family : Fabaceae
Genus : Erythrina
Species : E. indica
Binomial name :- Erythrina indica
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| Erythrina Indica |
Botanical Characteristics of Erythrina indica :-
- E. indica is a compact shrub with knobby stems. It posses dense clusters of deep crimson flowers, that spread
- broadly open. Erythrina indica is a medium-sized, spiny, deciduous tree normally growing to 6-9 m (occasionally 28
- m) tall and 60 cm dbh. Young stems and branches are thickly armed with stout conical spines up to 8 mm long,
- which fall off after 2-4 years; rarely, a few spines persist and are retained with the corky bark. Bark smooth and
- green when young, exfoliating in papery flakes, becoming thick, corky and deeply fissured with age. Leaves
- trifoliate, alternate, bright emerald-green, on long petioles 6-15 cm, rachis 5-30 cm long, prickly; leaflets smooth,
- shiny, broader than long, 8-20 by 5-15 cm, ovate to acuminate with an obtusely pointed end. Leaf Petiole and rachis
- are spiny. Flowers in bright pink to scarlet erect terminal racemes 15-20 cm long; stamens slightly protruding from
- the flower. Fruit a cylindrical torulose pod, green, turning black and wrinkly as they ripen, thin-walled and
- constricted around the seeds. There are 1-8 smooth, oblong, dark red to almost black seeds per pod. Erythrina comes
- from the Greek word ‘eruthros’ meaning red, alluding to the showy red flowers of the Erythrina species.
PHYTOCONSTITUENTS :-
The preliminary phytochemical investigation showed the presence of alkaloids,, carbohydrates, amino acids, tannins, flavonoids, pterocarpans, triterpenes, steroids, alkyl trans-ferulates, proteins, and lecithin are founds in the genus.
Parts Used :-
Bark,Leaf and flower
Different parts of plant are used in traditional medicine as nervine sedative, collyrium, in opthalmia, anti-asthmatics, antiepileptic, antiseptic and as an astringent.
Traditional/Ayurvedic Uses :-
An Indian preparation is used to destroy pathogenic parasites and relieve joint pain.
Juice from the leaves is mixed with honey and ingested to kill tapeworm, roundworm and threadworm.
Women take this juice to stimulate lactation and menstruation.
A warm poultice of the leaves is applied externally to relieve rheumatic joint pains.
The bark is used as a laxative, diuretic and expectorant.
Medicine :-
The bark decoction is used in stomach disorders, anti-abortion treatment, malarial fever and liver problems.
It also uses in Burning sensation during urination, acute pain during heat period.
Bark is used in fever, liver ailment and rheumatism. The leaf juice used to heal wounds and sores.
Bark is astringent and used as febrifuge and anthelmintic.
The bark is helpful in gallstone, liverishness, an expectorant, febrifuge, and vermifuge.
Leaf paste applied for muscular pain in cattle.
Leaf extract possess nematicidal property.
The root extract possess antimicrobial activity.
It is also usesd as an antidote to strychnine.
Its leaves are aperient; they also encourage the start of menstruation and of milk secretion.
Other uses :-
Food : The new leaves are eaten in curries
Fodder : Used as livestock fodder when lopped as it is rich in nitrogen (4% of dry weight)
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