Andrographis paniculata is an annual herbaceous plant in the family Acanthaceae, native to India and Sri Lanka.
It is widely cultivated in Southern and Southeastern Asia, where it has been traditionally used to treat infections and some diseases. Mostly the leaves and roots were used for medicinal purposes.
Andrographis paniculata is an erect annual herb extremely bitter in taste in all parts of the plant body. The plant is known in north-eastern India as Maha-tita, literally "king of bitters", and known by various vernacular names (see the table below). As an Ayurveda herb it is known as Kalmegh or Kalamegha, meaning "dark cloud". It is also known as Bhui-neem, meaning "neem of the ground", since the plant, though being a small annual herb, has a similar strong bitter taste as that of the large Neem tree (Azadirachta indica). In Malaysia, it is known asHempedu Bumi, which literally means 'bile of earth' since it is one of the most bitter plants that are used in traditional medicine. The genusAndrographis consists of 28 species of small annual shrubs essentially distributed in tropical Asia. Only a few species are medicinal, of whichA. paniculata is the most popular.
No comments:
Post a Comment