Tinospora cordifolia
| Tinospora cordifolia | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Ranunculales |
| Family: | Menispermaceae |
| Genus: | Tinospora |
| Species: | T. cordifolia
|
| Binomial name | |
| Tinospora cordifolia (Thunb.) Miers
| |
Tinospora cordifolia (common names heart-leaved moonseed, guduchi or giloy, among others) is a herbaceous vine of the family Menispermaceae indigenous to tropical regions of the Indian subcontinent.[1] It has been used in Ayurveda to treat various disorders, but there is no clinical evidence that it is effective.[1]
Botanical description
It is a large, deciduous, extensively-spreading, climbing vine with several elongated twining branches. Leaves are simple, alternate, and exstipulate with long petioles up to 15 cm (6 in) long which are roundish and pulvinate, both at the base and apex with the basal one longer and twisted partially and half way around. It gets its name heart-leaved moonseed by its heart-shaped leaves and its reddish fruit. Lamina are broadly ovate or ovate cordate, 10–20 cm (4–8 in) long or 8–15 cm (3–6 in) broad, seven nerved and deeply cordate at base, membranous, pubescent above, whitish tomentose with a prominent reticulum beneath.
Flowers are unisexual, small on separate plants and appearing when the plant is leafless, greenish-yellow on axillary and terminal racemes. Male flowers are clustered, but female flowers are usually solitary. It has six sepals in two series of three each. The outer ones are smaller than the inner. It has six petals which are smaller than sepals, obovate, and membranous. Fruits aggregate in clusters of one to three. They are ovoid smooth drupelets on thick stalks with sub terminal style scars, scarlet or orange colored.[2]
Ecology
Endophytic fungi colonize the living, internal tissues of their host without causing any harmful effects. A recent study has shown that 29 endophytes belonging to different taxa were present in the samples collected from Tinospora cordifolia.[3]
Extracts of the endophytic fungus Nigrospora sphaerica obtained from T. cordifolia were found to have insecticidal properties against the Oriental leafworm moth (Spodoptera litura), a polyphagous pest.[4]
Phytochemicals
Tinospora cordifolia contains diverse phytochemicals, including alkaloids, phytosterols, glycosides, tinosporide, and various other phytochemicals.[1][5]
Traditional medicine
Tinospora cordifolia (Giloy) is one of the most important medicinal plant and forms an important drug of the Ayurvedic system of Medicine. For centuries, this herb has been used in Ayurveda in India as a medicine in the development of the immune system and the confrontation of the body against certain infecting species. In the immune suppression of such diseases such as obstructive jaundice, hepatic fibrosis, dyspepsia urinary infections, fever, diabetes, anemia, inflammation. A large variety of compounds which are responsible for immunomodulatory and cytotoxic effects are 11-hydrooxymuskatone, N-methyle-2-pyrrolidone, N-formylannonain. T. cordifolia has been used in indigenous systems of medicine <ref>{{cite journal | doi= | title=Tinospora cordifolia (
References
- ^ a b c "Tinospora". Drugs.com. 18 November 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
- ^ Sinha, Kirti; Mishra, N P; Singh, J; Khanuja, S P S (July 2004). "Tinospora cordifolia (Guduchi), a reservoir plant for therapeutic applications: A Review". Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge. 3 (3): 257–70.
- ^ Mishra, Ashish; Gond, Surendra K.; Kumar, Anuj; Sharma, Vijay K.; Verma, Satish K.; Kharwar, Ravindra N.; Sieber, Thomas N. (2012). "Season and Tissue Type Affect Fungal Endophyte Communities of the Indian Medicinal Plant Tinospora cordifolia More Strongly than Geographic Location". Microbial Ecology. 64 (2): 388–98. doi:10.1007/s00248-012-0029-7. PMID 22430503. S2CID 10738815.
- ^ Thakur, Abhinay; Kaur, Sanehdeep; Kaur, Amarjeet; Singh, Varinder (2012). "Detrimental effects of endophytic fungus Nigrospora sp. on survival and development of Spodoptera litura". Biocontrol Science and Technology. 22 (2): 151–61. doi:10.1080/09583157.2011.646952. S2CID 85075708.
- ^ Swaminathan, K.; Sinha, U. C.; Bhatt, R. K.; Sabata, B. K.; Tavale, S. S. (1989). "Structure of tinosporide, a diterpenoid furanolactone from Tinospora cordifolia Miers". Acta Crystallographica Section C. 45 ( Pt 1): 134–136. doi:10.1107/s0108270188009953. PMID 2610955.