The following points highlight the top eleven types of drugs obtained from fruits. The types are: 1. Bael 2. Coriander 3. Cumin 4. Fennel 5. Opium 6. Long Pepper 7. Black and White Pepper 8. Belleric Myrobalan 9. Chebulic Myrobala 10. Ammi 11. Solanum.
Type # 1. Bael:
Aegle marmelos Corr., of family Rutaceae; Eng. Bael tree; Verna. Bael, Siriphal. This is a tree.
Uses:
The fruit is of great medicinal value. The ripe fruit is aromatic, astringent, cooling and laxative. The unripe or half-ripe fruit is astringent, stomachic, antiscorbutic and digestive. It is best given in sub-acute or chronic cases of diarrhoea and dysentery and in irritation of the elementary canal; it is a useful adjunct in after treatment of bacillary dysentery.
The ripe fruit is prescribed in intestinal disorders and certain forms of dyspepsia characterized by alternate constipation and diarrhoea. A sherbet of the ripe fruit is given for chronic constipation and dyspepsia.
Type # 2. Coriander:
Coriandrum sativum Linn., of family Umbelliferae (Apiaceae); Eng. Coriander: Hindi— Dhaniya.
This is an aromatic herb; native of the Mediterranean region now cultivated in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar and throughout India.
Uses:
The fruit is aromatic, stimulant, carminative antispasmodis, correctivem diuretic, aphrodisiac, and refrigerant. A decoction of the dried fruits is given in flatulent colic, rehumatism and neuralgia. The volatile oil distilled from the fruits is given in flatulent colic, rheumatism and neuralgia. The watery paste of seeds is used for the cure of ulcers of the mouth and throat.
Type # 3. Cumin:
Cuminum cyminum Linn., of family Umbelliferae (Apiaceae); Eng. Cumin; Hindi—Zira.
This is an annula aromatic 1-3 feet high herb. It is native of Mediterranean region but now commonly grown in the Punjab and Uttar Pradesh fro aromatic fruits.
North Gujarat especially Unja is well known for its cultivation and market.
Uses:
The fruit is a good source of thymol; it is a stomachic, diuretic, carminative, stimulant, astringent and emmenagouge. It is prescribed in dyspepsia, diarrhoea, and hoarseness of voice. The fruit is given with lime juice to pregnant women for checking nausea; for promoting secretion of milk, cumin seeds are given after childbirth.
Emblic:
Emblica officinalis Gaertn., of family Euphorbiaceae; Eng. Emblic; Hindi—Amla.
A tree found throughout India.
Uses:
The fruit is of great medicinal value. It is one of the richest sources of vitamin C. The fresh fruit is refrigerant, tonic, antiscorbutic, diuretic and laxative. It is used in fevers, vomiting, indigestion, habitual constipation and other digestion troubles.
The dried fruit is a good astringent, refrigerant, stomachic, antiscorbutic and blood purifier. It is given in diarrhoea, dysentery and haemorrhage. The infusion of seeds is a useful eye-wash in ophthalmic diseases.
Type # 4. Fennel:
Foeniculum vulgare Mill., of family Umbelliferae (Apiaceae, Fennel; Hindi—Saunf.
This is an aromatic herb. It is native of Mediterranean region, now cultivated mainly in the Punjab, Assam, Maharashtra and Baroda.
Uses:
The fruit is sweet, laxative, aphrodisiac, stomachic, stimulant, aromatic, corrective of flatulence, appetizer, anthelmintic, carminative, lactagogue, diuretic, stimulant and antidotal. It is administered in eye diseases, burning sensation, fever, thirst, wounds, dysentery, diseases of the chest, spleen and kidney, headache, amenorrhoea and bellyache of children; it also promotes female monthly regularity.
In dysentery a decoction of fruit is given; in fever a decoction of fruit is given with sugar. The oil extracted from the seed is an anthelmintic against hookworms. The leaves are diuretic, digestive, stimulant and aromatic; they are useful in cough, flatulence, colic and thirst. They are also eaten to improve the eyesight.
Type # 5. Opium:
Papaver somniferum Linn., of family Papaveraceae; Eng. Opium; Hindi—Afim.
A herb; native of W. Asia, now grown in Uttar Pradesh, in the East Punjab, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
An inspissated juice obtained by scratching the unripe capsules of Papaver somniferum Linn.; and allowing the milky sap, which exudes thereby, to dry spontaneously. The bulk of the medicinal article is obtained from Asia Minor, at the present day, as it has been for nearly the past 2,000 years.
Indian Opium is, however, the most important form commercially, being that which is smoked, eaten or drunk, in various preparations by the inhabitants of Asiatic countries, chiefly the Chinese.
In India the opium-poppy is grown here and there throughout the country, but its cultivation is mainly confined to three centres, which afford the following opiums—’Patna Opium’ in Bihar, ‘Benares Opium’ in Uttar Pradesh, and ‘Malwa Opium’ in Madhya Pradesh and certain parts of Rajasthan.
Medicinal Properties of Opium:
Opium is well known to the medical profession. The medicinal drug of Europe is mainly derived from Asia Minor and is the produce of P. somniferum var. glabrum.
In the words of Pharmacopaeia of India it may be said that opium in its primary effects medicinally is stimulant, and its secondary action narcotic, anodyne, and antispasmodic.
“It operates chiefly on the cerebrospinal system, and, through the nerves arising therefrom, it affects more or less every organ of the body. It tends to diminish every secretion excepting that of the skin, which increases under its use. In overdoses it is a powerful poison.”
In inflammation, especially of serious membranes, it has been employed extensively either alone, or in combination with calomel antimony, and other remedies. As a general rule it is less applicable to inflammatory and other diseases, in which the tendency to death is by coma or by apnoea, then to those which produce death by asthenia.
In the latter, as in peritonitis, it holds the first place as a remedial agent. In fevers especially in the advanced stages, it is of the highest value, either alone or in combination with antimony, camphor, allaying vascular and nervous excitement, and procuring sleep; but as a general rule, it is inadmissible when contraction of the pupil is strongly marked.
In painful spasmodic affections, opium in large and repeated doses often affords immediate relief. In various morbid states of the abdominal viscera, e.g., simple or cancerous ulceration of the stomach, chronic gastritis, gastrodynia, nervous and sympathetic vomiting, diarrhoea, dysentery, colica pictonum, strangulated hernia, visceral destructions, it is often given with the best results.
In diseases of the genito-urinary system, e.g., cystitis, cistirrhoea, spasmodic stricture of the urethra, also in menorrhagia, dysmenorrohea, irritable states of the uterus, metritis, it is a remedy of the highest value. Tetanus, acute rheumatism, and delirium tremens are amongst the other diseases in which opium has been employed as a sheet anchoi.
In cholera it has been used but with doubtful results. In cancerous and gangrenous ulceration, opium, by allaying constitutional disturbances, often exercises a favourable influence on the local symptoms. As an external application, opium proves valuable in various rheumatic, neuralgic, and other painful affections; also in ophthalmia and other diseases of the eye.
“Dose. From a quarter of a grain to two grains or more according to circumstances, in many painful affections the sole criterion for the regulation of the dose is the amount of relief afforded”.
Type # 6. Long Pepper:
Piper longum Linn., of family Piperaceae, Eng. Long pepper; Hindi—Pipar, Piplamul.
This is a slender creeping undershrub. It is native of India and cultivated in the Western Ghats, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for the fruits.
Uses. The sun-dried unripe fruit (berries) or the spike of the small flowers is known as long pepper. It is a cardiac, stimulant carminative, alterative tonic, laxative, digestive, emollient, stomachic and antiseptic.
It is given with honey for indigestion, dyspepsia, cough, bronchitis, asthma, hysteria, cholera, fever, leprosy, piles, gout, etc. To prevent fever after childbirth it is an efficacious remedy. The dried root (Piplamul) possesses the same medicinal qualities as the berries but in an inferior degree.
Type # 7. Black and White Pepper:
Piper nigrum Linn., of family Piperaceae; Eng. Black pepper; Hindi—Kali mirch; gol mirch.
This is a stout glabrous creeper; native of the Indo-Malayan region, also cultivated in the Western Ghats, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam and Kerala.
Uses. The unripe dried berries are the black pepper of commerce; and the ripe fruit with the outer covering removed is the white pepper of commerce. The berries contain the alkaloid piperine, The fruits are aromatic, stimulant, carminative, digestive, stomachic, nervine tonic, diuretic emmenagogue and antiperiodic.
It is given in dyspepsia, flatulence, diarrhoea, cholera, piles, disorders of the urinary system, cough, coma, gonorrhoea and malarial fever. It is given either as an infusion or powder. White pepper is more aromatic and less pungent than black pepper. It is given in dyspepsia and constipation.
Type # 8. Belleric Myrobalan:
Terminalia bellirica Roxb., of family Combretaceae; Eng. Belleric myrobalan; Hindi— Bahera.
A common tree grown as an avenue.
Uses. The ripe dry fruit known as belleric myrobalan (bahera) is astringent, bitter, tonic and laxative. It is given in piles, dropsy, diarrhoea, leprosy, biliousness, dyspepsia and headache. Half ripe fruit is given as purgative and fully ripe as an astringent.
Type # 9. Chebulic Myrobala:
Terminalia chebula Retz., of family Combretaceae; Eng. Chehulic myrobalan; Hindi— Harara, Haritaki.
A tree. Commonly found in Northern India. Also found in South India in the Deccan tablelands at 1,000-3,000 feet and up to 6,000 feet in Travancore; higher forests of the Mumbai Ghats, Satpuras, Belgaum and Kanara.
Uses:
The fruit is the chebulic myrobalan of commerce. It is an efficacious laxative, astringent, stomachic, tonic and alterative. The fruit pulp is given in chronic diarrhoea, dysentery, flatulence, asthma, urinary disorders, vomiting, enlarged spleen and liver, etc.
It is used externally as a local application to chronic ulcers and wounds and as a gargle in stomatitis. Fine powder of fruit is used as a dentrifice and considered useful in various teeth, bleeding and ulcerations of the gums.
Drugs Obtained from Fruits: Type # 10. Ammi:
Trachyspermum ammi (L.) Sprague of family Umbelliferae. Eng. Ammi; Hindi Ajwain. A herb, cultivated throughout India.
Uses:
The fruits are carminative, stimulant, antispasmodic and tonic. They are given in colic, flatulence, dyspepsia, indigestion, diarrhoea, cholera, tympanites, hysteria, etc. The fruit yields an essential oil containing thymol.
Type # 11. Solanum:
Solatium viarum Dunal; Syn. Solanum khasianum var. Chatterjeeanum, Sengupta; family Solanaceae.
Solanum viarum, is a wild perennial herb. It grows well in the hilly areas particularly of Khasia and Jaintia hills (Assam) in North East and Nilgiri hills of South India.
Morphology:
It is a stout herb, with a woody stem, of about 2 feet in height. Nearly whole body of the plant is covered with yellow hairs (hirsute). The stem bears two types of prickles, hooked and straight. Stem is cymosely branched.
Leaf is 7″ to 5″ long and is deeply lobed, hirsute and bears only straight prickles.
Flowers are white in colour, and are produced in large number. The berry is about 2.5 cms. in diameter which contains about 350 seeds.
Alkaloid and medicinal uses:
The berries of S. viarum contain the alkaloid Solasodine. It is a glycon which is used by pharmaceutical companies for the preparation of many important drugs. It is a nitrogen analogue of diosyenin and is a good source of sapogenin. Sapogenin is used as a base for the preparation of Cortisone and allied products. The synthetic substitutes are not known for these drugs, hence the importance of this source.
The gluco-alkaloid percentage of the berries is about 6 per cent which in turn produces one- third or 2 per cent of Solasodine. It can be extracted from dry as well as fresh berries.
Cortisone, a steroidal hormone prepared from solasodine, is found to be effective in the treatment of acute stages of rheumatoid arthritis, chronic cases of asthma, leukemia, obesity and many skin diseases.
Induced mutations have yielded favourable results regarding the increases in alkaloid content of the berries. (Dhyansagar and Pingle). Material received from P.N. Purekar.