Catharanthus roseus species Catharanthus native and endemic to Madagascarubsh, Dr.Abhay Kumar Pati

June 11, 2010 - PRLog -- MADAGASCAR PERIWINKLE

Latin Name:         Catharanthus roseus
English Names:                      Madagascar Periwinkle, Cape Periwinkle, Rose periwinkle
Sanskrit Name:       Sadafuli   
Indian name:         Barmaasi
      
Medicinal Parts used:    Leaves, seeds, flowers and roots
Catharanthus roseus is a species of Catharanthus native and endemic to Madagascarubshr. It is an evergreen sub or herbaceous plant growing to 1 m tall. The leaves are oval to oblong, 2.5–9 cm long and 1–3.5 cm broad, glossy green, hairless, with a pale midrib and a short petiole 1–1.8 cm long; they are arranged in opposite pairs. The flowers are white to dark pink with a darker red center, with a basal tube 2.5-3 cm long and a corolla 2–5 cm diameter with five petal-like lobes. The fruit is a pair of follicles 2–4 cm long and 3 mm broad. It is widely cultivated and is naturalised in subtropical and tropical areas of the world.
In Ayurveda, the leaves, the seeds, the flowers and the roots are used for treatment of leukemia, diabetes, menorrhagia. More recently, extracts from Madagascar periwinkle have been shown to be effective in the treatment of various kinds of leukemia, skin cancer, lymph cancer, breast cancer and Hodgkin's disease.

Therapeutic use:
•   The fresh juice from the flowers of C. roseus made into a tea has been used by Ayurvedic physicians in India for external use to treat skin problems, dermatitis, eczema and acne.
•   The alkaloids vincristine and vinblastine from its sap have been shown to be an effective treatment for leukemia. Although the sap is poisonous if ingested, some 70 useful alkaloids have been identified from it.
•   In Madagascar, extracts have been used for hundreds of years in herbal medicine for the treatment of diabetes, as hemostatics and tranquilizers and as disinfectants. The extracts are not without their side effects, however, which include hair loss.
•   The rootbark contains the alkaloid Alstonine which has been used traditionally for its
calming effect and its ability to reduce blood pressure.

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Biotechayur manufactures botanical standardized nutritional herbal extracts. Biotechayur also manufactures aminoacids, protein, and aromatic essences
The plant is located in Orissa, India