Botanical name : Coleus forskohlii Briq. (Plectranthus barbatus Andr., C. barbatus Benth.)
Family : Lamiaceae.
SANSKRIT SYNONYMS
Gandira
AYURVEDIC PROPERTIES
Rasa : Katu, Kashaya, Tikta
Guna : Lakhu, Rooksha
Virya : Ushna
PLANT NAME IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
English : Chebulic myrobalan
Hindi : Hara, Harara, Harad
Malayalam : Kadukka
Distribution : Throughout India, cultivated.
A small, profusely branched succulent aromatic herb. Stems are greenish and succulent. Leaves are glandular and hairy, broadly ovate with dentate margins. Flowers are small, bluish in terminal racemes. Fruits are seedless.
MEDICINAL PROPERTIES
Plant pacifies vitiated pitta, fever, burning sensation, inflammation, muscular spasm, hypertension, diabetes, cardiac debility, allergy, anaphylaxis, high cholesterol, and bronchial asthma.
Useful part : Whole plant
CHEMICAL CONTENTS
An alcoholic extract of the roots and essential oil from it, were found to inhibit passive cutaneous anaphylaxis in the mouse and rat. The plant produces the labdane diterpenoid, forskolin in its tuberous roots. Forskolin was discovered during a screening of medicinal plants by Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, India, in 1974. (Planta Medica, 1985, 51, 473–477.) The screening revealed the presence of a hypotensive and spasmolytic principle, named coleonol (later the name was changed to forskolin). The basic mechanism of forskolin is the activation of an enzyme, adenylate cyclase, which increases the amount of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) in cells. Raised intracellular cAMP level exhibits following physiological effects : inhibition of platelet activation and degranulation; inhibition of mast cell degranualation and histamine release; relaxation of the arteries and other smooth muscles; increased insulin secretion; increased thyroid function; increased lipolysis. Forskolin, in clinical studies, reduced intraocular pressure when it was applied to the eyes for treating glaucoma. It has been shown to be a direct cerebral vasodilator. It has also been studied as a possible bronchodilator (in the treatment of asthma) and has been shown to effectively reverse methacholine-induced broncho constriction in extrinsic asthmatics. Standardized Coleus extracts containing forskolin (18% in 50 mg) find application in weight-loss programmes. (Michael T. Murray.) Studies on forskolin and some 50 derivatives of the compound indicate that the natural product is more active than the analogs prepared from it. The wild var. is known as Kaffir Potato.
Photo : Dr. Eby Abraham MD
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