Importance and chemical composition
- Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) belonging to the family Apocynaceae, is one of the few medicinal plants which have found mention in the folk medicinal literature as early as 2nd BC.
- Modern investigations have shown that periwinkle contains more than 100 alkaloids, distributed through out the plant.
- It has medicinal importance owing to the presence of alkaloids like ajmalicine (raubasin), serpentine and reserpine in roots, which is well known for their hypotensive and antispasmodic properties.
- It gained further importance after the isolation of vincristine and vinblastine alkaloids from leaves, which have importance in cancer therapy.
- Vincristine sulphate is being marketed under the trade name ONCOVIN, which is used against acute leukemia and vinblastine sulphate as VELBE to cure Hodgkin’s disease.
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Last modified: Tuesday, 3 April 2012, 5:33 AM