Importance and chemical composition
- Sarpagandha (Rauvolfia serpentina) commonly referred to as serpent wood, belongs to the family Apocynaceae
- It is also known as Candrabhaga, Chota chand, Serpentina root & Chandrika and is one of the most important native medicinal plants of India.
- The roots of sarpagandha have a 400 years history of use in treatment of snake bite, insect stings, nervous disorders and psoriasis.
- About 30 alkaloids are known to exist in this plant.
- The most important are rescinamine, deserpidine, reserpine, serpentine, ajmaline, ajmalicine and rauvolfinine.
- The total alkaloid content varies from 1.7 to 3% of the dried roots.
- The drugs and the alkaloids obtained from the plant are used in allopathic system in the treatment of hypertension and as a sedative or tranquilizing agent.
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Last modified: Tuesday, 3 April 2012, 7:20 AM