Ethnobotanical Characteristics

Description

Perennial, up to 50 cm tall. Stem woody, diffuse, puberulous. Leaves opposite, lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate or ovate-oblong, 1.5 - 6 x 2.5 - 8 mm, sessile or petiole up to 6 mm long. Scapes dichotomous, glabrous, slender above. Flowers 2 mm long. Involucre bracts linear, 1.5-2 mm long, deciduous; bract ovate, 1 mm long, villous. Pedicel 2-3 mm long, very slender. Perianth campanulate, pink, embedded with raphides. Stamens 3, included; filaments 1.5 mm long, slender, connate at the base. Ovary more or less ovoid, 1 mm long, enclosed in the persistent lower half of the perianth; style 1.8 mm long. Anthocarp narrow to oblong-clavate, 3 mm long, 5-ribbed, puberulous in the furrows (Miller AG et al., 1994).

Habitat and Distribution

Widely dispersed in Africa, S. Arabia, India and Pakistan. The plant is common and wide spread in U.A.E.  Found in the Hajar mountains at lower elevations.  Common on gravel plains, hills, and roadsides near rocky areas, particularly prevalent on roadsides in Fujairah. The plant looks like a transparent pink haze as the light reflects from its stems. (Jongbloed, 2003).

Part(s) Used

Whole plant, Root, Leaves and seeds.

Traditional and Medicinal Uses

The plant parts can be used as fodder for sheep. Traditional medicine practitioners use leaves of plant for diuretic treatment, and the seeds are eaten. There are no records for folk uses of Boerhavia elegans, but the related species: B. diffusa L. plant is used as astringent, digestive, anti-inflammatory, and for the treatment of anemia, cardiac and blood diseases and asthma. The leaves are good for digestion, swellings, spleen enlargement, stomachache, eye diseases and joint pains. The seeds are tonic, expectorant, carminative, diuretic, blood purifying, and good for jaundice, scabies, scorpion bite, dropsy and internal infections. In some African countries the plant is edible, where it is considered as one of the plant foods that contains highest mineral values such as copper, iron, magnesium and zinc. It also is a component of an herbal formula that has an anti-amoebic effect (Miller AG, et al. 1994; Jongbloed, Western AR, 2003; Mandeville JP, 1990; Miller AG, Morris M., 1990; Miller AG, Cope TA 1996; Ghazanfar, 1994; Andrews FW, 1950; El Ghonemy, 1993; Thulin, 1993).

Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry

Plant material Studied

Dried leaf

General appearance

Leaves are long (to 50 mm). The dried leaf curls inwards exposing the lower epidermis which is silvery grey and slightly coarse to the touch while the upper surface is grayish-green. It is brittle and easily broken.

Microscopic characteristics

he leaf is unilateral and both upper and lower epidermises are covered with a thick cuticle that has a minute network of dark irregular striations. Stomata are oval and anomocytic. The upper epidermal cells are significantly smaller than those of the lower epidermis and they are underlain by large hypodermal cells which are anticlinal. Some hypodermal cells contain crystalline masses that do not include calcium oxalate crystals. There is one palisade layer underlying the upper epidermis which consists of long narrow cells with straight cell walls and they are not quite compactly packed together. The palisade cells also contain little amount of chlorophyll and some other colored matter. Spear-shaped idioblasts containing acicular needles of calcium oxalate are detected in both palisade and spongy mesophyll parenchyma tissues. The spongy mesophyll cells consist of many layers and they are either club-shaped or oblong and they also contain chloroplasts; those yellow-coloured cells surrounding the vascular tissues are of a special structure and they are grouped in such a manner that they form a circle of a flower-like structure and they are very rich in chloroplasts and other coloured matter. The vascular bundles compose of phloem and xylem tissues with short fibres and smaller accompanying parenchyma cells. The xylem vessels are small in size and they are annularly and spirally thickened. The lower epidermis is composed of almost comparatively larger oblong or rounded cells covered with a thick cuticle. These are interrupted with few cells containing colored matter. They also contain crystalline masses.

Plant material of interest

Dried stem and branches

General appearance

The stem and branches are light crimson red in colour and slender. The branch is thin (about 0.5-2 mm in diameter) and has a slight coarse touch. It is not quite straight as it spreads laterally. It is brittle and easily broken. It is circular in outline, slender and has a reddish colour. It is surrounded with a layer of epidermis consisting of oblong parenchyma cells in surface view but they are isodiametric in outlines in sectional view. It is covered with thick pigmented or deeply striated cuticle. It also bears multicellular but unbranched covering trichomes. Oval stomata are few and they are scattered between cells. The cortex consist of about 4-6 layers of collenchymatous unlignified cells but he underlying vascular tissues including phloem, xylem and fibres are all heavily lignified with the exception of the accompanying parenchyma cells. The tracheids are pitted while the vessels are reticulately, spirally and annularly thickened. The fibres are long and they have tapering ends; they are compactly packed and their cell walls are thick and the lumens are relatively wide. The cortical cells of both main stem and large branches are rich in starch grains. The cortical region is also rich in idioblasts that contain acicular crystals of calcium oxalate. The pith consists of many layers of polygonal unlignified parenchyma cells of various sizes which are loosely packed. These cells are rich in starch grains.

Powdered plant material

The powder represents the whole ground plant. It is a heterogeneous coarse powder having a light violet-brown colour in general and a straw-like odour while the taste is slightly salty. 
Microscopically, the powder shows numerous scattered acicular (needle-like) crystals of calcium oxalate and also many starch grains, free or in groups inside pith cells. It also shows many masses of orange and reddish-orange colored material either isolated or enclosed in cells, in addition to adjacent unicellular covering trichomes attached to epidermal cells of fragments of leaves; the epidermal cells are underlain by many idioblasts containing acicular crystals of calcium oxalate. 

Parts studied

leaf and stem

• A. TS of a leaf showing dark thick cuticle covering both epidermises, upper epidermis, large bucket-shaped hypodermal cells, palisade tissues, a dark idioblast with contents of acicular calcium oxalate crystals vascular tissues surrounded by special spongy mesophyll cells (yellow-coloured), normal spongy mesophyll cells and lower epidermis including cells filled with bright reddish-brown pigments.
• B. TS of a portion of a young stem showing from periphery inwards the followings: The epidermal layers followed by 4-6 layers of parenchyma cells some of which contain yellowish brown pigments then 4-5 layers of lignified fibres with narrow lumens followed by heavily lignified vascular tissues and at the centre are the pith parenchyma cells devoid of starch granules.
• C. Part of a stem in trans-section. From outside to inside: epidermis orange with covering trichomes, cortex region (about three layers) (orange to yellow colour) phloem tissues (yellow and pink) and xylem tissues (heavily lignified red to violet). 

Chemical constituents

Beta-Sitosterol; Arachdic acid; Palmitic acid; Boeravinone A; Hentriacontane; Boeravinone B. Many rotenoids have been  isolated from the roots of the Boerhaavia diffusa. Plant also includes a series Pharmacological Potential of Boerhaavia diffusa boeravinones viz., boeravinone A, boeravinone B,  boeravinone C, boeravinone D, boeravinone E and boeravinone F. Punarnavoside, a phenolic glycoside, is reportedly present in  roots. C-methyl flavone also has been isolated from Boerhaavia diffusa roots. Two known lignans viz., liriodendrin and syringaresinol mono--D-glycoside have been isolated. Presence of a purine nucleoside hypoxanthine 9-Larabinose, dihydroisofuroxanthone-borhavine, phytosterols has been isolated from the plant. It contains about 0.04 % of alkaloids known as punarnavine and punernavoside, an antifibrinolytic agent. It also contains about 6 % of potassium nitrate, an oily substance, and ursolic acid. The seeds of this plant contain fatty acids and allantoin and the roots contain alkaloids. The green stalk of the plant has also been reported to contain boerhavin and boerhaavic acid (Mahesh, 2012; Maurya, 2007; Rastogi, 1990, 1991, 1995; Dic. of Nat.Prod., 1994).
The following chemical studies have been carried out (Quality Control methods, 1998; Evans, 1996 on the aerial part of the plant Boerhavia elegans(ZCHRTM unpublished work):  

Physicochemical Constants 

Loss of weight on drying at 105°C:              8.80
Absolute alcohol solubility:                          3.60
Water solubility:                                           13.60

Successive extractives (%)

Petroleum ether (60-80°C) :                                     12.20
Absolute alcohol :                                                 6.80
Distilled water  :                                                   12.10

Ash values (%)

Total ash :                                                            13.90
Water soluble ash :                                              2.30
Acid insoluble ash (10% HCl) :                             0.14

pH values (aqueous solution) 

pH of 1% solution :                                              6.266-6.279
pH of 10% solution :                                           6.307-6.316

Elemental analyses

Ash values ( BH pharmacopeia Reference)
Assay and identification of metal (AOAC international Reference)

UV Spectral studies

Chromatographic Studies

Thin layer chromatography (Wagner and Bladt, 1996)

 

TLC fingerprint of Pet. ether 60-800 extract (track 1) and MeOH extract (track 2)

Mobile phase Fig.	A&B	:	Ethyl acetate, methanol, water (100:13.5:10)
	C	:	Toluene, ethyl acetate (93:7)
	D	:	Toluene, ethyl formate, formic acid (5:4:1)
Detection	A	:	UV 254nm
	C	:	UV 366nm
Derivatization	B&D	:	Vanillin-Sulphuric acid-vis

Pharmacological and toxicological studies

The plant extract was found to contain flavonoids, glycosides, tannins, saponins and proteins (Singh, 1994). The plant extract of Boerhavia sp. leaves showed non-dose dependent hypoglycemic activity (Chude, 2001). The leaf extract of Boerhavia sp.  produced dose-dependent reduction in blood glucose level in streptozotocin-induced rat model comparable to that of glibenclamide. The results indicate that the reduction in blood glucose produced by the extract is probably through rejuvenation of pancreatic beta cells or through extra pancreatic action. The chloroform extract of the plant has significant antidiabetic activity (Rao, 2004). The chloroform extract of plant species has significant antidiabetic activity and this supports the traditional usage of the plant by Ayurveda physicians for the control of diabetes.
Ethanolic extract of roots of Boerhavia diffusa was evaluated for anti-stress, adoptogenic activity in albino mice, by swim endurance test and cold restrain stress. The extract produced an increase in Delayed Type Hypersensitivity (DTH) response toSheep red blood cells(SRBC) in mice, which was comparable with that of Levamisol, indicating stimulatory effects on lymphocytes and accessory cell types required for the expression of reaction (Mustafa, 2007).
The plant is reputed for antibacterial activity (Nair, 2007). The leaves have shown strong antioxidant activity (Pereira et al., 2009). Manu, 2009 studied antimetastatic potential of the plant.  The alkaloid punarnavine isolated from the plant Boerhavia diffusa was studied for its antimetastatic activity using B16F-10 melanoma cells in C57BL/6 mice. Administration of punarnavine (40mg/kg body weight) prophylactically (95.25%), simultaneously (93.9%) and 10 days after tumor inoculation (80.1%) could inhibit the metastatic colony formation of melanoma in lungs.    
An investigation was also reported on teratological potential of the plant (Anubha, 1991). The acute and sub-chronic toxicity studies of Boerhavia sp. Leaves in albino mice and rats were investigated, 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg of the aqueous leaf extract were administered orally to the test groups while distilled water was given to the control group. The parameters measured include food and fluid intake, body weight, absolute and relative weight of various organs, haematological parameters [total white blood cell and packed cell volume, and tests for liver function: glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT), alkaline phosphatase and total bilirubin.  
Rats treated with the extract had progressive increase in body weight, which was significantly (p< 0.05) different from control. The aqueous extract of Boerhavia sp. leaves increased both food and fluid intake. There were no significant changes in both the absolute and relative organ weights between the control and the test groups. The liver enzymes and hematological parameters were statistically equal in all the groups. The aqueous extract of the plant leaves produced no toxic effect in albino rats.

The following pharmacological and safety evaluation studies were carried out on the plant Boerhavia elegans (70% ethanolic extract) (Derelanko 2002; Han, 2003):

ACTIVITY	RESULTS
	Strong	Moderate	Mild	Negative
Analgesic			✅
Anti-inflammatory	✅
Antidepressant			✅
Anticonvulsant		✅
Anti-gastric ulcer activity	✅
Effect on rabbit jejunum	✅
BP and heart rate (Carotid artery method)	✅
Effect on right rat atria				✅
Antithrombotic effect	✅
Clotting assessment (Tail bleeding method)	✅
Studies on biochemical parameters		✅
Studies on hematological parameters				✅
Effect on onset and duration of pentobarbitone sleeping		✅
Motor co-ordination (grip strength & motor activity		✅
Rectal temperature				✅
Body weight				✅
Vital organs				✅
Mortality				✅

Summary of the results 

The plant extract showed mild analgesic activity and significant anti-inflammatory activity; anti-convulsion activity.

The results showed significant protection in cytoprotective models used against necrotizing agents used in this study of anti-gastric ulcer. 
The extract showed a significant reduction of arterial blood pressure and mild positive inotropic property on rat atria in vitro. The results of the force swimming test indicated that the drug showed anti-stress activity. The results of the estimation of plasma prothrombin time and fibrinogen level revealed that the plant extract has an antithrombotic effect in vivo, which may be due to the fibrinolytic activity.  
The results of the present study revealed that the plant extract produced significant sedative hypnotic effect.  Studies on biochemical parameters showed no changes in biochemical profile. The creatinin significantly decreased as compared to control. The study examined the effects of mild antidepressant activity. No significant change was recorded in hematological values as compared to the control group.  
Acute toxicity studies revealed no adverse effect of the plant extract in mice. However, the plant extract was found to be sedative (LD 50>5 g/kg, p.o.). The repeated dose toxicity test revealed no noticeable toxic signs and symptoms in the treated animals at the dose of 2 g/kg, p.o. daily for 10 days.   

Antimicrobial activity 

The aqueous extract of the whole plant was tested against Mycobacterium smegmatis, C. tropicalis, different strains of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, different strains of ESBL-producing K. pneumonia, E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and showed no inhibition of growth

References

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