Ethnobotanical Characteristics

Description

Ascending or erect, much-branched succulent to 30-80 cm, leafless stem, grey, quadrangular, the angles rather blunt, obscurely toothed, much scarred. Flowers in dense clusters at tips of branches dark red brown, glabrous except for the tip of the lobes which bear a tuft of brown vibratile hairs. Fruit follicle, 10 cm long, erect, gray green, separated from the base. Seeds many, glabrous, dark brown with a tuft of long hairs at tip.

Habitat & Distribution

The plant is widespread in the tropics; in Arabia and Middle East and there are more than 35 species recorded in this area. In UAE it is found on the escarpment from Jabal Hafeit to Northern Emirates.

Part(s) Used

Aerial parts, flowers.

Traditional & Medicinal Uses

Plant collected in spring and sold in the market, to be eaten with cooked food “saloonah” as a nutritive and tonic; the plant is emollient, diuretic; it treats liver diseases, diabetes, hypertension; flowers replenish from thirsty, externally for wounds and cuts; juice of stem used to curdle milk and given to sick to speed convalescence, burns, itchy skin and sunburns.

Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry

Parts studied

Branches.

Microscopical Description

Transverse section of a branch shows an epidermis with papillose cells having beady cell walls. The parenchymatous cells of the epidermis are different in shape and size, mostly oblong or polygonal but they have straight cell walls and are covered with thin cuticle. The epidermal layer contains very few stomata of the actinocytic type where each stoma is surrounded by three layers each is composed of three longitudinal narrow cells curving to form almost a circle. The fourth surrounding layer is composed of about four cells of different sizes and shapes. The epidermal layer is underlain by larger cortical parenchyma that contain aggregates of simple small-sized starch grains. The vascular strands are composed of phloem and xylem tissues and the latter include annular, scalariform and reticulately thickened vessels. Pith parenchyma consists of large or round cells with beady cell walls. They contain simple spherical or sub-spherical concentric-striated starch grains of relatively small sizes. The parenchyma cells also contain other crystalline and non-crystalline matter. Cortex and pith are rich in mucilage, which appears also in the form of flakes in the plant powder. 

• (a) Stem surface view showing an actinocytic type of a stomata surrounded by three layers of longitudinal narrow cells forming a circle.
• (b) Surface view of epidermal cells showing their beady cell walls and some crystalline contents.
• (c) TS section of a branch at the pith zone displaying large oval parenchyma cells with beady cell walls containing aggregates of simple spherical starch granules (Magnifications: x 100, x 400 and x 400 respectively).

Organoleptic characteristics

Appearance:      Solid powder
Colour:               Brownish yellow
Odour:               Aromatic
Taste:                Bitter

Physicochemical constants

Loss in weight on drying at 105 °C (%):                     9.60-9.80

Solubilities (%)

Alcohol solubility:                                                      8.40
Water solubility:                                                       38.40
10% ethanolic extractive:                                        40.27

Ash values (%)

Total ash:                                                              10.40
Water soluble ash:                                                03.20
Acid-insoluble ash:                                                0.20

Successive extractive (%)

Petroleum ether (60-80C):                                 6.40-7.30
Chloroform:                                                        4.70-5.40
Absolute alcohol:                                               5.80-6.10
Distilled water:                                                   29.5

pH values

pH of 1% solution:                                           5.24
pH of 10% solution:                                        4.94

The above results are under process of publication (DPS, ZCHRTM, unpublished results).

Chemical constituents

Flavonoids e.g. Luteolin-6-O-β-D-glucopyranoside 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside and Kaempferol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside-4-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside have been separated and identified through centrifugal partition chromatography (Pharma-Tech CCC-1000 instrument), (Kamil et.al, 2002).

Pharmacological and Toxicological studies

Caralluma arabica extract showed significant antinociceptive properties in all the models studied. The flavonoid fraction of the plant has been reported to possess antinociceptive activity and anti-inflammatory activities (Ramesh et. al., l998). Caralluma attenuata possesses significant antihyperglycemic activity (Venkatesh et. al., 2003). Caralluma umbellata showed significant antinociceptive and antiinflammatory actions (Ramesh et. al., l999). C. arabica extract significantly reduced the increase in hind paw volume induced by carrageenan injection when used orally or topically (Zakaria et. al., 2001). Some species of Caralluma are used in folk medicine as antipyretic, antirheumatic and reported to possess significant anti-inflammatory activity (Ahmad et. al, 1993). Caralluma edulis did not show any hypoglycemic effect in normal as well as in diabetic rabbits (Wadood et. al, 1989). C. tuberculata showed protection against mucosal damage caused by indomethacin (Al-Harbi et. al., l994). Pretreatment with Caralluma tuberculata extract significantly reduced the clastogenicity in mice (Al Bekairi et. al., l992). These results indicated the involvement of different phytoconstituents acting by different routes (Al-Bekairi et. al., l992). The pharmacological and toxicological studies carried out in our laboratory and the results in brief, on Caralluma arabica (10% ethanolic extract) have been given below.

The results presented without references showed unpublished data (unpublished data, ZCHRTM, DBMS)

Summary of the results

The plant extract showed significant anti-inflammatory activity, antinociceptive activity, gastroprotective activity and anti-diabetic activity. The plant produced no serious toxic effect. (LD 50 3.2 /kg. The plant could be utilized for its activities.

References

• Ahmad, M.M.; Qureshi, S.; Shah,A.; Qazi, N. S.; Rao. R.M. & Al-bakery. (1993): anti-inflammatory activity of Caralluma tuberculata alcoholic extract. Fitoterapia. 46, 357-360.
• Al-Bekairi IS, Qureshi S, Ahmed MM, Qazi NS, Khan ZA, Shah AH. (1992) Effect of Caralluma tuberculata on the cytological and biochemical changes induced by cyclophosphamide in ice. Food Chem. Toxicol. 30(8): 719-22. 
• Al-Harbi MM, Qureshi S, Raza M, Ahmed MM, Afzal M, Shah AH., (1994) Evaluation of Caralluma tuberculata pretreatment for the protection of rat gastric mucosa against toxic damage. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 128(1): 1-8.
• Department of Biomedical Sciences, Zayed Complex for Herbal Research and Traditional Medicine, Unpublished results. 
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• Ramesh M, Rao YN, Kumar MR, Rao AV, Prabhakar MC, Reddy BM., (1999) Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activity of carumbelloside-I isolated from Caralluma umbellata. J Ethnopharmacol. 15; 68(1-3): 349-52.
• Ramesh M, Rao YN, Rao AV, Prabhakar MC, Rao CS, Muralidhar N, Reddy BM. (1998) Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activity of a flavonoid isolated from Caralluma attenuata. J Ethnopharmacol. 62(1): 63-6.
• Venkatesh S, Reddy GD, Reddy BM, Ramesh M, Rao AV. (2003) Antihyperglycemic activity of Caralluma attenuata. Fitoterapia. 74(3): 274-9.
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• Western, A. R. The Flora of United Arab Emirates, an introduction. (1986) Publication of the UAE University.
• Zakaria MN, Islam MW, Radhakrishnan R, Chen HB, Kamil M, Al-Gifri AN, Chan K, Al-Attas A. (2001) Anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory properties of Caralluma arabica. J Ethnopharmacol. 76(2): 155-8.
• Zakaria, M.N.M., M.W. Islam, R. Radhakrishnan, H.B. Chen, A. Ismail, K. Chan and M. Habibullah. Evaluation of antinociceptive and antiinflammatory properties of Caralluma arabica. J Pharm Pharmacol. 1999, 51 (Suppl.): 117.