Nectar for Filaria from the tree of sorrow
Ganga Shiuli (ଗଙ୍ଗ ଶିଉଳି) Nyctanthes abor- tristis Linn
Dr. Dwijesh Kumar Panda
M. D., Ph. D. (Medicine)
Abstract
Nyctanthes abor-tristis Linn is the one of the well-known medicinal plant. It is a common wild hardy large shrub or small tree. It is endemic of India, distributed wild throughout the country. Different parts of this plant are used in Indian systems of medicine for various pharmacological actions.
Introduction
Nyctanthes abor-tristis Linn is a small sacred ornamental tree known across the country for its fragrant white flowers. It is commonly known as Night Jasmine or Parijata.
Sanskrit: Parijatha 
Hindi: Harsingar
Oriya: Gangasiuli
Taxonomic classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Family: Oleaceae
Genus: Nyctanthes
Species: arbor-tristris
Botanical description:
Nyctanthes abor-tristis Linn is a large shrub growing to10m tall; with flaky grey bark and rough leaves. The flowers are fragrant, with a five to eight lobed white corolla with an orange red center, opening at dusk and finishing at dawn. The leaves are opposite, simple, 6-12 cm long and 2-6 cm broad.
Traditional uses:
The flowers are collected for religious offering and to make garlands. The orange heart is used for dyeing silk and cotton, a practice that started with Buddhist monks whose orange robes were given their color by this flower. The Parijata is regarded in Hindu mythology as one of the five wish granting trees of Devaloka.
Different parts of Nyctanthes abor-tristis Linn are known to possess various ailments by tribal people of India esp. Odisha and Bihar along with its use in Ayurveda, Sidha and Unani systems of medicines. It is used in several ailments including sciatica, rheumatism, gout and other joint diseases.
Flower:
The flowers are used as stomachic, carminative, astringent to bowel, antibilious, expectorant, hair tonic and in the treatment of piles and various skin diseases. The bright orange corolla tubes of the flowers contain a coloring substance nyctanthin, which is identical with α- Crocetin (C20H24O4) from Saffron. The corolla tubes were formerly used for dyeing silk, sometimes together with Safflower or turmeric.
The indigenous people of Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh (India) widely use the whole plant for treatment of cancer, root for fever, sciatica, anorexia; bark as expectorant.
Chemical constituents:
Recent researches reported the isolation of polysaccharides, iridoid glycosides, B-sitosterol, B-amyrin, glycosides, nyctanthoside-a, iridoid, nyctanhic acid, oleanolic acid, arbortristosides- A,B,C have been isolated from this plant. Khatune et al., in 2003 isolated 4, hydroxyhexahydrobenzofuran -7- one from chloroform extract of flowers of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis. It was formed to be antibacterial, larvicidal.
4 hydroxyhexahydrobenzofuran-7-one Arbortristoside-A Arbortristoside-B
Flowers contain essential oils, coloring matter (nyctanthin), mannitol, tannin and glucose.
Reported pharmacological profile:
Ethanolic extract of fresh flowers of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis Linn was tested for its antispasmodic activity using guinea pig ileum. It was found to inhibit contractile response of acetylcholine. The flowers ethanolic extract was tested for its antihelmintic activity using piperazine citrate as a standard. The antihelmintic activity was studied on the basis of inhibition of contractile effect of acetylcholine by various dilutions of this extract. Khature et al showed that this extract is not carcinogenic as it inhibits EAC cell growth. This compound possesses no adverse effect on central nervous system. It was found to significantly inhibit acute inflammatory edema produced by histamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine and hyalouronidase in hind paw of rats. It also reduced acute inflammatory swelling in the knee joint induced by turpentine oil. The anti-inflammatory activity of arbortristoside-A may be due to the inhibition of the action of prostaglandin. It was concluded that the extract possesses immune-bioactive. Administration of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis Linn leaves and flowers chloroform extracts orally for 27 days caused a significant reduction in LPO,SGPT, SGOT, Alk phos, cholesterol and triglyceride level on extracts treated STZ diabetic rats, compared to diabetic control rats.
Materials and Methods
Alkaloid extraction
Procedure:
To isolate alkaloids from flowers, the dried and powered flower is extracted with pet ether ( or hexane, colemans etc.) first. This removes fats, oils, terpenes, waxes etc. this extract is discarded.
The material is now subjected to an alcohol extraction, e.g. with ethanol. This extract is evaporated to leave the crude alkaloids mixture.
This extract is partitioned between an diluted aq. Tartaric acid solution and ethyl acetate or any other suitable organic solvent. Other acid like citric acid can be used, and other solvents may substitute here. The ethyl acetate layer contains neutral and weakly basic alkaloids. Evaporate the solvent to isolate them.
The aq. layer is neutralized with NH3 or Na2CO3 and again extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic layer now contains basic alkaloids, while the aq. Layer contains quaternary ammonium ions.
Many alkaloids can be isolated directly from the alcoholic extract by chromatographic methods. This is a separation which works well for tropane alkaloids (atropine, cocaine, scopolamine).
The alcohol extract is fractionated by column chromatography on SiO2, solvent chloroform followed by chloroform with rising methanol content. This separates lipids and terpenes from the crude alkaloid fraction. The alkaloid fraction is again chromatographed (SiO2; CHCl3 : MeOH =10:1) to isolate the pure alkaloids.
Results:
Using Information
Leaves are antibilious, cholagogue, diaphoretic, diuretic and expectorant; used in bilious fever and rheumatism. Juice is a safe purgative for infants; given to children for the expulsion of round and thread-worms; with honey the juice is given in chronic fever. Decoction of the leaves is given for sciatica. Bark of the plant is expectorant; cures bronchitis. A decoction of bark, leaves, roots and flowers is given in excessive diuresis and in enlarged spleen. The flowers are stomachic, carminative and astringent to the bowels and tonic to the hairs; lessen inflammation. The seeds are useful in piles and skin diseases. Powdered seeds are used as an application for scurfy affections of the scalp. The Chakma take stem extract against dysentery.
During toxicological study of the leaf extract on laboratory animals, it was found that it significantly increased the weight of the heart and the kidney, and decreased the weight of the liver of male rats, but increased the weight of the liver of the female rats. It also increased ovarian weight. It slightly increased the total sum of the weight of all male sex organs. It caused a gross histological change of the kidneys, the liver, thymus, lymph nodes and lachrymal gland. It also caused some slight morphological abnormalities of the lungs.
Antibacterial activity:
Infectious diseases are world’s leading cause of premature death. Resistance to antimicrobial agents is emerging in a wide variety of pathogens and multiple drug resistance is becoming common in diverse organisms such as Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermis, Salmonella typhi
Methanolic extract of leaves and flowers of Nyctanthes arbor- tristis Linn exhibited significant antibacterial activity against those bacteria. The chloroform extract and the isolated compound (NCS-2) from its flowers were found to have larvicidal activity against common filarial vector, Culex quin que fasciatus.
Conclusion:
Researchers (Sandhar et al., 2011) revealed that the main active constituents in Nyctanthes arbor- tristis Linn parts are 6 hydroxyloganin (arbortristoside –A, B and C) along with other glucosides. The major uses have been found on extracts of leaves including bitter tonic, digestive, laxative, diuretic, diaphoretic to cure malarial fever, sciatica, anthelmintic and as antidote to reptile venom. This plant has also been found to be used traditionally. Powdered stem bark are used traditionally in rheumatic joint pain and as expectorant. The flowers as such are bitter, astringent, carminative, stomachic and used in some of the ophthalmic purposes. The juice of the flowers is used to prevent graying of hairs and baldness.
References:
Sandhar, H. K.,Kaur, M., Kumar, B. Prasher, S. An update on Nyctanthes arbor-tristis Linn. Internationale Pharmaceutica Sciencia.2011; 1: 77-86
Khatune N. A.,Islam M.E.,Rahaman M.A.A., Masaddik M.A., Haque M.E. In-vivo cytotoxic evaluaton of new benzofuran derivative isolated from Nyctanthes arbortristis L.on Ehrlich Ascite carcinoma cells (EAC) in mice. Journal of Medical Science. 2003:3: 169-173