Andrographis paniculata- Hempedu bumi

2008-03-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

Andrographis paniculata is a herbaceous plant in the family Acanthaceae, native to India and Sri Lanka.It is widely cultivated in southern Asia, where it is used to treat infections and some diseases, often being used before antibiotics were created. Mostly the leaves and roots were used for medicinal purposes.Scientists have studied this herb for nearly thirty years.

Andrographis paniculata, the Kalmegh of Ayurveda is an erect annual herb extremely bitter in taste in each and every part of the plant body. The plant is known in north-eastern India as ‘Maha-tita’, literally ‘king of bitters’ and known by various vernacular names (Table below). It is also known as ‘Bhui-neem’, since the plant, though much smaller in size, shows similar appearance and has bitter taste as that of Neem (Azadirachta indica). In Malaysia, it is known as 'Hempedu Bumi' literally means 'bile of earth' since it is one of the most bitter plant that are used in traditional medicine. In tamil it is called as 'Sirunangai' or 'Siriyanangai'. Incidentally, the genus Andrographis consists of 28 species of small annual shrubs essentially distributed in tropical Asia. Only a few species are medicinal, of which A. paniculata is the most popular.
Since ancient times, A. paniculata is used as a wonderdrug in traditional Siddha and Ayurvedic systems of medicine as well as in tribal medicine in India and some other countries for multiple clinical applications. The therapeutic value of Kalmegh is due to its mechanism of action which is perhaps by enzyme induction. The plant extract exhibits antityphoid and antifungal activities. Kalmegh is also reported to possess antihepatotoxic, antibiotic, antimalarial, antihepatitic, antithrombogenic, antiinflammatory, antisnakevenom, and antipyretic properties to mention a few, besides its general use as an immunostimulant agent