25-CANTHIUM COROMANDELIUM (Burm.f.)
Local name: Karbeti etc.
Family: Rubiaceae
Location: -
Characters: Canthium coromandelicum is a shrub, usually with opposite horizontal thorns a little above the leaf. Sometimes the shrub is nearly unarmed. Leaves are ovate, smooth, and often fascicled on young shoots. Short, few flowered racemes arise in leaf axils. Flowers are small and yellow with four stamens. Flowers are bearded in the throat. The tube is short, with four to five spreading petals. Anthers are inserted into the throat, scarcely protruding. The style protrudes out and the stigma is somewhat spherical. The fruits are obovate and furrowed on each side, with their color ranging from red to brown, with a dark pink being the prominent color when ripe. The flowering season of the plant is from July to August.
General use: Leaves - raw or cooked. They are eaten in salads and also used as a vegetable. Regular consumption of the leaves has been shown to significantly reduce cholesterol levels in the blood.
Medicinal use: Specifically, it is said to control high blood pressure, reduce unwanted fats in the body, and purify the circulatory system. It is used in the treatment of a wide range of conditions, including diabetes, fevers, indigestion, nausea, diarrhoea, constipation, dysuria, impotence, decreased sperm count, and in renal calculi. The roots, combined with milk, are a traditional medicine for treating snake bites. The leaves are anthelmintic, antioxidant and diuretic. Taken at regular intervals, they are used to treat intestinal worms in children. Applied externally, the tender leaves are boiled and tied on the infected part in order to remove thorns that have got into the skin. A decoction of the leaves is used to help wound healing and to treat skin problems, including scabies and the ring worm infection. The roots and leaves are astringent, cholagogue and diuretic. They are used in vitiated conditions of Kapha, and to treat diarrhoea, strangury, fever, leucorrhoea, intestinal worms, and general debility.