Butea monosperma: The Palash- A Versatile Tree Full of Virtues

*Jain A., Dubey S., Sahu J., Gupta A., Tyagi A.K. and Kaushik A.

I.P.S. College of Pharmacy, Gwalior, (M.P.) 474001.

ABSTRACT

Butea monosperma (Fabaceae) commonly called Palash and “Flame of the forest” is a tree growing in abundance in most part of India, Berma, Srilanka and Pakistan is valued in Indian pensula for its religious general and therapeutic applications. It is well known for its folk loric and traditional curative values. The tree possesses aphrodisiac, anti implantation, antistress, antibacterial, antidiarrhoel, anthelmintic, anti inflammatory, antihepatotoxic and wound healing activities which may be due an array of phytoconstituents present in nearly all its plant morphology.

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KEYWORDS: Butin, Aphrodisiac activity, Butea monosperma.

INTRODUCTION:

Butea monosperma (Fabaceae) also called ´flame of the forest´ because of the red flowers that bloom profusely in the month of February. It is a tree with innumerable therapeutic, technical and general uses. Whose leaves are be made into plates and cups. They are eaten by buffaloes where they improve the quality and quantity of the milk. Roots and fibers made into ropes and also used as brushes for white washing. Wood is used as firewood. Lac insect grows nicely on its stem and root. Barks used for the production of desi wine. Where as Gum eaten by women as it is supposed to be effective in helping women to conceive. Gum provides cure from dysentery and gives energy. Their flowers are used for worship and its wood is considered pious for its use in religious rituals.

Synonyms:, Palasha, Dhak, Teshu, Kamarkas, Porasum, Khakda, Markundi, Bengal Kino, Parrot Tree, Bastard Teak.

Habit and Habitat

A medium sized tree growing wild in greater parts of India, Burma and Sri Lanka. B. monosperma is capable of growing on, black cotton soils, saline, alkaline, swampy badly drained soils mountainous regions and on barren lands and even in water logged situation except in arid regions¹. The tree has unique survival instinct as it grows profusely even in extreme summers when many of the trees suffer from sun-strokes.

Folk loric and traditional uses

In Folk lone white hot thick dark brown sticky semisolid mass oozing out of burning fresh stem of B. monosperma are applied on skin for treating various skin infections. Similarly, the very young leaves are chewed or taken in paste form during conception and pregnancy period by ladies desirous of healthy child and the thick nodes of trifoliate leaves are chewed by shephard and others roaming in forest areas during acute summer to quinch their thirst. The flower soaked with water is consumed during summer season to avoid summer strokes.

Traditional uses:

Gum:

· The gum found in small, brittle glistening pieces, reddish-black in color. Is odorless with a very astringent taste sticking to teeth when chewed making the saliva bright red. It is almost entirely soluble in alcohol and entirely soluble in ether and partly in water.

· Its gum is useful in hemorrhage of stomach and bladder and is used as an anthelmintic².

· Orally it is used in diarrhoea, dysentery, and as gargle in throat infection.

· Locally called Kamarkas meaning thereby fortification of back muscles, the gum is used to strengthen these muscles that are delicate and more elastic. Since females usually experience tiredness and back-ache during menstruation, pregnancy and post delivery, the gum taken orally acts as tonic to pelvic and back muscles, in these conditions. It is used by almost all females in India to recover from problems of weakness, supple delicate muscles and loose skins, and to reshape the body after delivery and to get rid of menstrual problems.

Flowers:

· Flowers of B.monosperma are tonic, astringent, aphrodisiac and diuretic and possess anti-inflammatory activity³. Flowers decoction is useful in diarrhoea and show anti-implantation activity whereas alcohol concentrate exhibit antiestrogenic activity ^4-6.

· They are used in burning sensation and useful in skin diseases⁷ and treatment of liver disorders⁸.

· Butea Flowers contain butin, butein and butrin, isobutrin, palasitrin, coreopsin and isocoreopsin, chalcones, and aurones⁹.

Bark

· The stem bark ofB.monosperma is reported to possess antitumour,antiulcer¹, and antifungal activities.

· Petroleum ether and ethyl acetate extracts of stem bark exhibits antifungal activity against Cladosporium cladosporioides.¹⁰.

· The root bark is used as an aphrodisiac, analgesic and anthelmintic¹. Roots are useful in the treatment of filariasis, night blindness, helminthiasis, piles, ulcers and tumors¹¹.

Fruits:

· Fruits are aphrodisiac and anthelmintic that also cure diseases related to urine, Piles, worms, abdomen etc⁷.

Seeds

· The methanol extract of B. monosperma seeds showed potent anthelmintic and laxative activity.

Butea monosperma also called Palash is a useful plant in Indian mythology whose leaves are essential for various religious rituals in Hindu homes. The palash is scared to the moon and is said to have sprung from the feather of a falcon impregnated with the Soma, the beverage of the Gods, and thus immortal. The tree has long been known to the Hindus under Sanskrit name - Palasha, for possessing valuable medicinal properties to make a sacred tree, being called the treasurer of the Gods and sacrifice; its wood are used to prepare sacred utensils and its red flowers are offered in the temples as sacrifices to the Goddess Kali and its trifoliate leaf is supposed to represent the Hindu trinity.

Constituent profile of Butea monosperma

Nearly every plant morphology of B.monosperma possesses some or other therapeutic/pharmacological activity which is due to the constituents present in its different parts.

Gum and mucilage: B.monosperma gum contains kino tannic, gallic acids; leucocyanidin, tetramer and the plant also contain mucilage.

2. Stem and stem bark:

Besides stigmasterol-3-al-arabinopyranoside, stigmasterol-beta-D-glucopyranoside and nonacosanoic acid, two new compounds isolated from the stems of B. monosperma have been characterized as 3-alpha-hydroxyeuph-25-ene and 2,14-dihydroxy-11,12-dimethyl-8-oxo-octadec-11-enylcyclohexane¹². Subsequently, three new compounds isolated were also characterized as 3-methoxy-8, 9-methylenedioxypterocarp-6-ene, 21-methylene-22-hydroxy-24-oxooctacosanoic acid methyl ester, 4-pentacosanylphenol and pentacosanyl-b d-glucopyranoside by spectral data and chemical studies¹³.A low polarity compound isolated from stem bark of B.monosperma by bioassay-monitored chromatographic fractionation, was identified as (-)-medicarpin possessing antifungal activity. Tetramers of leucocynidin were also isolated from stem bark¹⁴.

4. Flowers: The main constituent of the flower is butrin (1.5%) butein (0.37%).The other constituent reported are butin, isobutrin, palasitrin, sulphurin followed by coreopsin and isocoreopsin, chalcones and aurones. other two glycosides monospermoside and isomonospermoside structures were also identified. The bright colour of the flower is attributed to the presence of chalkones and aurones. Studies reveal that isobutrin slowly change to butrin on drying⁹.

5. Root: Roots of B. frondosa have been found to contain glucose, glycine, glucosides and some aromatic compounds.

6. Seeds: Fatty acid and triglyceride composition of Butea monosperma seed oil have been determined by a combination of the techniques of systematic crystallization at low temperature, pancreatic lipase hydrolysis, and gas chromatography. The percentages of individual fatty acids are: myristic (0.2), palmitic (19.3), stearic (7.4), arachidic (1.8), behenic (14.0), lignoceric (6.2), oleic (21.8), linoleic (27.8), and linolenic (1.7) acid.

Pharmacology of B. monosperma

The B.monosperma plant claimed as rejuvendor in traditional system of medicine ¹⁵ has been extensively studied for its anthelmintic¹⁶antifertility¹⁷ and hepatoprotective activities⁸.

Effect on stress, anxiety and cognition:

In the Indian system of medicine B.monosperma has been indicated in augmenting memory and also as a rejuvenator. The aqueous extract of B.monosperma leaves provided protection against stress-induced gastric lesions while both alcohol as well as aqueous extract normalized the white blood cell count in cold restraint induced ulcers and leucocyte count after subcutaneous injection of milk to assess antistress activity compound used compared to diazepam. Cognitive function evaluated using Cook and Weidley's pole apparatus, indicated that aqueous and alcohol extract at a dose of 300 mg/kg for a period of 7 days augmented the acquisition as well as retention of memory. The study on the elevated plus maze indicated that both the extracts are devoid of anxiolytic activity when compared with diazepam (1 mg/kg i.p). Aqueous and alcohol extract of B. frondosa possesses antistress and nootropic activity when compared with piracetum as standard¹⁸.

Aphrodisiac activity:

The study focused on sexual behavior ¹⁹ have found that the bark extract (400 mg/kg body wt./day) at oral administration for 28 days, reduced significantly mount latency, intromission latency, ejaculation latency and post-ejaculatory interval and increased significantly the mounting frequency, intromission frequency and ejaculation frequency in sexually active male rats.

Anti-inflammatory activity:

In the carrageenan-induced rat paw oedema, the aqueous extract of B.monosperma leaves showed dose-dependent anti-inflammatory activity which at 100 mg/kg dose was almost comparable to ibuprofen (25 mg/kg, p.o.)

Fertility regulation and antioestrogenic activity:

Purified alcohol extract of flower, ether and water at higher dose has exhibited significant antioestrogenic activity in immature mice, while ethyl acetate extract containing butrin and isobutrin exhibited poor activity. The study also revealed significant inhibition of uterus weight gains, vaginal epithelium cornification and characteristic histological changes²⁰. Apart from antioestrogenic activity the flowers are reported to possess antistress²¹ and nootropic ²² activities.

Anti-inflammatory activity:

As per the Gunakunru, et al the fixed oil, mixed fatty acids and unsaponifiable matter of seeds, exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity on the tested experimental animal models against carrageenan-induced paw oedema and cotton pellet-induced granuloma in rats. The unsaponifiable matter of the oil produced higher protection compared to fixed oil and mixed fatty acids. The anti-inflammatory activity of the fixed oil may be attributed mainly to unsaponifiable matter followed by mixed fatty acids.

Anti-diarrhoeal activity:

Ethanol extract of stem bark of B.monosperma inhibited castor oil induced diarrhoea and prostaglandin induced enteropooling in rats. It also reduced gastrointestinal motility after charcoal meal administration. The results obtained establish the efficacy of the stem bark as a non-specific treatment for diarrhoea in folk medicine²³.

Antibacterial activity:

According to Yadav and Tiwari, (2007) flavone glycosides from B.monosperma show antimicrobial activity against various fungal species²⁴. The antifungal activity of (-)-medicarpin was found to be greater than that of Benlate, a standard fungicide, while (-)-medicarpin acetate also exhibited significant activity against C. cladosporiodes¹⁴. In an antibacterial activity of the fresh and dried aqueous extracts (at 10, 50 and 100%, v/v) of flowers of B. monosperma investigated against Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp, using seven strains of each bacteria the fresh aqueous extract had a marked antibacterial effect at 50 and 100% against S. aureus, S. epidermidis and P. aeruginosa. The extract was highly effective against P. aeruginosa as no growth occurred at 10% concentration after 96 h post inoculation. The dried aqueous extract however showed lesser activity compared to fresh extract of B.monosperma²⁵.

Hepatoprotective activity:

In a study carried out by Sehrawat et al (2006) on the tumor promotion related events of carcinogens in rat liver methanol extract of B.monosperma showed dose dependent protection in maintaining the structural integrity of hepatic cells by significantly reducing thioacetamide induced SGOT, SGPT, lactate dehydrogenase and gamma- glutamyl transpeptidase activity²⁶. The extract also inhibited malondialdehyde (MDA) formation, hydrogen peroxide generation (H₂O₂), ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity and unscheduled DNA synthesis. These investigations validate the use of B. monosperma in liver disorders by Ayurvedic physicians. Overall results indicate that the methanolic extract of B. monosperma possesses hepatoprotective effects which might suppress the promotion stage via inhibition of oxidative stress and polyamine biosynthetic pathways. In 2-AAF i.p treated rats which induced significant hepatic toxicity, oxidative stress and hyper proliferation, pretreatment of B.monosperma extract at dose levels of 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight prevented oxidative stress by restoring the levels of antioxidant enzymes and also prevented toxicity by significantly suppressing ornithine decarboxylase activity and DNA synthesis promoted by 2-AAF administration in diet with partial hepatectomy. B.monosperma pretreatment also caused reduction in the number of tumors/ rat and percentage of tumor bearing rats caused by 2-AAF as confirmed histologically. Thus study reveals that B.monosperma extract is a potent chemo preventive agent which suppresses 2-AAF-induced hepatic carcinogenesis and oxidative damage in Wistar rats. This protective activity may be due to butrin and isobutrin the major constituents from B.monosperma.

Estrogenic, anti-implantation and anticonceptive activity:

Butin isolated from the seeds of B. monosperma on oral administration to adult female rats at the doses of 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg from day 1 to day 5 of pregnancy showed dose dependent anti-implantation activity up to 90% of the treated animals, as indicated by termination of pregnancy and reduction in the number of implantation sites in rats. In ovariectomized young female rats, the butin exhibited estrogenic activity at comparable anticonceptive doses²⁷.

Anthelmintic activity:

The methanol extract of B monosperma seeds, tested in vitro, showed significant anthelmintic activity²⁸.Seeds of Butea monosperma administered as crude powder (CP) at doses of 1, 2 and 3 g/kg to sheep naturally infected with mixed species of gastrointestinal nematodes exhibited a dose and a time-dependent anthelmintic effect. The maximum reduction of 78.4% in eggs per gram of feces (EPG) was recorded on day 10 after treatment with 3 g/kg. Levamisole (7.5 mg/kg), a standard anthelmintic agent, exhibited 99.1% reduction in EPG²⁹.

Dermal wound healing efficacy:

Topical administration of an alcoholic bark extract of B. monosperma on cutaneous wound increased cellular proliferation and collagen synthesis at the wound site, as evidenced by increase in DNA, total protein and total collagen content of granulation tissues. The extract treated wounds were healed much faster as indicated by improved rates of epithelialization and wound contraction that was confirmed by histopathological examinations. Also, the tensile strength of drug-treated wounds was increased significantly. B. monosperma also possesses antioxidant properties by its ability to reduce lipid peroxidation and the results clearly substantiate the beneficial effects of the topical application of B. monosperma in accelerating wound healing³⁰.

CONCLUSION:

Every plant morphology of Butea monosperma having traditional curative values has been found to posses activities ranging from fertility regulation to sexual behavior. It has been found effective in improving memory function, wound healing and reducing stress and anxiety. The study carried out so far has substantiated its traditional antibacterial use and anthelmintic activity of its seeds has also been established. However its many more virtues are still hidden and unexplained. As every part of B.monosperma contains an assay of important phytoconstituents as being rebart it grows abundantly in Indian climate, is an important plant tremendous therapeutic potential to be explored.

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Received on 03.12.2009

Accepted on 12.01.2010

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Research Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry. 2(1): Jan.-Feb. 2010, 7-11