Mucuna pruriens is a tropical legume known as velvet bean and cowitch and by a multitude of common names

Scientific classification: (6)

Fig. 2. Different parts of mucuna pruriens.

(a) Mucuna Pods ,(b) Mucuna Leaves,(c) Valvate Bean,(d) Mucuna pruriens seed pod, (e) Mucuna pruriens flower

Table 1. Scientific classification of mucuna pruriens

Kingdom	Plantae
Division	Magnoliophyta
Class	Magnoliopsida
Order	Fabales
Family	Fabaceae
Subfamily	Faboideae
Tribe	Phaseoleae
Genus	Mucuna
Species	M. pruriens
Binomial name	Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC.

HISTORY OF MUCUNA⁽^8,9,10):

Velvetbean, a vigorous annual climbing legume, originally came from southern China and eastern India, where it was at one time widely cultivated as a green vegetable crop (CSIR 1962; Burkill 1966; Duke 1981; Wilmot-Dear 1984). The genus Mucuna (Adans), belonging to the Fabaceae family, covers perhaps 100 species of annual and perennial legumes, including the annual velvetbean. The genus Stizolobium was used by Bort (1909) to distinguish velvetbean from perennial Mucuna spp., but this distinction was not maintained by Burkill (1966) or Bailey (1947). Mucuna is self-pollinating; hence, natural out-crossing is rare (Duke 1981). The dozen or so cultivated Mucuna spp. found in the tropics probably represent a fragmentation from the Asian cultigen, and there are numerous crosses and hybrids (Piper and Tracy 1910; Bailey 1947; Burkill 1966; Bailey and Bailey 1976). The most commonly cited species include M. deeringiana Merrill, M. utilis Wallich (Bengal velvetbean), M. pruriens (L.) DC., M. nivea, M. Hassjoo (Yokohama velvetbean), M. aterrima Holland (Mauritius and Bourbon velvetbean), M. capitata, and M. diabolica (IIA 1936; Burkill 1966; Tanaka 1976; Duke 1981). However, the taxonomy of these species is confused, and some designations may be synonymous. For example, Burkill (1966) recorded M. nivea as being synonymous with M. cochichinensis and M. lyonii (Lyon velvetbean) (Awang et al. 1997)(Fig. 2.c).

The main differences among cultivated species are in the character of the pubescence on the pod, seed colour, and the number of days to harvest of the pod. "Cowitch" and "cowhage" are the common English names of Mucuna types with abundant, long stinging hairs on the pod (Fig.2.a,d). Human contact results in an intensely itchy dermatitis, caused by mucunain (Infante et al. 1990). The nonstinging types, known by the common English name "velvetbean," have appressed, silky hairs. Cowitch may be the original type of the genus (Bailey 1947). 1947). A nonvining variety, with low forage yields, is also reported under the name "bunch velvetbean" (Watson 1922; Duke 1981)(table 1)(10)

NOMENCLATURE AND TAXONOMY:

Common names -

Atmagupta : Sanskrit language

Kapikacchu : in Sanskrit language

Kiwanch or Konch : in Hindi language

Khaajkuiri : Marathi

Alkushi:Bengali

poonaikkaali :Tamil

Velvet bean : English language

Cowitch : English language

Cowhage

Juckbohne:(German): "Itch bean(12)

Picapica

Kapikachu

Yerepe (Yoruba)

Feijão Malucos (Angola and Mozambique. Portuguese: "Mad Bean")

Naykaranam :Malayalam

Mah Mui : Thai language

DESCRIPTION:

A) Macroscopic characters:

The plant is an annual,climbing shrub with long vines that can reach over 15 m in length. When the plant is young, it is almost completely covered with fuzzy hairs, but when older, it is almost completely free of hairs. The leaves are tripinnate, ovate, reverse ovate, rhombus shaped or widely ovate. The sides of the leaves are often heavily grooved and the tips are pointy. In young Mucuna pruriens plants, both sides of the leaves have hairs. The stems of the leaflets are two to three millimeters long. Additional adjacent leaves are present and are about 5 mm long(Fig 2.b). The flower heads take the form of axially arrayed panicles. They are 15 to 32 cm long and have two to three, or many flowers(Fig 2.e). The accompanying leaves are about 12.5 mm long, the flower stand axes are from 2.5 to 5 mm. The bell is 7.5 to 9 mm long and silky. The sepals are longer or of the same length as the shuttles. The crown is purplish or white. The flag is 1.5 mm long.The wings are 2.5 to 3.8 cm long (Fig. 1) (13).

Mucuna pruriens seeds of two different colors In the fruit ripening stage, a 4 to 13 cm long, 1 to 2 cm wide, unwinged leguminous fruit develops. There is a ridge along the length of the fruit. The husk is very hairy and carries up to seven seeds. The seeds are flattened uniform ellipsoid, 1 to 1.9 cm long, 0.8 to 1.3 cm wide and 4 to 6.5cm thick..Mucuna pruriens bears white, lavender, or purple flowers. Its seed pods are about 10 cm long(12) and are covered in loose orange hairs that cause a severe itch if they come in contact with skin.The chemical compounds responsible for the itch are a protein, mucunain,(12) andserotonin. The seeds are shiny black or brown drift seeds. It is found in tropical Africa, India and the Caribbean. The dry weight of the seeds is 55 to 85 g/100 seeds (13). The number of chromosomes in the plant cells is 2n = 20, 22 or 24.

CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS:

Mucuna pruriens seeds contain high concentrations of levodopa, a direct precursor of the neurotransmitter dopamine. It has long been used in traditional Ayurvedic Indian medicine for diseases including Parkinson's levodopa/carbidopa in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, but no data on long-term efficacy and tolerability is available.(14) In addition to levodopa, Mucuna also contains serotonin (5-HT), 5-HTP, nicotine, N,N-DMT (DMT), bufotenine, and 5-MeO-DMT. As such, it could potentially have psychedelic effects, and it has purportedly The mature seeds of the plant contain about 3.1-6.1% L-DOPA,(15) with trace amounts of 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin), nicotine, DMT-n-oxide, bufotenine, 5-MeO-DMT-n-oxide, and beta-carboline.(16).One study using 36 samples of the seeds found no tryptamines present in them.(17).The leaves contain about 0.5% L-DOPA, 0.006% dimethyltryptamine (DMT), 0.0025% 5 MeO-D MT and 0.003% DMT n-oxide (18).

PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITY:

1. Antioxidant Activities –

Alcoholic extracts of the seeds were shown to have potential antioxidant activity against in vivo models of lipid peroxidation induced by stress and alloxan (Tripathi et al, 2001).

The methanol extract of Mucuna pruriens (MEMP) seeds showed strong antoxidant activity by inhibiting DPPH and hydroxyl radical, nitric oxide and superoxide anion scavenging, hydrogen peroxide scavenging, and reducing power activities when compared with different standards such as BHT, L-Ascorbic acid, Curcumin, Quercetin, and α-tocopherol (19,20).

2. Hypoglycemic And Hypolipidemic Activity:

Mucuna pruriens in terms of controlling the blood glucose levels and effectiveness on various biochemical parameters. The study also includes the preliminary photochemical screening, acute toxicity studies and evaluation of hypoglycemic activity.

A study concluded in India on hypoglycemic effect of mucuna pruriens seed extract which is essentially lowering blood sugar, which would make it potential treatment for diabetes. (Eric Dontigey). The hypoglycemic effects of the seeds of MP have been demonstrated in normal rats (21).

The hypoglycemic effect of the M. pruriens seed aqueous extract (200 mg/kg) was comparable to that seen in the tolbutamide treated rats.

The hypoglycemic plant extract has both organic and inorganic constituents, further it is important to note that the inorganic part of the medicinal plant containing mainly mineral elements, sometimes play a contributing role in enhancing medicinal properties (including hypoglycemic activity) of the plant (22,23). A number of essential minerals viz., Na, K, Ca, Zn, Mg, P, Fe, Cu, Mn and Cr are found to be present in M. pruriens (24). These mineral elements may be associated with the mechanism of insulin release and its activity or glucose tolerance factor as described in different laboratory animals and in human beings (25,26). From this study we conclusively state that M. pruriens aqueous seed extract has beneficial effects on blood glucose. Further pharmacological and biochemical investigations are underway to identify the active principle(s) and to elucidate the mechanism of the antidiabetic effect of M. pruriens seeds.

3. Hypolipidemic Activity:

A significant decrease (p<0.001) in the cholesterol, triglycerides levels were observed. Chloroform fraction controlled the elevation of lipid profiles, cholesterol and triglycerides significantly in comparison with the standard control Glibenclamide.(27).

The ethanolic extract of leaves of Mucuna pruriens possesses antidiabetic activity and it may be used in diabetic conditions with or without cardiovascular complications. (28,29).

4. Antitumor Activity:

The antiepileptic and anti-neoplastic activity of methanol extract of Mucuna pruriens root (30).

5. Activation of prothrombin:

The antisnake properties of an extract of Mucuna pruriens’ seeds (MP101UJ) in vivo were recently demonstrated and one is now investigating its biochemical mechanism.

Echis carinatus venom (EV) contains a mixture of proteins that affect the coagulative cascade, causing severe bleeding and haemorrhage. Here the effect of an extract of MP101UJ in prothrombin activation by EV in vitro by clotting and chromogenic assay is studied. An increase in procoagulant activity was found. This could explain the protective effect in vivo.

Several components that affect blood coagulation have been isolated from the venom of the viperidae, Echis carinatus, particularly proteins affecting the transformation of prothrombin into thrombin. Two metalloproteases, ecarine (EC) (31), are prothrombin activators and act as procoagulant enzymes. Various isoenzymes of phospholipase A2 (PLA2) (32) have an opposite effect inhibiting the formation of thrombin in the presence of factors V and X. Abbre6iations : CA, carinactivase; EC, ecarine; EV, Echis carinatus venom; MP101UJ, Mucuna pruriens seed extract; PLA2, phospholipase A2.

6. Steroidal activity:

MP has been recognized as an aphrodisiac agent. The plant and its efficacy in treating sexual disorder has been documented in ayurveda (33). It have reported that the number of spermatozoa increases when the rats were treated with bark extract of MP. Further, it has been reported that the sexual and androgenic activities in adult male rats were sustained while improving the mass of the muscles (34). sexual behaviour tests showed that the ethanolic seed extract of MP possesses significant sexual function enhancing activity. Mating behaviour test revealed that the test drug at a dose of 200mg/kg significantly increased the MF, IF and EL in all the experimental days when compared to control .The effect on potency was evaluated by testing the effect of the drug on the frequency of penile reflexes such as E, QF and LF. For penile erection, a well-coordinated system of vascular, endocrine and neural networks are required. Hence, a drug that brings about changes in erection and sexual behaviour would induce changes in neurotransmitter levels or at cellular levels (35).

Mucuna pruriens (Fabaceae) is an established herbal drug in the Ayurvedic system of medicine used for the management of male infertility, nervous disorders and also as an aphrodisiac(36).

7.Against snake venom poisoning:

Mucuna pruriens having anti-snake activity.

8. Anti-spermatogenic:

M. urens affected the sperm quantity, quality and motility in the semen analysis carried out on male Albino rats.(36,38), lack of motility, decrease sperm count, incident of sperm abnormalities strongly point to spermatotoxic effect of any herb extract via epididymis. At the doses administered, M. urens arrested normal spermatogenic cycle and induced sperm abnormalities in treated rats.

Sperm count showed a significant (P<0.05) dose-related decrease in the treatment groups . This reduction in sperm count (oligospermia) may have been as a result of reduced output of spermatozoa from the testes(38).

9.Anti-Parkinkinson’s Activity:

The powder of the seeds is clinically used for the management of hyperprolactinaemia and Parkinson’s disease, as it contains a high concentration of L-DOPA (39).

Some of its properties are probably linked to high concentrations of dopa since it is useful in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Analgesic, antipyretic (Iauk et al., 1993) and antidiabetic ones (40, 41) and use in the management of Parkinson’s disease.

The seed powder has recently been found to show the anti-Parkinsonism effects which are probably due to the presence of L-DOPA. It is well known that dopamine is the brain neurotransmitter (42,44,45). The dopamine content in the brain tissue gets reduced because of its blockade of crossing over the blood brain barrier to reach the site of action.

USES OF MUCUNA PRURIENS:

1) In many parts of the Mucuna pruriens help the nitrogen fixing bacteria, takes nitrogen gas from the air and combines it with other chemical compounds producing fertilizer and improving the soil. Mucuna pruriens is a widespread fodder plant in the tropics. To that End the whole plant is fed to animals as silage, dried hay or dried seeds. Mucuna pruriens silage contains 11-23% crude protein, 35-40% crude fiber, and the dried beans 20-35% crude protein.

2) Mucuna pruriens is sometimes used as a coffee substitute called "Nescafe" (not to be confused with the commercial brand). Cooked fresh shoots or beans can also be eaten. This requires that they be soaked from at least 30 minutes to 48 hours in advance of cooking, or the water changed up to several times during cooking, since otherwise the plant can be toxic to humans. The above described process leaches out chemical compounds such as levodopa, making the product suitable for consumption. If consumed in large quantities as food, unprocessed Mucuna pruriens is toxic to nonruminant mammals including humans.

3) In history, M. pruriens has been used as an effective aphrodisiac.(43,46,47). It is still used to increase libido in both men and women due to its dopamine inducing properties. Dopamine has a profound influence on sexual function.(48,49) A typical dose for a man is 15 g of ground seeds mixed with cow's milk.(12).

4) Mucuna pruriens seeds have also been found to have antidepressant properties when consumed.[11] Dried leaves of Mucuna pruriens are sometimes smoked(12).

5) Mucuna pruriens has also recently become popular among lucid dreaming enthusiasts: when combined with other supplements that stimulate the cholinergic system, the dopamine presumably produced from the consumption of Mucuna pruriens confers upon the lucid dreamer greater motivation and confidence.

6) The hairs lining the seed pods contain 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) which causes severe itching (pruritis).(15,50). The hairs on the outside of the pods of Mucuna pruriens are a common ingredient in itching powder.(50).

7) "Mucuna pruriens" is used in Siddha medicines for a quite long time for improving sexual function; to cure

8) 'Pakka vaatham'(paralysis", leucorrhoea etc. There are 3D photos of the plant in the Siddha boo Mucuna(51).

9) Pruriens is used in the countries of Benin and Vietnam as a biological control for problematic Imperatancylindrica grass (13) Mucuna pruriens is said to not be invasive outside its cultivated area.(13).

MARKETED PREPARATIONS:

REFERENCES:

1. Ahmad, M.U., Hussain, S.K. and Osman, S.M., “The characterization and measurement of HBr reacting acid in Mucuna pruriens and urena lobata seed oils”- J Sci Fd Agric 29,372, 1978.

2. Annonymous, Indian Pharmacopoeia Vol. 2 (3rd Ed.), Govt. of India, Ministry of Health, Controller of Publications, New Delhi, India. pp. A74 - A75. (1985).

3. AOAC, Official and tentative methods of analysis,(XI Ed.), Association of official Analytical chemists, Washington, D. C.www.herbalbloom.com/.../Kapikachhu-Mucuna-pruriens-wiki.pdf(pharmacognosy).

4. Pant, M.C. and Joshi, L.D. “Identification of pharmacologically active substances in seed of Mucuna pruriens DC”- Indian J Pharmacol 2, 24, (1970).

5. Pant, R., Nair, R.C., Singh, K.S. and Kosti, G.S. “Amino acid composition of some wild legumes”- Curr Sci 43, 235, (1974).

6. Sathiyanarayanan, L. and Arulmozhi. S. Phamacognosy Reviews, Vol. I, Issue 1. 157- 161, 2007.

7. Satyavati, G.V., Gupta, A. K. and Tandon, N. Medicinal plants of India Vol. II. (ICMR, New Delhi) 1987.

8. http://www.herbalbloom.com/herbal-research/kapikachhu/Kapikachhu-Mucuna-pruriens-wiki.pdf.

9. Cover Crops in Hillside Agriculture: Farmer Innovation with Mucuna by Daniel Buckles, Bernar.

10. Triomphe, and Gustavo Sain (IDRC/CIMMYT 1998) Regenerating Agriculture by Jules Pretty (1995, Earthscan, London)

11. Fertile Ground by Hinchcliffe, Thomspson, Pretty, Guijt and Shah (1998, IT Publications, London)

12. Legume Green Manures, Principles for Management Based on Recent Research by D J Lathwell. (June 1990,. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY)

13. Rätsch, Christian. Enzyklopädie der psychoaktiven Pflanzen. Botanik, Ethnopharmakologie und Anwendungen.. Aarau: AT-Verl.. p. 15. ISBN 978-3855025701.

14. "Fact sheet Mucuna pruriens" (http://www.tropicalforages .info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Mucuna_pruriens.htm).www.tropicalforages.info. http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Mucuna_pruriens.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-23.

15. Katzenschlager R, Evans A, Manson A, et al. Mucuna pruriens in Parkinson's disease: a double blind clinical and pharmacological study. 2004. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 75:1672-1677. DOI: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.028761 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jnnp.2003.028761) PMID 15548480 free full text (http://jnnp.bmjjournals.com /cgi/content/full/ 75/12/1672)

16. "Medical Toxicology - Google Book Search" (http://books.google.com/books? books.google.com. http://books. google. com. Retrieved 2008-03-15.

17. "Species Information" (http://sun.ars-grin). Retrieved 2008-03-02.

18. "The phytochemistry, toxicology, and food potential of velvetbean" (http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-31916-201-1- DO_TOPIC. html) . www.idrc.ca. Retrieved 2008-03-02.

19. Chemical Compounds Found in "Mucuna Puriens" (http://www.rain-tree.com/nescafe-22. chemicals.pdf)

20. Andlauer W, Furst P. Antioxidative power of phytochemicals with special reference to cereals. Cereal Foods World 1998; 43: 356–359.

21. Rajeshwar Y, Senthil Kumar GP, Gupta M, Mazumder UK. Studies on in vitro antioxidant activities of methanol extract of Mucuna pruriens (Fabaceae) seeds. Eur Bull Drug Res 2

22. Pant MC, Joshi LD. Indian J Pharmacol 1970;2:24.

23. Kar A, Choudhary BK. Indian Drugs 1994;31:127.

24. Kar A, Choudhary BK, Bandyopadhyay NG. J Ethnopharmacol 1999;64:79.

25. Scheff'e HA. Biometrika 1953;40:87.

26. Mertz W. Science 1981;213:1332.

27. Castro VR. Biol Trace Elem Res 1998;62:101.

28. Yohanarasimhan, S.N., Medicinal Plants of India, Vol –II, Tamil Nadu; 431 432, 2000.

29. B. Jayakar, B. Suresh, Antihyperglycemic and hypoglycemic effect of Aporosa lindleyana in normal and alloxan induced diabetic rats. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 84, 247-249, 2003.et al / Journal of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology Vol. 1 (2), 2009, 69-73.

30. Gupta M, Mazumder UK, Chakraborti S, Bhattacharya S, Rath N, Bhawal SR. Geeta Watal, Achyut Narayanan Kesari, Hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic activity of Aege marmelos seed extract in normal and alloxan induced diabetic rats. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 107, 374- 379, 2006.

31. Murugan M. Antiepileptic and anticancer activity of some in-digenous plants. Indian J Physiol Allied Sci 1997.

32. Morita and Iwanga, 1978; Nishida et al., 1995) and carin activase (CA) (Yamadaet al.), 1996.

33. Kemparaju et al., 1994, 1999; Polgaret al., 1996; Nagpal et al., 1999.

34. Saksena and Dixit (1987).

35. Parakh, 1978; Amin et al., 1996.

36. Suresh Kumar et.

37. Pandey GS, Chunekar KC. Bhavprakash nighantu Chaukhamba vidhyabavan, Varanasi., 1996;357359.

38. Sathiyanarayanan and Arulmozhi, 2007). Anonymous, 1962.

39. Vaidya RA, Allorkar SD, Seth AR, Panday SK. Activity of bromoergocryptine, Mucuna pruriens and L-Dopa in the control of hyperprolactenaemia. Neurology (India) 1978;26:179-86.

40. Akhtar et al., 1990.

41. G. V. Joglekar, M. B. Bhide J. H. Balwani. An experimental method for screening antipruritic agents. British Journal of Dermatology. Volume 75 Issue 3 Page 117 - March 1963

42. Manyam BV, Dhanasekaran M, Hare TA. Effect of antiparkinson drug HP-200 (Mucuna pruriens) on the central monoaminergic neurotransmitters. 2004. Phytother Res 18:97-101. DOI: 10.1002/ptr.1407 (http://dx.doi.org /10.1002/ptr.1407) PMID 15022157

43. Vaidya RA, Sheth AR, Aloorkar SD, Rege NR, Bagadia VN, Devi PK, Shah LP. The inhibitory effect of the cowhage plant-Mucuna pruriens-and Ldopa on chlorpromazine-induced hyperprolactinaemia in man. Neurol India. 1978; 26(4):177-8.

44. Hussain G, Manyam BV. Mucuna pruriens proves more effective than L-DOPA in Parkinson’s disease animal model. Phytother Res 1997; 11: 419-423.

45. Manyam BV, Dhanasekaran M, Hare T. Neuroprotective effects of antiparkinson drug Mucuna pruriens. Phytother Res. 2004; 18: 706-712.

46. Yamini B. Tripathi and Anil K. Upadhyay. Effect of Alcohol Extract of the Seeds of Mucuna pruriens on Free Radicals and Oxidative Stress in Albino Rats. Phytother. Res 2002 ;16, 534-538.

47. Amin KMY, Khan MN, Zillur-Rehman S, et al. (1996) "Sexual function improving effect of Mucuna pruriens in sexually normal male rats" (http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheNandcp sidt=3027853) . Fitoterapia, jrg.67 (nr.1): pp. 53-58. Quote: The seeds of M. pruriens are widely used for treating male sexual dysfunction in Tibb-e Unani (Unani Medicine), the traditional system of medicine of Indo-Pakistan sub-continent.

48. "Mucuna Pruriens, Dopamine, L-dopa, Growth Hormone, Macuna" (http://herbal powers.com /macunapruriens1.html) . herbal-powers.com. http://herbal powers.com/macuna pruriens1.html. Retrieved 2008-10-18.

49. Giuliano F, Allard J. Dopamine and male sexual function. 2001. Eur Urol 40:601-608. PMID 11805404.

50. Giuliano F, Allard J. Dopamine and sexual function. 2001. Int J Impot Res 13 Suppl 3:S18-S28. DOI: 10.1038/sj.ijir.3900719 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3900719) PMID 11477488 free full text (http://www.nature.com/ijir/journal/v13/n3s/index.html)

51. "Medicinal Plants: Chemistry And ... - Google Book Search" (http://books.google.com /books?id=5sU6yo1jFxQCandpg= PA19anddq=%22mucuna+pruriens%22+nicotineandlr=andsig=Eo UhpvQpKNw6jyOR5kFbJjVF4) books.google.com.http:/ /books.google.com/books?id=5sU6yo1jFxQCandpg=PA19anddq=%22mucuna+pruriens%22+nicotineandlr=andsig=Eo7UhpvQpK-Nw6jyOR5kFbJjVF4. Retrieved 2008-05-23.

52. External Links:

i. www.herbalbloom.com/.../Kapikachhu-Mucuna-prurienswiki.pdf(pharmacognosy)

ii. http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jun102001/1377.pdf

iii. http://www.herbalbloom.com/herbal-research/kapikachhu/Kapikachhu-Mucuna-pruriens-wiki.pdf

iv. http://www.rain-tree.com/nescafe-chemicals.pdf

v. http://www.essex.ac.uk/ces/research/susag/TheMagicBean.pdf

vi. http://globalresearchonline.net/journalcontents/Volume3issue2/Article%20019.

vii. http://www.bitterrootrestoration.com/pure-herbs/mucuna-pruriens.