| Kwao Krua | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Genus: | Pueraria |
| Species: | P. mirifica |
| Binomial name | |
| Pueraria mirifica Airy Shaw & Suvatab. |
|
Pueraria mirifica, also known as กวาวเครือ Kwao Krua (but not exclusively), is a plant found in northern and north eastern Thailand and Myanmar.
In Thailand, the plant known as “Kwao Krua” is considered to be a rejuvenating adaptogenic herb and has a history of use in folk medicine. Although the name “Kwao Krua” had been applied to several species of plants having tuberous roots, it was definitively identified as Pueraria mirifica in 1952. An unusual estrogenic phenol, miroestrol, was isolated eight years later from this plant.[1]
Arimuttama was the old capital of the Pookham City of Myanmar. They had a sacred Buddhist precinct and one-day the sacred Buddhist precinct was broken down. The Buddhist monks found this ingredient that was inscribed on the palm leaf and placed it in the sacred Buddhist precinct. The information is as below:[2]
To take the tuberous root of Pueraria with big leaves, pound and blend with cow’s milk. The benefits of this medicine is to support memory, talk big, and be able to remember three books of the astrology, make the skin smooth like six year old kid, live more than 1,000 years and parasite diseases are not able to be of trouble
Kwao Krua is a native herbal plant found in deep forests of the northern region of Thailand. Researchers in the last few years have examined its properties and assessed its possible medical uses.[3]
There are 4 varieties of kwao krua that are considered beneficial and can be used for medicinal, food supplementary and cosmetic purposes. They are White Kwao Krua (Pueraria mirifica), Red Kwao Krua (Butea superba), Black Kwao Krua and Dull Grey Kwao Krua. Local communities in Thailand have used Pueraria mirifica for well over one hundred years, specifically for its supposed rejuvenating qualities.
Pueraria mirifica, also known as 'white kwao krua', is a natural tuberous herbal root and contains high levels of natural phytoestrogens including miroestrol, deoxymiroestrol, daidzein, genistin, genistein, B-Sitosterol, stigmasterol, coumestrol, pueraria, campesterol, mirificoumestan, kwakhurin, and mirificine.
Some cosmetic products and herbal supplements claim various health benefits of the extracts of Pueraria mirifica including increasing appetite, enlarging breasts, improving hair growth, and other rejuvenating effects; however, there is no scientific evidence to support any these claims.[4] The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has taken action against manufacturers who make such fraudulent claims.[5]