Swertia

Swertia
Swertia perennis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Gentianaceae
Genus: Swertia
L.
Type species
Swertia perennis L.
Species

120-150, See text.

Synonyms

Kingdon-Wardia C. Marquand
Ophelia D. Don
Pleurogyne Eschsch. ex Griseb.
Swertopsis Makino
Synallodia Raf.
Tesseranthium Kellogg
Probable synonyms
Anagallidium Griseb.
Possible synonyms
Frasera Walter
Lomatogoniopsis T. N. Ho & S. W. Liu
Sources: GRIN,[1] ING,[2] NHM[3]

Swertia is a genus in the gentian family containing plants sometimes referred to as the felworts. Some species bear very showy purple and blue flowers.[4][5]

Plants of genus Frasera are sometimes considered part of this genus, sometimes as a separate genus, and sometimes as synonymous.

Contents

Selected species

Sources:[1][6]

Chemical constituents

It contains main chemicals sawertiamarine, mangeferin and amarogenitine[7]1,5, 8-trihydroxy-3-methoxyxanthone, 1-hydroxyl-2, 3, 5, 7-tetramethoxyxanthone, 1-hydroxyl-3, 5, 8-trimethoxyxanthone, 1-hydroxyl-2, 3, 4, 6-tetramethoxyxanthone, 1-hydroxyl-2, 3, 4, 7-tetramethoxyxanthone, 1,8-dihydroxy-3, 5-dimethoxyxanthone, 1, 7-dihydroxy-3, 8-dimethoxyxanthone, 1, 3, 5, 8-tetrahydroxyxanthone , balanophonin, oleanolic acid, maslinic acid, and sumaresinolic acid[8]

Swerilactones from Swertia mileensis showed anti-hepatitis B virus activity in vitro[9]

Medicinal Use

It is used in mainly including gall and liver disorders and these active constituents, especially mangiferin, have been found separately or collectively to have hepatoprotective hypoglycemic, anti-inflammatory , antioxidative, antitubercular and antifungal activities together with various ther pharmacological properties.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) (2004-09-23). "Genus: Swertia". Taxonomy for Plants. USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program, National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?11742. Retrieved 2008-05-16. 
  2. ^ "Index Nominum Genericorum database". International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. Smithsonian Institution. 1978. http://botany.si.edu/ing/INGsearch.cfm?searchword=Swertia. Retrieved 2008-05-16. 
  3. ^ "Linnaean Name: Swertia perennis Linnaeus". The Linnaean Plant Name Typification Project. Natural History Museum. http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/research-curation/projects/linnaean-typification/detail.dsml?ID=870100. Retrieved 2008-05-16. 
  4. ^ http://www.iisc.ernet.in/~currsci/aug252005/635.pdf
  5. ^ http://www.ansab.org/UserFiles/chiraito.pdf
  6. ^ Porcher, Michel H.; et al. (2004). "Sorting Swertia names". Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database. The University of Melbourne. http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Swertia.html. Retrieved 2008-05-16. 
  7. ^ Journal of Ethnopharmacology 98 (2005) 31–35
  8. ^ Li XS, Jiang ZY, Wang FS, Ma YB, Zhang XM, Chen JJ "Chemical constituents from herbs of Swertia mileensis" Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 2008 Dec;33(23):2790-3
  9. ^ Geng CA, Zhang XM, Ma YB, Luo J, Chen JJSwerilactones L-O, secoiridoids with C₁₂ and C₁₃ skeletons from Swertia mileensis. J Nat Prod. 2011 Aug 26;74(8):1822-5
  10. ^ Variation of active constituents of an important Tibet folk medicine Huiling Yang, Chenxu Ding, Yuanwen Duan, Jianquan Liu

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Swertia Swertia] at Wikimedia Commons