ABRUS PRECATORIUS LINN.

ABRUS PRECATORIUS LINN.

  

Common name: Coral bead vine, Rosary pea • Hindi: रत्ती Ratti, गुंची Gunchi • Sanskrit: गुंजा Gunjaa • Kannada: गुलगुंजी Gulugunji • Bengali: गुंच Gunch • Gujarati: Ratti रत्ती • Tamil: குந்து மணி kundu maNi • Marathi: गुंज Gunja

Botanical name: Abrus precatorius   

Family: Fabaceae (pea family)

Geographical distribution: Throughout warmer regions of the country and occurs commonly near the ravines of miscellaneous forests, waysides, grassy localities.

Introduction : A high-climbing, twining, or trailing woody vine with alternately compound leaves, indigenous to India. Leaves alternate, 5-13 cm long, even-pinnately compound with 5-15 pairs of leaflets, these oval to oblong, to 1.8 cm long, with margins entire. The flowers, shaped like pea flowers, are small, pale, violet to pink and arranged in clusters. Fruit a short, oblong pod, splitting before falling to reveal 3-8 shiny hard seeds, 6-7 mm long, scarlet with black bases. The seeds of abrus precatorius are much valued in native jewelry for their bright coloration. The third of the bean with the hilum (attachment scar) is black, while the rest is bright red, suggesting a ladybug. Jewelry-making with jequirity seeds is dangerous, and there have been cases of death by a finger-prick while boring the seeds for beadwork. The seeds were traditionally used to weigh jewellery in India. The measure ratti रत्ती is equal to the weight of one seed.

Species Type : Shrub

Chemical composition: Seeds contain haemagglutinin, abrin, abrine and abarnin, while tuberous roots contain precol, abrol and alkaloids abraime, precasine and glycyrrhizin.

Therapeutic uses: Seeds are purgative, emetic, tonic and aphrodisiac. Tuberous roots are emetic, alexiteric. While the leaves are demulcent and unguent.

Folk medicinal uses: The leaf juice is given for the cure of sore throat, dry cough and ardous urine; the leaf juice is also a good blood purifier. Decoction of the leaves is also used in abortion.

The seeds are eaten by women to prevent conception. One to three gms of the powdered seeds boiled with milk are a powerful tonic and have an aphrodisiacal action. A preserve of the decorticated powdered seeds is used as an anthelmintic.

Flowers : August-September