ALANGIUM SALVIIFOLIUM

Common name: Sage Leaved Alangium • Hindi: Ankol अंकोल • Urdu: Ankula • Malayalam: Arinjl •Telugu: Urgu • Kannada: Ankolamara • Sanskrit: Ankolah • Tamil: Alandi

Botanical name:   Alangium salviifolium  

 Family: Cornaceae (Dogwood family)

Sage Leaved Alangium is a tall thorny tree native to India. It grows to a height of about 3 to 10 meters.The bark is ash colored, rough and faintly fissured. The leaves are elliptic oblong, elliptic lanceolate or oblong lanceolate. The flowers are greenish white, fascilcled, axillary or on old wood. The berries are ovoid, ellipsoid or nearly globose.glabrous, smooth and violet to purple. The flowering season is February to June. 
Medicinal uses: In Ayurveda the roots and the fruits are used for treatment of rheumatism, and hemorrhoid.Externally it is used for the treatment of bites of rabbits, rats, and dogs.

Geographical Distribution of Alangium salvifolium It is native to tropical Australia, Madagascar, Western Africa Southern and western Pacific Ocean islands Eastern Asia (China, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and Philippines) and New Caledonia7 . In India, it is found throughout the Hyderabad forests and Sitamata wildlife sanctuary, Dhaka, Rajasthan, Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh like Tirupati, Talakona, Chandragiri and Aragonda

Introduction Botanical description of Alangium salvifolium Alangium salvifolium is a deciduous shrub or small tree grows upto 3 to 10m height, with more or less spinescent branches and pale brown bark with rough surface and trunk with numerous holes8,9 . Leaves 7.6-15.2 cm long, alternate, simple, without stipules, narrowly oblong or ovate-lanceolate, glabrous, petiole up to 1.5 cm long, hairy. Flowers bisexual, regular, 5–10-merous, white,few in axillary fascicles. Fruits are small, nearly globular, purplish-red when ripe, crowened by persistant calyx-limb.

The flowering season is February to June

Chemical constituents of Alangium salvifolium The Alangium salvifolium consist different phytoconstituents in different part of the plant was confirmed by TLC. Leaves, roots and seeds of Alangium salvifolium contain the alkaloids (like alangidiol, alangicine, alangimarckine, alamaridines, dimethyl aptaline, iso alamarin, alangimarinone, dimethyl phycotrine, ankorine13 , marckidine, marckine, tubulosine, alangicine, cephaeline, psychotrine), steroids (alangol, alengol), triterpenoids flavonoids, steroids, glycosides, tannins, oil and saponins. Plant (root, leaves and fruit) also consist monoterpenoid lactam, alangiside, loganic acid, venoterpine, dl-salsoline and isocephaeline. Leaves of Alangium salvifolium contain alkaloids, deoxytubulosine, alangimarckine, dehydroprotoemetine etc. Three new phenolic glycosides, salviifosides A-C, and three known compounds salicin, kaempferol, and kaempferol 3-O-b-D-glucopyranoside were isolated from the leaves of Alangium salviifolium

Root bark contains the alkaloids, emetine, cephaeline, psychotrine, tubulosine, isotubulosine alangium A, alangium B, marckidine, marckine, and alangine, and also myricyl alcohol, de-Mepsychotrine, alangicin, stigmasterol and ß-sitosterol. Stem bark contains the alkaloids, alangine, akharkantine, akoline and lamarkine15, 16 . Seed alkaloids include emetine, cephaeline, N-methylcephaeline, psychotrine, betuline, betulinaldehyde, lipeol, betulinic acid and ß- sitosterol. Stigmasta- 5, 22, 25- trien-3ß-ol, myristic acid, E-cis- fused neohopane derivetives, alangidiol and its isomer; N- benzoyl-L-Phalaninol, and 3 unidentified triterpenoids also isolated from the plant17

Medicinal Uses: It used as astringent, laxative, refrigerant. it is used for the treatment of rheumatism, leprosy, gastric ulcers, Wound healing, epilepsy, scabies, gonorrhea, jaundice, hepatitis, diabetes, syphilis and asthma6 . The root bark is used as purgative, astringent, anthelmintic, antipyretic, expectorant, anti-inflammatory, emetic, diaphoretic, anticancer, antimicrobial and antitumor agents18-20. The root is used as hypotensive agent, anthelmintic and used in the treatment of biliousness, inflammation, diarrhea, piles, paralysis, vomiting, skin diseases and snakebite. The bark shows anti tubercular activity. The fruits are used as laxative, refrigerant, emetic and antiphlegmatic agent, whereas the seeds are used in hemorrhage, leprosy. Stem is used in vomiting and diarrhea

Ref-Comprehensive Review on Pharmacological Profile of Alangium salvifolium: A Medicinal Plant Meenakshi  Ratra*, Rajesh Gupta