Elsevier

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

Volume 120, Issue 3, 8 December 2008, Pages 291-301
Journal of Ethnopharmacology

Review
The Ayurvedic medicine Clitoria ternatea—From traditional use to scientific assessment

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2008.09.009Get rights and content

Abstract

Clitoria ternatea L. (CT) (Family: Fabaceae) commonly known as ‘Butterfly pea’, a traditional Ayurvedic medicine, has been used for centuries as a memory enhancer, nootropic, antistress, anxiolytic, antidepressant, anticonvulsant, tranquilizing and sedative agent. A wide range of secondary metabolites including triterpenoids, flavonol glycosides, anthocyanins and steroids has been isolated from Clitoria ternatea Linn. Its extracts possess a wide range of pharmacological activities including antimicrobial, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, diuretic, local anesthetic, antidiabetic, insecticidal, blood platelet aggregation-inhibiting and for use as a vascular smooth muscle relaxing properties. This plant has a long use in traditional Ayurvedic medicine for several diseases and the scientific studies has reconfirmed those with modern relevance. This review is an effort to explore the chemical constituents, pharmacological and toxicity studies of CT, which have long been in clinical use in Ayurvedic system of medicine along with a critical appraisal of its future ethnopharmacological potential in view of many recent findings of importance on this well known plant species.

Introduction

Clitoria ternatea L. (CT), Fabaceae is a very well known Ayurvedic medicine used for different ailments, which has been investigated scientifically in considerable detail. CT is commonly called butterfly pea or conch flower or shankapushpi and in Indian traditional medicine is known as Aparajit (Hindi), Aparajita (Bengali), and Kakkattan (Tamil). It seems to be a native of the Caribbean, Central America and México and early after the conquista was distributed to the Indian subcontinent (Dan Austin, pers. comm., January 2008) .In the traditional (Asian) Indian systems of medicine particularly in Ayurveda, the roots, seeds and leaves of CT have long been widely used as a brain tonic and is believed to promote memory and intelligence (Mukherjee et al., 2007a).

The disease preventive and health promoting approach of ‘Ayurveda’, takes into consideration of the whole body, mind and spirit while dealing with the maintenance of health, promotion of health and treating ailments is holistic way and finds increasing acceptability in many regions of the world (Mukherjee et al., 2007b). ‘Medhya rasayana’ is one of the major aspects of Ayurvedic pharmacology which ascribed intellect promoting activities of medicinal plants (Mukherjee, 2002, Govindarajan et al., 2005). Several aspects on integrated approaches of drug development from Ayurveda have explored many potential lead components from herbs (Mukherjee and Wahile, 2006). There are several reported Ayurvedic ‘medha’ drugs which include Clitoria ternatea, Celastrus panniculatus, Acorus calamus, Centella asiatica, and Withania somnifera (Sivaranjan and Balachandran, 1994).

With the advancement of Ayurvedic tradition and its scientific exploration, several classes of plant species have been studied in order to evaluate their therapeutic potentials and to isolate the lead compounds. Clitoria ternatea has witnessed a pharmacological and toxicological evaluation of these claims pointing to some important therapeutic benefits of this traditional drug which are highlighted in this review. CT has been used as an ingredient in ‘Medhya Rasayana’ a rejuvenating recipe used for treatment of neurological disorders and considered to strengthen a person's intellect (Sharma and Bhagwan, 1988). CT is a potential candidate for enhancing learning and memory (Taranalli and Cheeramkuczhi, 2000, Rai et al., 2001, Rai et al., 2002, Rai et al., 2005). In traditional systems of medicine transmitted orally or in writing (esp. Ayurveda) various therapeutic effects have been attributed to roots, leaves and seeds of CT. A number of bioactive secondary metabolites and pharmacological activities of the plant have been reported. Hence, this review is a critical assessment of the currently available information on ethnobotanical and ethnomedical uses, pharmacognosy, and medicinal uses as recorded in traditional systems of medicine transmitted orally or in writing. It also reviews secondary metabolites, pharmacological and toxicological studies of this useful plant.

Section snippets

Botany and pharmacognosy of Clitoria ternatea

It is an ornamental perennial climber, up to 2–3 m in height, growing wild and also in gardens, bearing conspicuous blue or white flowers (Fig. 1) resembling a conch-shell. While presumably of American origin, today it is cultivated and naturalized throughout the humid tropics of the old and new world below 1600 m elevation (Morton, 1981). It is distributed in India, The Philippines, other tropical Asian countries, South and Central America, the Caribbean and Madagascar (Anonymous, 1988,

Medicinal uses in Asian Indian medicine

The drug ‘Sankhapushpi’ of Ayurveda consists of the roots and seeds of CT and is used as a ‘tonic of the nerves’, alterative and laxative. The leaves and roots are used in the treatment of a number of ailments including body aches, especially infections, urinogenital disorders, and as an anthelmentic and antidote to animal stings. Among the two varieties, the white-flowered one is found to be therapeutically more active, and hence preferred. The blue-flowered variety is generally used as a

Medical uses in the Americas

There are more than 50 species of Clitoria. Clitoria spp. potentially could be an economically important genus, but many species are known only locally. The mostly frequently reported species is Clitoria terneata (Fantz, 1991). In Cuba decoction of roots alone or roots and flowers are considered emmenagogue. This mixture is made by placing a handful of cleaned and macerated roots in a bottle of water. A glass taken in the evening is said to promote menstruation and induce uterine contractions

Other uses

Clitorea terneta is a highly palatable forage legume generally preferred by livestock over other legumes. It exhibits excellent re-growth after cutting or grazing within short period and produce high yields. It can be grown with all tall grasses for rotational grazing, hay or silage. Butterfly pea is also used as a cover crop and green manure. Due to its attractive flower colours it is also grown as an ornamental plant (Michael and Kalamani, 2003). The young shoots, leaves, flowers and tender

Roots

The roots form nodules, which contain higher amount of plant growth substance such as indole acetic acid, kinetin and gibberelic acid. The level of tryptophan, precursor of indole acetic acid was also higher in the nodules. Rhizobium spp. isolated from root nodules produced higher amount of indole acetic acid in culture when supplemented with tryptophan (Ahmad et al., 1984). Rajagopalan (1964) investigated the presence of free amino acids and amides in the root nodules of CT; the root nodules

Pharmacological activities

CT has been widely screened for its various pharmacological activities. It has relatively well documented neuropharmacological actions such as enhancing acetylcholine content, nootropic, antistress, anxiolytic, antidepressant, anticonvulsant, tranquilizing and sedative activities which justify its use in CNS diseases in Ayurvedic system of medicine (Sections 6.1–6.5). It has antimicrobial, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, diuretic, local anaesthetic, antidiabetic, insecticidal, blood

Toxicological assessment

An ethanolic extracts of aerial parts and root of CT when administered orally to mice, in doses 1500 mg/kg and above they were found to be lethargic (Taranalli and Cheeramkuczhi, 2000). Though CT root extracts, up to 3000 mg/kg administered orally failed to produce any lethality in mice, animals showed signs of central nervous system depression indicated by ptosis (dropping of upper eyelids), and decreased locomotor activity at doses 1500 mg/kg and above. A characteristic observation was the

Conclusion

Clitoria ternatea, a traditional Ayurvedic medicinal plant has a long tradition of use as a memory enhancing and anxiolytic agent. Extracts of the roots, seeds and leaves of CT have long been in clinical use in the Ayurvedic system of medicine (Mukherjee et al., 2007a) and in other systems of medicine. Various pharmacological activities of Clitoria ternatea such as, memory enhancing, enhancement of acetylcholine content, nootropic, antistress, anxiolytic, antidepressant, anticonvulsant,

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India for providing financial assistance.

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