Crude drug sample data base

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Crude drug name

Market nameBethu (Talmakhawa)
Formal nameVastuka
Other names　　　

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Chandan betu (B), Bathua sag (H), Huchuchakkotha (K), Pappukoora (Te), Parappukeerai (Ta), Bethe, Bethuva, Ikanca (N)
English nameLam's Quarter, White Goosefoot, Wild Spinach
Original plant nameChenopodium album Linn., Lam's Quarter, White Goosefoot, Wild Spinach
Family nameChenopodiaceae
Used partClassificationPlant origin
Sub classification seed
Collection informationKingdom of Nepal, Kathmandu, Shakya Vaidya Pasal
Collection date1983/07/31
CollectorTsuneo Namba, et al.
TMPW No.5957

The capital city, provincial capital city or the representative　　
location of its administrative area is indicated.　　
Production area information
https://ethmed.toyama-wakan.net/img/pin_san.png
27.7172453
85.3239605
Collection information
Kingdom of Nepal,Kathmandu
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Scientific information data base

Crude drug nameAyurvedic name or
Sanskrit name, English name		Vastuka, Lam's Quarter, White Goosefoot, Wild Spinach
SynonymsVastu, Vastuka, Ksarapatra, Himalocika, Sakaraja, Rajasaka, Cakravarti, Palasalohita, Cilli, Cillika, Mrdupatri, Ksaradala.
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Original plant nameChenopodium album Linn.
Family nameChenopodiaceae
Used partWhole plant
Distribution areaAn erect herb, upto 3.5m in height, found wild upto an altitude of 4700m, and cultivated throughout India.
RemarksCommon.
Common usesThe plant is sweet, acrid, improves appetite, oleaginous, digestive, carminative, laxative, anthelmintic, diuretic, aphrodisiac and tonic. It is used in the treatment of peptic ulcers, helminthiasis, dyspepsia, flatulence, abdominal pains, eye diseases, throat troubles, strangury, seminal weakness, pharyngopathy, splenopathy, haemorrhoids/hemorrhoids, ophthalmopathy, cardiac disorders and general debility.

Seeds are consumed cooked like rice or oatmeal or sometimes along with dhal. They are considered nutritious and superior to buckwheat (Fagopyrum spp.), wheat, rice, maize and millets.

Tender shoots are eaten raw in salad or with curd. They are also cooked as vegetable or the cooked shoots are mixed with curd and eaten.

Leaves are rich in potassium and vitamin C. A fine powder of the leaves is dusted to allay irritation. A decoction of the aerial parts, mixed with alcohol, is rubbed on the body affected by arthritis and rheumatism. The finely powdered leaves are used as a dusting powder about the external genitalia in children.
Therapeutic usesKrmi (worm infestation), Arsas (piles), Vibandha (constipation), Udavarta (disorder due to suppression of urges), Pliha (splenomegaly), Jvara (fever).
Chemical constituentFatty acids
Hexadecanoic acid (*C6), Octadecanoic acid (*C6), 9.12-Octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z) (*C6), 9 -Octadecenoic acid (Z) (*C6), 9-Hexadecenoic acid (*C6), 9.12,15-Octadecatrienoic acid (Z,Z,Z) (*C6), 11-Octadecenoic acid (Z) (*C6), 6,9.12-Octadecatrienoic acid (Z,Z,Z) (*C6), 5,8,11,14-Eicosatetraenoic acid (*C6), Tetradecanoic acid (*C6)

Sesquiterpenoids
Decahydro-8-hydroxy-alpha,alpha,4a,8-tetramethyl 2-naphthalenemethanol [2R-(2alpha,4aalpha,8 alpha,8abeta)] (*C1), 8-(acetyloxy)Decahydro alpha,alpha,4a,8-tetramethyl 2-naphthalenemethanol [2R-(2alpha,4aalpha,8 alpha,8abeta)] (*C1),

Carotenoids & Vitamin A
beta-Carotene (*C3, *C4)

Flavones & Flavonols
Quercetin 3-rhanmoglucoside (*C2), Kaempferol (*C5), Kaempferol 3-O-beta-glucoside (*C5), Kaempferol 3-O-beta-diglucoside (*C5), Kaempferol 3-O-beta-arabinoglucoside (*C5), Quercetin (*C5), Quercetin 3-O-xyloslglucoside (*C5),

Pharmacological effectThe plant yields 8% saponins which show a-haemolysis against buffalo and sheep blood and g-haemolysis against human blood.
The air-borne pollen causes summer hayfever, but an extract of it is used to a slight extent as an antigen for hayfever. The antigenic extracts of the pollengrains at a concentration of 0.001g./ml produced skin-reactions in allergic patients. Patients with asthma and atopic dermatosis showed significantly higher mean IgE level than those suffering from asthma and rhinitis with conjunctivitis.

The powdered plant (25-50%), when mixed with normal food, was reported to suppress oestrus cycle; alcoholic extract of leaf, however, did not exhibit any activity.
Medical systemAyurveda (Traditional Indian medicine)
Traditional conceptRasa (Taste)Madhura (Sweet)
Virya (Potency)Usna (Hot)
Guna (Quality)Laghu (Light), Ruksa (Dry)
Vipaka
(Post digestive taste)		Katu (Pungent)
Karma
(General action)		Sara (laxative), Rocana (improves taste), Medha vardhana (improves intelligence), Agnivardhana (improves digestion), Sukrapradam (improves the semen), Malamutra suddhikrt (purifies faeces and urine), Balapradam (improves strength).
Dosakarma
(Action on dosa)		Decreases all three dosas
Dhatukarma(Action
on body tissues)		Sukraprada (increases semen)
Mala
(Action on excretory mechanism)		Mala saraka (laxative), malamutra suddhikrt (purifies stool and urine)
Traditional usage1. One should take juice of horse's faeces with honey and that of Vasa (Adhatoda zeylanica) with sugar and honey or powder of Vastuka (Chenopodium album) seeds with honey helps in haemorrhages/hemorrhages.

2. In Vata cough, it is used as vegetable.

3. Goat's milk mixed with juice of Vastuka checks bleeding in bleeding piles.

4. Vegetables of Vastuka prepared with curd and pomegranate and added with profuse ghee should be taken in dysentery.

5. Vegetables of Kakamaci (Solanum nigrum), Vastuka etc., cooked in water and oil without adding salt is helpful in "urustamba" (a Vata disorder).

7. After taking food with Vastuka, drinking salted buttermilk and Haritaki (Terminalia chebula), helps one to remain disease free.
CommentsThis is included in Saka varga in Caraka. Bhavaprakasa has described another variety of this plant under the name Gaudavastuka or Chilli. Chenopodium ambrosioides L. C. botris L. is seen reported to be used as a substitute for this. Raja nighantu has described two varieties as chilli and sveta chilli. Kayyadeva nighantu describes yavasaka as one of the varieties of vastuka. It also describes about two more varieties as tankavastu and ksetravastuka. Tanka and ksetravastu are said to have suksmapatra (small leaves). According to the author of Indian Medicinal Plants, chilli is C. ambrosioides and yavasaka is C. botris.
ReferencesReference book　

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[2] Indian Medicinal Plants - A Compendium of 500 species, Varier, P.S., Orient Longman Ltd. Chennai (Madras)
Vol. 2 (Repr.1997), pp 61-64.

Indian Medicinal Plants (Second Edition), Vols. 1-5, 1993. Kirtikar, K.R. and Basu. B.D., Periodical Experts Book Agency, Delhi
Vol. 3, pp 2072-2074.

Plants in Ayurveda (A Compendium of Botanical and Sanskrit Names), 1997. Abdul Kareem, M., Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions, Bangalore
35.

Dravyagunavijnana, Vols. 1-5, reprint 1998. Sharma, P.V., Chowkhambha Bharati Academy, Varanasi
Vol. 3, p 191.

Classical uses of Medicinal Plants, 1996. Sharma, P.V., Chaukhambha Visvabharati, Varanasi
p 343.

Research paper*C1 Bera, B., Mukherjee, K. K. and Ganguly, S. N.; Fitoterapia, 62, 178 (1991).
*C2 Gonzales, J. A., Gallardo, M. and De Israilev, L. A.; Phyton (Buenos Aires), 63, 279-81 (1998).
*C3 Nambiar, V. S. and Seshadri, S.; J. Food. Sci. Technol., 35, 365-67 (1998).
*C4 Guerrero, J. L. G. and Isasa, M. E. T.; Unt. J. Food Sci. Nutr., 48, 321-27 (1997).
*C5 Bylka, W. and Kowalewski, Z.; Herba Pol., 43, 208-13 (1997).
*C6 Guil, J. L., Torija, M. E., Gimenez, J. J. and Rodrigues, I.; J. Chromatog., A, 719, 229-35 (1996).
RemarksThe herb is a common weed during summer and winter in waste places and in the fields of wheat, barley, mustard and gram and reduces their yield. The weeds are low growing while the cultivated plants are tall growing and leafy. The grain yielding forms also are tall with hollow, but sturdy, angular, ribbed stems with massive inflorescence. They are cultivated for leaf and grain on the North western hills in the Kulu Valley, at 1500-2100m and in Shimla. The crop is generally grown mixed with rice, soybean, finger millet, potatoes and maize. The summer crop is somewhat bitter. The young shoots yield a green dye. It is also used as fodder; pigeons consume the plant in large quantities.
Last renewal date2024/01/10
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