triputa :

Allophylus serratus Kurz is one of the largest genus of family Sapindaceae found extensively all over India. It is a large shrub or small tree grows upto 10 meters in height. The plant has a distinction of being used in Indian system of medicine (Ayurveda) as an anti-inflammatory and carminative drug and has been used in elephantiasis, oedema, fracture of bones, several gastrointestinal disorders including dyspepsia, anorexia and diarrhoea, wound, ulcers, anorexia and general debility. The fruits are sweet, cooling and nourishing tonic (Gupta et al., 2004).

HISTORICAL AND MYTHOLOGICAL REVIEW:

Allophylus serratus is a Chinese tree species first described by William Roxburgh , and was given its current name by Wilhelm Sulpiz Kurz

Taxonomical Classification

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta - Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta - Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons
Family: Sapindaceae
Genus: Allophylus
Species: Allophylus serratus

Allied species:

A. cobbe (L.) Raeusch., A. chartaceus(Kurz.) Radlk., A. villosus (Roxb.)Blume, A. concanicus Radlk., A. dimorphus Radlk., A.subfalcatus Radlk., A. triphyllus(Burm.f.) and A.rheedii (Wight.)Radlk.

VERNACULAR NAMES

Sanskrit: triputah
English: Indian Allophyllus
Hindi: tippani
Telugu: eravalu, guvvaguti, juttika, paladondativva, sallikunkudu, savitibukka, tangutam, tantisa, tavatiki
Marathi: memdri, mirisat, tipani, tipin
Oriya: Kandakola, Kontakura
Tamil: amalai, perakkutikkay, perrakudikai, sirusalle
Malayalam: mukkanamperu, mukkannanpelu, mukkannapperuku, nukkannanperera
Kannada: sidisale, sisidale

Varities:

In Maharastra, the occurrence of 2 species of this genus, namely A. cobbe

(L.) Raeusch, and A. serratus (Roxb.) Kurz. is reported by Singh and Karthikeyan (2000). Yadav and Sardesai (2002) reported the occurrence of these two species in various localities of Kolhapur, district.

Definition

Allophylus serratus is a Chinese tree species first described by William Roxburgh , and was given its current name by Wilhelm Sulpiz Kurz

Synonyms

Synonyms in Ayurveda: triputa

The name Allophylus is derived from combination of two Greek words-„allos‟

means diverse and „phylon‟ means tribe, i.e. name itself indicates the great diversity of

the genus.

Rasa: Kashaya Madhura Tikta
Guna: Guru
Veerya: Sheetha
Karma: Pittahara Vatahara

The plant has a distinction of being used in Indian system of medicine (Ayurveda) as an anti-inflammatory and carminative drug, and has been used in elephantiasis, oedema, fracture of bones, several gastrointestinal disorders including dyspepsia, anorexia and diarrhoea (Gupta, A.K., Tandon, N., 2004) The fruits are sweet in taste and have cooling and nourishing tonic. In some part of Nigeria, the leaves and even roots are reported to be eaten to induce lactation. The root contain tannin and are considered astringent; they are stated to be used for treating piles and nose bleeding (Agrawal, V.S., 1997 )

Cultivation:

It is well adapted to grow in coarse and fine sandy and nutrient poor soil but prefers sandy loam with slightly high moisture content and it can grow well in shade too. The plant is tolerant to drought and high salinity (Selvam, 2007).

Harvesting:

Flowering and fruiting periods for A. serratus reported by various authors are as:

August-September (Mukerjee, 1972, Deshpande et al., Matthew, 1999), November-

December (Singh and Karthikeyan, 2000), June-September (Pant, 2000) and May-June

(Yadav and Sardesai, 2002).

Phytochemistry:

The plant is found to be reported for its phytoconstituents like Quercetin, pinitol, luteolin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, rutin, apigenin-4-O-β-D-glucoside (Kumar et al., 2010), β -sitosterol and phenacetamide (Hegnauer, 1961). Allophylus edulis is reported to have L-Quebrachitol (Diaz et al., 2008) and cyanolipids and triacylglycerols from seed oil (Aichholz et al., 1997). A novel type α-trans-polyprenols, alloprenols were found in the leaves of Allophylus caudatus (Ciepichal et al., 2007). A new sesquiterpene 11- acetoxy-4 α-methoxyeudesmane and other known compounds carissone and apigenin-8-C-β-rhamnopyranoside were reported in Allophylus laevigatus (David et al., 2004). The seed oil extracted from Allophylus natalensis is reported to have triacylglycerol, type I cyanolipids, 1-cyano-2-hydroxymethylprop-2-en-1-ol-diesters with minor amounts of type III CL, 1-cyano-2-hydroxymethylprop-1-en-3ol-diesters (Avato et al., 2005). Preliminary chemical characterization of the aqueous extract of Allophylus cominia leaves reported total protein concentration, fatty acids like lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, arachidic acid and carbohydrates like arabinose, xylose, galactose and glucose (Rodriguez et al., 2005).

Parts used for medicinal purpose

Whole plant, ,

Morphology:

An evergreen, low branching small tree to shrub, 2-3 m tall; bark is rough with a number of small pustular air pores; outer layer of the bark is strongly aromatic and inner layer is fibrous. Leaves alternate; lamina 3-foliate, leaflets 6-13 × 3-8.5cm, terminal leaflet is larger than the laterals, elliptic-lanceolate, bluntly serrate. Flowers 4-merous, 2-3mm across, white, crowded on 5-10cm long axillary racemes. Calyx campanulate. Corolla white, with reflexed shaggy scales. Stamens 8, almost equal to the corolla lobes. Ovary 2 celled, ovule 1-per each cell; styles 2, connate below. Berry 3-4mm across, globular, red when ripe. Seed with a short aril.

Geographical distribution:

Global Distribution

India and Sri Lanka

Indian distribution

State - Kerala, District/s: Idukki, Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur, Kollam, Malappuram, Kozhikkode, Thrissur, Wayanad

ECOLOGICAL ASPECT:

Common in dry forests of foot hills.

Plant conservation:

Not Evaluated

General Use:

The fruits are sweet, edible and have cooling and nourishing tonic. The flesh of the berry is eaten raw to expel tapeworm. The leaves are crushed into juice and used to reduce fever, to relieve rashes, promote lactation, to treat colic. Leaves

ground with quicklime is applied with heat to relieve stomach aches. Leaves and barks are used as a remedy for elephantiasis; antiulcer and reduce piles (Maurya and Srivastava, 2011; Devi et al., 2013)

Therapeutic Uses:

The plant has a distinction of being used in Indian system of medicine (Ayurveda) as an anti-inflammatory and carminative drug, and has been used in elephantiasis, oedema, fracture of bones, several gastrointestinal disorders including dyspepsia, anorexia and diarrhoea (Gupta, A.K., Tandon, N., 2004) The fruits are sweet in taste and have cooling and nourishing tonic. In some part of Nigeria, the leaves and even roots are reported to be eaten to induce lactation.

Systemic Use:

Fruits are sweet and edible.

Leaves are used in the treatment of bone fractures, rashes, inflammation and stomach ache. Roots are used to check diarrhea.

Administration:

Fruit pulp

Pharmacological:

The root contain tannin and are considered astringent; they are stated to be used for treating piles and nose bleeding (Agrawal, V.S., 1997 )

Clinical trials:

Dharmani, P., P.K. Mishra, R. Maurya, V.S. Chauhan and G. Palit, 2005. Allophylus serratus: A plant with potential anti-ulcerogenic activity. J. Ethnopharmacol., 99: 361-366.

Research:

1. Phytochemical Investigation of Allophylus serratus Kurz Leaves by UV and GC-MS Analysis

E. Sanmuga Priya, P. Senthamil Selvan and R. Tamilselvan

Toxicity studies:

Acute toxicity studies show that drug is safe up to the dose of 4000 mg/kg body weight.

Use in other system of medicine:

Allophylus serratus is a local medicinal plant used traditionally for the treatment of diarrhea, inflammation, ulcer, elephantiasis and gastro intestinal disorders. The leaf extracts of this plant were assessed for in vitro anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities.

CONCLUSION:

Allophylus serratus Kurz is one of the largest genus of family Sapindaceae distributed all over India. The plant has got strong ethnopharmacological background like useful in the treatment of inflammation, gastrointestinal disorders, elephantiasis, osteoporosis etc. The ethanolic extract of the plant was reported for its antiulcerogenic and antiosteoporetic action, beyond its other traditional uses.