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Tinospora cordifolia

Tinospora cordifolia
Tinospora cordifolia.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Menispermaceae
Genus: Tinospora
Species: T. cordifolia
Binomial name
Tinospora cordifolia
(Thunb.) Miers

Tinospora cordifolia, which is known by the common names heart-leaved moonseed,guduchi and giloy, is an herbaceous vine of the family Menispermaceae indigenous to the tropical areas of India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

There are many common names for this species in different languages. Punjabi: گلو (Gllow), Telugu: తిప్ప తీగ (Tippa-teega), Tamil: சீந்தில் கொடி (Shindilakodi), Malayalam: ചിറ്റമൃത് (Amruthu, Chittamruthu), Kannada: ಅಮೃತ ಬಳ್ಳಿ (Amrutha balli),[14] Khmer: បណ្តូលពេជ្រ (bândaul pich), Sinhala: රසකිද Rasakinda, Thai: บอระเพ็ด (boraphét), Pali: galocī, Hindi:geloy (गिलोय), guruc (गुरुच), gurcha, Gujarati: galac, garo, Sanskrit: guduchi, amrta (अमृत), cinnodbhava (छिन्नोद्भवा), Bengali:Gulancha, Marathi: Guduchi (गुडूची), gulvel (गुळवेल), Odia: Guluchi, Myanmar: ဆင်တုံးမနွယ် Nepali: Gurjo (गुर्जो).

It is a large, deciduous extensively spreading climbing shrub with several elongated twining branches. Leaves simple, alternate, exstipulate, long petioles up to 15 cm long, roundish, pulvinate, both at the base and apex with the basal one longer and twisted partially and half way around. Lamina broadly ovate or ovate cordate, 10–20 cm long or 8– 15 cm broad, 7 nerved and deeply cordate at base, membranous, pubescent above, whitish tomentose with a prominent reticulum beneath. Flowers unisexual, small on separate plants and appearing when plant is leafless, greenish yellow on axillary and terminal racemes. Male flowers clustered, female usually solitary. Sepals 6, free in two series of three each, the outer ones are smaller than the inner. Petals 6 free smaller than sepals, obovate and membranous. Fruits aggregate of 1-3, ovoid smooth drupelets on thick stalk with sub terminal style scars, scarlet or orange coloured.

Columbin, tinosporaside, jatrorhizine, palmatine, berberine, tembeterine, tinocordifolioside, phenylpropene disaccharides, choline, tinosporic acid, tinosporal, and tinosporon have been isolated from Tinospora cordifolia.


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