Asparagus racemosus (satavar, shatavari, or shatamull) is a species of asparagus common throughout Nepal, Sri Lanka, India and the Himalayas. It grows 1-2 m (3 ft 3 in-6 ft 7 in) tall and prefers to take root in gravelly, rocky soils high up in piedmont plains, at 1,300-1,400 m (4,300-4,600 ft) elevation. It was botanically described in 1799. Because of its multiple uses, the demand for Asparagus racemosus is constantly on the rise. Because of destructive harvesting, combined with habitat destruction, and deforestation, the plant is now considered "endangered" in its natural habitat.
Shatawari has different names in the different Indian languages, such as shatuli, vrishya and other terms. In Nepal it is called kurilo. The name "shatawari" means "curer of a hundred diseases" (shatum: "hundred"; vari: "curer").
Video Asparagus racemosus
Leaves, flowers and fruits
Satavari has small pine-needle-like phylloclades (photosynthetic branches) that are uniform and shiny green. In July, it produces minute, white flowers on short, spiky stems, and in September it fruits, producing blackish-purple, globular berries.
Maps Asparagus racemosus
Roots
It has an adventitious root system with tuberous roots that measure about one metre in length, tapering at both ends, with roughly a hundred on each plant.
Uses
Asparagus racemosus is an important plant in traditional medicine in tropical and subtropical India. Its medicinal use has been reported in the Indian and British Pharmacopoeias and in traditional systems of medicine such as Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha.
Asparagus racemosus (Shatavari) is recommended in Ayurvedic texts for the prevention and treatment of gastric ulcers and dyspepsia, and as a galactogogue. A. racemosus has also been used by some Ayurvedic practitioners for nervous disorders.
The roots are used in Ayurvedic medicine, following a regimen of processing and drying. It is generally used as a uterine tonic, as a galactogogue (to improve breast milk), in hyperacidity, and as a best general health tonic.
Chemical constituents
Asparagamine A, a polycyclic alkaloid was isolated from the dried roots and subsequently synthesized to allow for the construction of analogs.
Steroidal saponins, shatavaroside A, shatavaroside B, filiasparoside C, shatavarins, immunoside, and schidigerasaponin D5 (or asparanin A) were isolated from the roots of Asparagus racemosus.
Also known is the isoflavone 8-methoxy-5,6,4'-trihydroxyisoflavone 7-O-?-D-glucopyranoside.
See also
- Shatavar Vatika Herbal Park, Hisar, Haryana--a herbal park in India for the research, preservation and propagation of Shatavari
References
External links
- Nice picture of A. racemosus flowers from "Flowers of India" website
- Caldecott, Todd (2006). Ayurveda: The Divine Science of Life. Elsevier/Mosby. ISBN 0-7234-3410-7. Contains a detailed monograph on Asparagus racemosus (Shatavari) as well as a discussion of health benefits and usage in clinical practice. Available online at https://web.archive.org/web/20101001013838/http://www.toddcaldecott.com/index.php/herbs/learning-herbs/331-shatavari
Source of article : Wikipedia
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