Article: A REVIEW ON FOLKLORE PLANT LEEA INDICA (BURM.F.) MERR

Article Category: Review articles

DOI: 10.7897/2277-4343.1306166

Pages: 101-103

Author: Sushmitha AR *, Subrahmanya Padyana

Abstract: Every country in the world has its traditional medicine practice, which includes herbal, mineral, herbo-mineral, and animal products. Most traditional practitioners use herbal products because of their abundance and easy availability. One such plant is Leea indica belongs to the family Vitaceae and is used in treating skin diseases, fever, bone fracture, etc., all over southern Asia and in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, folklore practitioners use this plant for various diseases. Leea indica is a shrub or small tree,  stem several to single, often with stilt roots, leaves compound, bipinnate to tripinnate, alternate, spiral rachis 10-20 cm long; petioles 0.5-2.5 cm; stipules purple, sheathing, obovate-oblong, glabrous, the inflorescence is corymbose cyme, petals having cream colour, fruit is berry globose purple-black when ripe, seeds are 4-6 and the drug have biological activities like antibacterial activity,  antifungal activity, antiviral activity, anthelmintic activity, antimalarial activity, antioxidant activity, cytotoxic activity, anticancer activity, antidiabetic activity, wound healing activity, anti-inflammatory activity, CNS activity, hepatoprotective activity, antipyretic activity, anticonvulsant activity, thrombolytic activity, anti-edematogenic activity etc. traditionally Leea indica is used in the various parts of the world in India it is used in the treatment of bone fracture in west Bengal.  In Rajasthan, inflorescence and tuber are used to treat chest pain in children. In Karnataka, the roots are used in the treatment of skin diseases.

Keyword: Traditional medicine, Leea indica, Vitaceae, Ethnobotany