Family Boraginaceae Trompang elepante Heliotropium indicum Linn.

INDIAN HELIOTROPE

Botany: Annual or perennial, erect herb, up to 1.5 m tall, woody at the base, usually much branched. Leaves alternate or opposite, simple; stipules absent; petiole 17 cm long; blade ovate to elliptical, (1.5)316 cm (0.5)1.510 cm; base truncate but narrowly decurrent; apex acute or acuminate; margin irregularly undulate, bristly hairy. Inflorescence a scorpioid, simple, many-flowered cyme, 2.545 cm long. Flowers bisexual, regular, 5-merous; calyx with almost free, unequal lobes, bristly, white hairy; corolla salvershaped, tube 34.5 mm long, lobes rounded, c. 1 mm long, pale-violet, blue or white; stamens included in

corolla tube, with very short filaments; ovary superior, 4-celled. Fruit 23 mm long, splitting into 4 nutlets. Seedling with epigeal germination; cotyledons leafy, rounded. Growth and development Heliotropium indicum may flower throughout the year. The flowering season is very long and new flowers develop apically within the cyme while mature nutlets are already present at the base of the inflorescence. Ecology Heliotropium indicum is found in sunny localities, on waste land, in periodically desiccating pools and ditches and anthropogenic habitats, generally below 800 m altitude. It is widely considered a weed of fields and pastures. Management For medicinal uses Heliotropium indicum is exclusively collected from the wild. Handling after harvest The plants are generally collected when fully grown and can be used either dry or fresh. Plant use The entire plant is used. The part of the plants most frequently used was the leaves. May be collected throughout the year. Rinse, use fresh. Mainly taken orally, but some applications were prepared with a mixture of plants or ingredients such as honey, sugar, salt, ginger and pepper. Decoction of the leaves was the main form of preparation and leaf powder was mostly used for the preparation of infusions. Chemical constituents and properties No taste, cooling effect, insecticide-antidermatosis Leaves are emollient and diuretic. Stems and leaves contain tannin and an alkaloidal principle. Study isolated a major alkaloid, heliotrine, from the seed of Heliotropium indicum. and was found to have ganglion blocking activity. Uses Folkloric Skin pruritus, scabies: use pounded fresh material (quantity sufficient combine with kerosene applied over the afflicted area.) Concentrated decoction may also be used as external wash over afflicted area. Decoction of dried roots used as emmenagogue. Mastication of seeds for stomachic effect. Decoction of leaves for washing cuts and sores. Poultice of pounded leaves or bruised leaves applied to wounds and boils; also, inflammed joints. Juice of leaves used for facial acne, gum-boils, sores and wounds. Decoction of leaves and flowers used as gargle for sore throats and tonsilitis.

 Flowers in small doses are emmenagogue; in large doses, abortive. Decoction of roots or any plant part used for asthma. Leaf juice given to infants for cough. In Nigeria, used for fevers and ulcers. In West Africa, used for vomiting, amenorrhea, high blood pressure; sap applied to gumboils, clean up ulcers and for eye infections. In Sierra Leone , decoction of leaves used for washing new-born babies. In Senegal, leaf powder used for dermatitis, eczema, impetigo in children. In Indonesia, leaf decoction is used for thrush; poultices used for herpes and rheumatism. In Thailand, traditionally used for wound healing. In Taiwan, a folk remedy for sore throat and lung diseases. Studies Gastroprotective / Antimicrobial: Study of the aqueous extracts of dried leaves of Heliotropium indicum showed dose-dependent gastroprotective effects. Wound Healing: Study of 10% topical application increased the percentage of wound contraction, increased tensile strength and decreased time of healing from rapid epithelization and collagenization. Ethanolic extract of HI showed to have better wound healing activity than P. zeylanicum and A. indica. Anti-Tumor: Isolated oxide of alkaloid indicine from HI showed significant anti-tumor activity in carcinosarcoma, leukemia, and melanoma tumor systems. Anti-Inflammatory: Study of H indicum produced significant antiinflammatory effect in both acute and subacute models of inflammation, with activities comparable to acetylsalicylic acid and phenylbutazone respectively. Anti-Tuberculosis: Study of the volatile oil from the aerial parts of HI showed significant antituberculosis activity against M tuberculosis. The major constituents were phytol, e-dodecanol, and -linalool. Anti-Tumor: Extract study yielded an active principle, an N-oxide of the alkalooid indicine, which showed significant activity in several experimental tumor systems. Anti-Proliferative: One of nine Thai medicinal plants studied on human breast adenocarcinoma cell line; all extracts showed IC50 in the potential range for activity against cancer cells. Immunostimulant Effect: Dried leaves extract significantly increased in vitro phagocytic index and lymphyocyte viability in all assays, increase in antibody titer and delayed-type hypersensitivity in mice.Results conclude a dose-dependent immunostimulant effect, probably due to the alkaloid content or combination of other components. Gastroprotective Effect: Phytochemical analysis yielded alkaloid, saponins and tannins. A gastroprotective function is through its ability to mobilize endogenous prostaglandins in the gastric mucosa, and may be in part due to tannins and saponin constituents. Repellent Effect: In a search for insecticides and antifeedants of plant origin against Utetheisa pulchella, H indicum killed 56% of the young larvae but did not affect fifth- and sixth-instar larvae. Toxicity Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) is found virtually in all plants in the Boraginaceae family. PAs have been shown to cause toxic reactions in humans, primarily veno-occlusive disease, when taken as herbal medicine or with food. It has also believed to cause liver damage.