Common Name:- False daisy
Vernacular name:- Bhringraj(hindi)
Family:- Asteraceae
General_Information
Eclipta prostrata is an erect or prostrate, branching annual or sometimes short-lived perennial plant, growing 10-80 cm tall.
A popular herbal medicine in eastern Asia, where the plant is extensively harvested from the wild. It is also sometimes cultivated in Gabon as a pot-herb. The plant is also sometimes cultivated for the compound wedelolactone, which is used in the pharmaceutical industry. It can be widely seen in Arunachal Pradesh & other Northeast states of India.
Edible_Uses
Tender leaves and young shoots are cooked and used as a vegetable. The leaves are also used in chutneys by Chinese.
medicinal_value
This species is widely used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine, and in Ayurveda. It is considered to be the best remedy for the hair, an excellent treatment for a range of skin disorders, and is also used as a rejuvenator and liver tonic. The plant has been shown to contain isoflavonoids & anti cancer element to curing animal cancer. In trials, the plant has shown moderate activity against a variety of animal cancers. Extracts have been used to treat carbon tetrachloride-induced liver damage.
The whole plant contains the alkaloids nicotine and ecliptine as well as coumarin. It is astringent, deobstruent, depurative, emetic, febrifuge, ophthalmic, purgative, styptic and tonic. It is used internally in the treatment of dropsy and liver complaints, anaemia, diphtheria etc, tinnitus, tooth loss and premature greying of the hair.
The leaves are used to treat fevers, eye diseases, asthma, bronchitis, liver problems, diarrhoea and weak bladder. A decoction is used to treat cancer. The leaves are used in the treatment of scorpion stings, and as an antidote for snake bites.
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