Saussurea Explained

Saussurea is a genus of about 300 species of flowering plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae, native to cool temperate and arctic regions of East Asia, Europe, and North America, with the highest diversity in alpine habitats in the Himalayas and East Asia. Common names include saw-wort and snow lotus, the latter used for a number of high altitude species in East Asia.

They are perennial herbaceous plants, ranging in height from dwarf alpine species 5–10 cm tall, to tall thistle-like plants up to 3 m tall. The leaves are produced in a dense basal rosette, and then spirally up the flowering stem. The flowers form in a dense head of small capitula, often surrounded by dense white to purple woolly hairs; the individual florets are also white to purple. The wool is densest in the high altitude species, and aids in the thermoregulation of the flowers, minimising frost damage at night and also preventing ultraviolet light damage from the intense high-altitude sunlight.

De Candolle named the genus after Horace-Bénédict de Saussure (1740–1799) and Nicolas-Théodore de Saussure (1767–1845).[1]

Uses

A number of the high alpine Himalayan species are grown as ornamental plants for their decorative dense woolly flowerheads; they are among the most challenging plants to grow, being adapted to harsh climates from 3500 to 5000 m altitude, demanding cool temperatures, a very long (up to 8–10 months) winter rest period, and very good soil drainage in humus-rich gravel soils.

Traditional uses

thumb|left|Snow lotus fruits selling in Chiang Rai, ThailandCosti amari radix or costus root was an important item of Roman trade with India, and is believed to have been the dried root of Saussurea lappa.[2]

Several varieties of snow lotus are used in traditional Tibetan medicine. Saussurea lappa is used a component of the traditional Tibetan medicine Padma 28. Research conducted on the Himalayan medicinal plants by C.P. Kala reveals that the practitioners of Tibetan medicine living in the Pin Valley of Himachal Pradesh use its root for curing dysentery and ulcer.[3] Saussurea laniceps , Saussurea involucrata and Saussurea medusa flowers and stems have long been used in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, cough with cold, stomachache, dysmenorrhea, and altitude sickness, and has been found to have antiinflammatory and analgesic effects,[4] as well as cardiotonic, abortifacient, anticancer,[5] and antifatigue actions. Saussurea laniceps have been proven to be more effective than Saussurea involucrata and Saussurea medusa. [6]

Saussurea obvallata is one of the most sacred species in India, and has been used for offerings to goddess Nanda Devi for time immemorial.[7] [8]

Pharmacology

Saussurea lappa and has been shown to inhibit the mRNA expression of iNOS by lipopolysaccharide stimulated macrophages, thus reducing nitric oxide production. In rats, high doses of 50-200 milligrams per kilogram of crude ethanolic extract reduced observed inflammation in standard laboratory tests, and 25-100 milligrams per kilogram of the sesquiterpene fraction of the extract reduced several molecular markers of inflammation.[9] [10] Ethanol extracts were shown to have analgesic and antiinflammatory effects at high doses of 75-300 milligrams per kilogram. As the slow-growing wild plant is endangered by collections, a substitute grown in tissue culture has been suggested, which is mostly equivalent. Generally the analgesic and antiinflammatory effects of the plant are much inferior to those of indometacin.

Literature and culture

In most Chinese martial arts literature, the snow Lotus was classified a rare herb as precious as lingzhi mushroom, and old ginseng.

Selected species

See main article: List of Saussurea species.

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Candolle, A.P. de, in Annales du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. 16:197-198
  2. 11100933 . 2000 . Moeslinger . T . Friedl . R . Volf . I . Brunner . M . Koller . E . Spieckermann . PG . Inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthesis by the herbal preparation Padma 28 in macrophage cell line . 78 . 11 . 861–6 . Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology . 10.1139/cjpp-78-11-861.
  3. Kala. Chandra Prakash. Indigenous uses, population density and conservation of threatened medicinal plants in protected areas of India Himalaya. Conservation Biology. 2005. 19. 2. 368–378. 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00602.x. 85324142 .
  4. 16141525 . 2005 . Jia . JM . Wu . CF . Liu . W . Yu . H . Hao . Y . Zheng . JH . Ji . YR . Antiinflammatory and analgesic activities of the tissue culture of Saussurea involucrata . 28 . 9 . 1612–4 . Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin . 10.1248/bpb.28.1612. free .
  5. 32766303 . 2020 . Shati . AA . Alkahtani . MA . Alfaifi . MY . Elbehairi . SEI . Elsaid . FG . Prasanna . R . Mir. MA . Secondary Metabolites of Saussurea costus Leaf Extract Induce Apoptosis in Breast, Liver, and Colon Cancer Cells by Caspase-3-Dependent Intrinsic Pathway . 2020 . BioMed Research International . 1–11 . 10.1155/2020/1608942 . 7374224 . free .
  6. Yi. Tao. Zhao. Zhong-Zhen. Yu. Zhi-Ling. Chen. Hu-Biao. 2010-03-24. Comparison of the anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive effects of three medicinal plants known as "Snow Lotus" herb in traditional Uighur and Tibetan medicines. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 128. 2. 405–411. 10.1016/j.jep.2010.01.037. 1872-7573. 20083181.
  7. Book: Kala, Chandra Prakash. Medicinal Plants of the Indian Trans Himalaya: Focus on Tibetan Use of Medicinal Resources. 2003. Bishan Singh Mahendra Pal Singh. Dehradun. 8121101808. 200.
  8. Book: Kala, Chandra Prakash. Medicinal Plants of Uttarakhand: Diversity, Livelihood and Conservation. 2010. BioTech Books. Delhi. 9788176222099. 188.
  9. 12916066 . 2003 . Damre . AA . Damre . AS . Saraf . MN . Evaluation of sesquiterpene lactone fraction of Saussurea lappa on transudative, exudative and proliferative phases of inflammation . 17 . 7 . 722–5 . 10.1002/ptr.1152 . Phytotherapy Research. 39651463 .
  10. 12222664 . 2002 . Gokhale . AB . Damre . AS . Kulkami . KR . Saraf . MN . Preliminary evaluation of anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic activity of S. Lappa, A. Speciosa and A. Aspera . 9 . 5 . 433–7 . Phytomedicine . 10.1078/09447110260571689.

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