Scoparia dulcis explained

Scoparia dulcis is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family. Common names include licorice weed, goatweed,^[1] scoparia-weed and sweet-broom in English, tapeiçava, tapixaba, and vassourinha in Portuguese, escobillo in Spanish, and tipychä kuratu in Guarani. It is native to the Neotropics but it can be found throughout the tropical and subtropical world.

Although S. dulcis is considered a weed in many parts of India and Bangladesh, its use in traditional medicine has led to overexploitation.^[2] The plant is also found as a weed in American citrus groves.^[1]

Traditional medicine

As a traditional medicine, S. dulcis has been used for diabetes in India and hypertension in Taiwan.^[3] In Siddha medicine it is used for treatment of kidney stones, but it needs rigorous diet method. It is called kallurukki (stone melter) in Malayalam and Tamil. In Brazil, it has been used for various problems such as hemorrhoids and wounds.^[4]

Chemical constituents

Chemicals that have been isolated from S. dulcis include scoparinol^[5] and epinephrine.^{[6] [7]}

Notes and References

1. Rakesh . Jain . Megh . Singh . 1989 . Factors Affecting Goatweed (Scoparia dulcis) Seed Germination . Weed Science . 37 . 6 . 766–70 . 4044996. 10.1017/S0043174500072817 .
2. Majumder . S . Rahman . MM . Bhadra . SK . 2011 . Micropropagation of Scoparia dulcis Linn. through induction of indirect organogenesis . Asia-Pacific Journal of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology . 19 . 1 . 11–7.
3. 10.1186/1472-6882-4-16 . 2004 . Pari . Leelavinothan . Latha . Muniappan . BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine . 4 . 16 . 15522116 . Protective role of Scoparia dulcis plant extract on brain antioxidant status and lipidperoxidation in STZ diabetic male Wistar rats . 533881 . free .
4. 8832498 . 1996 . Freire . SM . Torres . LM . Souccar . C . Lapa . AJ . Sympathomimetic effects of Scoparia dulcis L. And catecholamines isolated from plant extracts . 48 . 6 . 624–8 . The Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology . 10.1111/j.2042-7158.1996.tb05985.x. 32597981 . free .
5. 11534346 . 2001 . Ahmed . M . Shikha . HA . Sadhu . SK . Rahman . MT . Datta . BK . Analgesic, diuretic, and anti-inflammatory principle from Scoparia dulcis . 56 . 8 . 657–60 . Die Pharmazie.
6. Phan . Minh Giang . Chemical and Biological Evaluation on Scopadulane-Type Diterpenoids from Scoparia dulcis of Vietnamese Origin . Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin . 2006 . 54 . 4 . 546–549.
7. Chiu-Ming Chen; Ming-Tyan Chen (1976). “6-Methoxybenzoxazolinone and Triterpenoids from Roots of Scoparia dulcis” Phytochemistry, 15:1997-1999.