Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Wall. ex Nees

3302.90.20

The production figures from cultivated sources are not available. However, from the wild sources the total annual production is about 5000 tons mainly from the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The annual consumption of the crude drug by pharmaceutical/herbal drug manufacturers matches the domestic production. Estimated demand of this drug in India is 1000 tons per year.

According to one estimate pertaining to the prioritized medicinal plants the demand for the year 2001-2002 for Kalmegh was 2005 tons and the expected demand with a growth of about 3.1% for the year 2004-2005.

The average rate in Indian market is Rs. 1800 per quintal; however, the local collectors are only paid Rs. 6 per kg of the dry herb.

The majority of the crude drug available in the Indian market is from wild sources. However, a complete package on its agro technology has been developed.

The plant is mainly collected from wild resources. Suitable areas for its cultivation are plains of U.P., Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Orissa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.

Crude: The drug is used in the form of fresh leaves or dry leaves and tender branches in powdered form.

Semi-processed: Powdered drug along with other hepatoprotective ingredients are given for curative treatment. Decoction of the plant is also used as blood purifier.

Processed: The standardized extracts are prepared and formulated containing efficacious concentrations of the active ingredients (Andrographolide).

The information on cultivation, harvesting, pre & post harvest care, conservation and value addition can be obtained from following research centres and Univerisities

• Central Institute of Medicinal Aromatic Plants, Lucknow
• Regional Research Laboratory, Jammu 
• Gujarat Agriculture University, Anand
• Haryana Agriculture University, Hissar 
• Rajasthan Agriculture University, Udaipur
• Punajb Agriculture University, Ludhiana

Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow has developed complete agrotechnology for cultivation of Kalmegh in India.

Cultivars (including improved Varieties): Comparative studies of plants from different localities have shown variation in the total alkaloids content. Local clones are generally cultivated as there is no named variety available. However, based on plant height, leaf length, leaf width, leaf stem ratio, leaf biomass ratio and dry biomass (herbage) yield /plant and chlorophyll content, morphogenetically diverse genotypes have been reported from Bhuvneshwar, Lucknow, Kakori and Assam.

Harvesting and Collection: The plant is collected at maturity i.e. after complete flowering and fruiting. Depending upon area of cultivation harvesting is done in October-November However, in Andhra Pradesh, it is collected from wild populations from November-January. The whole plant is dried in shade by spreading on the floor for 7-8 days and powdered. During this period, it is protected from dew at nights. On an average the yield of 3.5-4.0 tons dry herb/ha is obtained.

Information can be had from the above mentioned centres.

• Herbal garden and Gene Bank maintained by Regional Research Laboratory, Jammu
• The Botany Department of Calcutta University has also carried work on conservation of thirty plants including Andrographis paniculata.

A bench scale (1 kg) technology for the isolation of andrographolide from Andrographis paniculata is available from Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP).

• Director 
  Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) 
  Near Kukrail Picnic Spot Road PO-CIMAP, Lucknow 226 015 
  India 
  Fax: +91-522-2342666

The herb is the well-known drug kalmegh or 'green chiretta', and forms the principal ingredient of a reputed household medicine, used as a bitter tonic and febrifuge. Powdered plant mixed with mustard oil is applied in itching. Plant is also used in spleen complaints, colic, strangulation of intestine, constipation, diarrhoea, cholera, phthisis, consumption and bite of rabid jackal.

The macerated leaves and juice together with certain spices, such as cardamom, clove and cinnamon, are made into pills and prescribed for relief from gripe and other stomach ailments in infants and also used as domestic medicine for flatulence and diarrhoea of children. Used in torpidity of liver, neuralgia, convalescence after fever, piles and gonorrhoea.

Studies have shown that andrographolide and related diterpenes are hepatoprotective agents. In addition, choleretic, antidiarrhoeal, immunostimulant and anti-inflammatory activities are also attributed to these compounds. Pre-treatment with a single does of Kalmegh leaf (500 mg/kg, p.o.) or and androgrpholide (5 mg/kg, p.o.) prevented carbon tetrachloride induced increase of serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT) and glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) but decreased liver levels of these enzymes in dog. These changes were not observed by simultaneous treatment with either of the drugs. Pre-treatment of rats with Kalmegh leaf or androgropholide, however, failed to arrest carbon tetrachloride–induced change of (SGOT) and SGPT in blood serum and liver.

Total root flavonoids effective against experimental myocardial ischemic necrosis induced by isoprenaline in rats and by ligation of left descending coronary artery in rabbits; decreased infarction size, and pathological changes in ST segment and Q wave inhibited; LD50 of flavonoids in mice have been reported as 1.15 g/kg by intravenous application. Apigenin-7, 4’-di-O-methyl ether isolated from the roots of A. paniculata produced significant dose dependent antiulcer activity in Shay Rats, histamine induced ulcer in Guinea Pigs and aspirin induced ulcers in rats.

Andrographolide (5.0 mg/kg and 10.0 mg/kg) or single dose of leaf extract (0.5 g/kg and 1.0 g/kg) given orally to adult male rats produced dose-related and time-dependent characteristic activation of brush-border membrane-bound hydrolyses, lactase, maltase and sucrose in duodenum, jejunum and ileum.

Methanolic extract of A. paniculata has been found to inhibit formation of oxygen derived free radicals such as superoxide (32%) hydroxyl radicals (80%) lipid peroxidation (80%) and nitric oxide (42.8%) in in vitro system. In vivo studies using BALB/c mice models has showed significant inhibition in PMA induced superoxide (32.4%) and nitric oxide (65.3%) formation. Interestingly it has also been found that, administration of A. paniculata extract produces complete inhibition of carageenan induced inflammation compared with control models.

Total root flavonoids effective against experimental myocardial ischemic necrosis induced by isoprenaline in rats and by ligation of left descending coronary artery in rabbits; decreased infarction size, and pathological changes in ST segment and Q wave inhibited; LD50 of flavonoids in mice have been reported as 1.15 g/kg by intravenous application. Apigenin-7, 4’-di-O-methyl ether isolated from the roots of A. paniculata produced significant dose dependent antiulcer activity in Shay Rats, histamine induced ulcer in Guinea Pigs and aspirin induced ulcers in rats.

Analysis of the whole plant gave the following lactones (dry basis): andrographolide,0.6%; 14-deoxy-11-oxoandrographolide (C20 H28 O5), 0.12%;14-deoxy -11, 12-ldehydroandrographohde (C20,H30O4), 0.06%; 14- deoxyandrographolide (C200H30O4), 0.02% and a non-bitter constituent, neoandrographolide (C26 H40 O8),0.005%.

The leaves contain andrographolide (yield, 1%). From the petroleum ether extract of the leaves from Bangladesh, the following compounds have been isolated: a, b -unsaturated lactone, homo-andrographolide (C22 H32 O3). andrographosterol (C23 H38 O), andrographane (C40 H82), andrographone (C32H64 0 ), a wax, and two esters containing, hydroxyl groups.

The roots gave apigenin-7,4'-di-O-methyl ether, andrographolide and a new natural flavone, 5-hydroxy-7,8,2',3'-tetramethoxyflavone (C19 H18 07 );yield, 0.006%). They also contain a monohydroxy-trimethylflavone, andrographin (C18H1606) and a dihydroxy-di-methoxyflavone, panicolin (C17H14O6 ). The presence of a - sitosterol is also reported.

Chemical markers:  Andrographolide, a diterpene lactone is the major constituents of the drug and its minimum quantity is prescribed as 0.5-0.9% in the appropriate drug. Another non-bitter constituent, neoandrographolide is also used as a marker.

Drug consists of dried leaves and tender shoots; whole plant is grayish green in colour, yields not less than 1% of andrographolide on dry wt. basis. Normally powdered drug is used which is extremely bitter and do not have any odour. The drug normally should not contain more than 2% of foreign organic matter.

RAPD analysis to determine intraspecific variability in Andrographis paniculata, accessions collected from parts of India and south-east Asia, revealed moderate variation within the species. Similarity measurement using UPGMA followed by cluster analysis resulted in 5 major groups based on geographical distribution that generally reflected expected trends between the genotypes. There were also important exceptions like AP-48, an accession from Thailand showing close resemblance to AP-38 collected from Tamil Nadu and AP-29 from Assam significantly diverse from the rest of the native genotypes. The results indicated that RAPD could be effectively used for genetic diversity analysis in wild species of prospective value as it is reliable, rapid and superior to those based on pedigree information.

Within the prescribed limits under ISM, no toxicity is reported from Kalmegh. However, large oral doses are reported to cause gastric discomfort, vomiting and loss of appetite. Similarly anaphylactic shock has been reported by the injection of crude drug extract.

None known

None known

Dried crude drug (1.5 to 3.0 g) is generally administered for antipyretic and anti-infective activities, whereas fresh herb is used in the doses of 25 to 75 g as antidiarrhoeal. As a bitter, the dose of liquid extract is 0.5 to 1.0 ml.

2N=50