Ashwagandha—An ancient Indian drug

Micromorphology, histochemistry and ultrastructure of the foliar trichomes of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (Solanaceae)

“…It is commonly known as Indian ginseng or Ashwagandha and belongs to the family Solanaceae. The leaves and roots of this plant are used in traditional medicine as both external applications and tonics (Atal and Schwarting 1961;Senthil et al 2009;Chatterjee et al 2010;Singh et al 2010). Concoctions of W. somnifera act upon the nervous and reproductive systems, having rejuvenative effects on the whole body (Chatterjee et al 2010;Ram et al 2012).…”

“…Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal is an evergreen, perennial shrub found in the drier parts of South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Congo, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and Afghanistan (Atal and Schwarting 1961;Khan et al 2006;Singh et al 2010;Kumar and Kumar 2011). It is commonly known as Indian ginseng or Ashwagandha and belongs to the family Solanaceae.…”

Ashwagandha

“…The cultivated plants have sizeable differences from the wild forms not only in their morphological characteristics but also in their therapeutic action, although the alkaloids present are the same in both (Kaul, 1957;Atal and Schwarting, 1961;Schonbeck-Temesy, 1972; The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India, 1990a,b,c;Hepper, 1991;Mozaffarian, 2003). somnifera, commonly known as Ashwagandha, is an important medicinal plant that has been used in Ayurvedic and indigenous medicine for more than 3,000 years.…”

A Phytochemical Investigation of Rauwolfia decurva Hook.**Creighton University, School of Pharmacy, Omaha 2, Nebr.

“…URING the past thirty years a large number of Japanese botanists have been working on growth substances which were first shown to be produced by a rice disease fungus, Gibberella Fujikuroi (1). Harvesting was done at approximately weekly intervals.…”