Karushkara Lata (Strychnos Colubrine L.) – A Snakewood Plant.

Abstract

Karushkara Lata (Strychnos colubrine L.) commonly called as Snakewood Plant is wildly distributed throughout Western ghats of India. It is an important medicinal plant of genus Strychnos. There are traditional claims for usefulness of the plant as an antidote to snakebite, as a febrifuge, anthelmintic, in cutaneous infection and to check diarrhea. The major chemical constituent includes strychnine and brucine but very few researches have been conducted so far regarding its pharmacological activities. In Ayurveda system of medicine, the plant is mentioned a bitter tonic having krimighna, jwaraghna and twakadoshahara action. So the present review aims to explore the significance of this plant giving a scope for further scientific research.