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| Latin Names |
English Name |
Sanskrit Names |
Dolichos biflorus Linn.
(Fabaceae)
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Horsegram, cowpea, catjang cowpea |
Kulattha |
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| History |
Archaeological investigations have revealed the use of horsegram as food around 2000 BCE. Kulattha is also mentioned in the Bhrdranayaka, Yajurveda, and Buddhist, Jain, and Sangam literature and Kautilya's Arthasastra. Kulattha is drought resistant, and a good horse and cattle fodder. It was useful in calculus affections, hiccups, and worms.
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| Habitat |
It is native of India and distributed throughout the tropical regions. In India it is found up to 1500 MSL. It is one of he pulse crop in many parts of Southern India and also in Himachal Pradesh. Several varieties with different colored seed coats are found as cultivars.
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| Pharmacology |
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In experimental studies the seeds of Dolichos biflorus have shown to be effective in preventing the deposition of stone material in the urinary bladder of rats.(P Kumar, PS Deshpande, CM Singh. Studies on urolithiatic actions of indigenous drugs. Bull. Med. Ethnobot. Res. 2: 277-284; 1981) The extracts of the seeds has shown inhibiting the formation of phosphate precipitate and has shown better potential in preventing the formation of the calcium precipitate. (TS Garimella, CI Jolly, S Narayanan. In vitro studies on antilithiatic activity of seeds of Dolichos biflorus Linn. and Rhizomes of Berginia ligulata Wall. Phytotherapy Res. 15: 315-355, 2001.) It has also been reported to lower lipids in rats and high fat diet (HFD)-induced oxidative stress in rabbits. Restoration of the activities of SOD and CAT to near normal, observed in tissues of rabbits supplemented with D. biflorus may be due to the removal of toxic intermediates by the plant extract in HFD-fed rabbits. D. biflorus manifests a protective action against HFD-induced oxidative stress in different tissues in rabbits.
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| Therapeutic Uses |
The seeds have shown to be effective in dissolving kidney stones in human patients. (LM Singh, P Kumar. Management of urolithiasis by an indigenous drug (Kulatha). J. Res. Indian Med. 8(3), 1-6, 1973.)
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| Product
Range |
Cystone syrup.
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