MURVA (Root)
Murva consists of dried root of Marsdenia tenacissima Wight. & Am. (Fam. Asclepiadacem); a large stout, twining shrub, growing throughout the country
SYNONYMS
Sanskrit : Madhusrava, Madhurasa
Assamese : Murha
Bengali : —
English : —
Gujrati : Moravel
Hindi : Murva, Jartor
Kannada : Koratige Hambu, Kallu Shambu, Koratige, Halukaratige, Kadaluhaleballi
Kashmiri : —
Malayalam : Perumkurumba
Marathi : Morvel
Oriya : Murva, Murga
Punjabi : —
Tamil : Perunkurinjan
Telugu : Chagaveru
Urdu : Turbud Safed
DESCRIPTION
a) Macroscopic
Root cylindrical, available in cut pieces of varying length and 0.5-3 cm thick, externally yellow to buff coloured with dark brown patches on the cork; prominent longitudinal ridges and furrows and transverse cracks present; bark easily separable from wood; fracture, short and granular in bark region and fibrous in wood; taste, slightly bitter; odour, indistinct.
b) Microscopic
Root – Shows a cork, composed of 15-25 layers of thin-walled, tangentially elongated, rectangular cells, some filled with reddish-brown contents; secondary cortex composed of an outer region of broken ring of stone cells of varying thickness, followed by wide zone of oval to polygonal parenchymatous cells; stone cells yellow in colour of variable shapes and size; secondary phloem composed of mostly parenchyma with small patches of sieve elements and small strands of stone cells, similar to those present in secondary cortex; resin cells present irregularly in this region; phloem fibres absent; phloem rays 1 – 3 cells wide; secondary xylem segmented and shows a wedge-shaped structure, consisting of small tangential, concentric bands of unlignified masses of parenchymatous tissue, separated by similar concentric band of lignified tissue, composed of vessels,tracheids, fibres, fibre tracheids and xylem parenchyma; in isolated preparation xylem vessels cylindrical with transverse articulations, vary in shape and size with borderd pits; fibres much elongated with mostly tapering ends and pitted walls; thick-walled and lignified parenchyma possess simple and bordered pits and scalariform thickening; xylem rays not distinctly marked where adjoining parenchyma is delignified; rosette and a few prismatic crystals of calcium oxalate and abundant starch grains, present in parenchymatous tissues; starch grains simple, elliptical to spherical with central hilum, 5.5-22 n dia., compound starch grains having 2-3 or rarely upto 6 components.
Powder – Light brown; shows a number of stone cells, fibres, tracheids, fibretracheids, vessels with pitted walls, fragments of cork, rosette and prismatic crystals of calcium oxalate, simple and compound starch grains, measuring 5.5 – 22 n in diameter.
IDENTITY, PURITY AND STRENGTH
Foreign matter Not more than 2 per cent, Appendix 2.2.2.
Total Ash Not more than 5 per cent, Appendix 2.2.3.
Acid-insoluble ash Not more than 0.5 per cent, Appendix 2.2.4.
Alcohol-soluble extractive Not less than 7 per cent, Appendix 2.2.6.
Water-soluble extractive Not less than 14 per cent, Appendix 2.2.7.
CONSTITUENTS – Resin
PROPERTIES AND ACTION
Rasa : Madhura, Tikta
Guna : Guru, Sara
Virya : Usna
Vipaka : Madhura
Karma : Kaphahara, Pittahara, Vatahara, Visaghna
IMPORTANT FORMULATIONS – Aragvadhadi Kvatha Curna, Patoladi Kvatha Curna, Prameha Mihira Taila, Sudarsana Curna.
THERAPEUTIC USES – Arsa, Hrdroga, Jvara, Krmiroga, Kandu, Medoroga, Meha, Raktapitta, Mukha Sosa, Trsna.
DOSE – 2-6 g. of the drug in powder form.
10-20 g. of the drug for decoction.
Latest Govt Job & Exam Updates: