KOZUPPA (Whole Plant)
Kozuppa consists of dried whole plant of Portulaca oleracea Linn. (Fam. Portulacacem); an annual succulent, prostrate herb, 50 cm long, found throughout the country, ascending upto an altitude of 1500 m in the Himalayas.
SYNONYMS
Sanskrit : Lonika, Loni, Ghotika.
Assamese : —
Bengali : Baraloniya, Badanuni, Baranunia
English : Garden Purslane, Common Indian Purslane
Gujrati : Luni, Loni, Moti Luni
Hindi : Khursa, Kulfa, Badi Lona
Kannada : Dudagorai, Doddagoni Soppu, Lonika, Loni
Kashmiri : —
Malayalam : Koricchira, Kozhuppa, Kozuppa, Kozuppaccira
Marathi : Kurfah, Ghola
Oriya : —
Punjabi : Lonak, Chhotalunia, Khurfa, Kwfa
Tamil : Pasalai, Pulikkirai, Paruppukkeerai, Kozhuppu
Telugu : Pappukura, Peddapavila Kura, Payilikura, Pavilikura
Urdu : Khurfa
DESCRIPTION
a) Macroscopic
Root – Cylindrical, small, oblique, surface smooth, brownish-grey; secondary roots, less in number, root hairs abundant in upper region, fracture, short.
Stem – Almost cylindrical, swollen at the nodes, ribbed, branched, 0.1 to 0.2 cm in diameter, fracture, short; odour, characteristic.
Leaf – Simple, sub-sessile, cuneiform, rounded and truncate at the apex; 0.3 to 2.5 cm long and 0.1 to 0.6 cm wide, oblong, spathulate, smooth and greenish-brown.
Flower – A few, bright yellow, at terminal heads, sometimes in axillary clusters of 2-6, subtended by an involucre, 3-4 leaves; sepal 0.25-0.4 cm long; petals obovate, 0.5 cm long, very delicate and soon falling off; stamens 8-12; style 5-6 fid, 0.35-0.4 cm long.
Fruit – An ovoid capsule, 0.3 cm long, dehiscing above the base.
Seed -Numerous, reniform, black, minute, 0.06-0.07 cm across, dark brown.
b) Microscopic
Root – Shows 5-15 layers of cork, inner half filled with reddish-brown contents; secondary cortex composed of thin-walled, oval cells, having intercellular spaces; pericycle fibre present in patches; secondary phloem consists of sieve tubes and parenchymatous cells; secondary xylem composed of vessels, tracheids and parenchyma; vessels, solitary or in groups of 2-5, arranged in radial rows, having simple pits and spiral thickening; tracheids, thick-walled with wide lumen; parenchyma abundant; simple as well as compound starch grains measuring 6-14 n in dia., having 2-3 components present in secondary cortex, phloem, xylem parenchyma and ray cells.
Stem – Wavy in outline, shows 5-10 layers of thin walled cork, with reddish-brown content in a few cells; secondary cortex consists of 2-3 layers of collenchymatous and 3-4 layers of parenchymatous cells with intercellular spaces; pericycle present as patches of pericyclic fibres; secondary phloem mostly composed of sieve tubes and parenchyma cells; secondary xylem consists of vessels, tracheids and parenchyma; vassels having simple pits and spiral thickening; tracheids thick-walled with wide lumen; parenchyma abundant and thick-walled; rosette crystals of calcium oxalate and starch grains present in secodnary cortex, phloem and xylem parenchyma, ray cells and pith.
Leaf Midrib – shows a collateral vascular bundle surrounded by a sheath of palisade cells; rest of the tissues between vascular bundle and epidermal cells composed of thin walled, oval, parenchymatous cells; stomata paracytic type; rosette crystals of calcium oxalate and starch grains simple, as well as compound, measuring 6-14 n , present in mesophyll cells.
Lamina – shows a single layered upper and lower epidermis, covered externally with a thick cuticle; paracytic stomata present on both surfaces; palisade single layered; spongy parenchyma cells more or less isodiametric and loosely arranged.
Powder – Greyish-brown; shows groups of oval to polygonal, thin-walled, parenchymatous cells, pitted and spiral vessels, fragments of cork cells, rosette crystals of calcium oxalate and starch grains, simple as well as compound, measuring 6-14 n in dia. having 2-3 components.
IDENTITY, PURITY AND STRENGTH
Foreign matter Not more than 5 per cent, Appendix 2.2.2.
Total Ash Not more than 30 per cent, Appendix 2.2.3.
Acid-insoluble ash Not more than 5 per cent, Appendix 2.2.4.
Alcohol-soluble extractive Not less than 3 per cent, Appendix 2.2.6.
Water-soluble extractive Not less than 19 per cent, Appendix 2.2.7.
T.L.C.
T.L.C. of alcoholic extract of the drug on Silica Gel ‘G’ plate using Toluene :
Ethylacetate (9:1) shows six spots at Rf. 0.08, 0.10, (both green), 0.41, 0.52 (both faint green), 0.68 (yellow) and 0.76 (green) in visible light. Under U.V. (366 nm) six fluorescent zones are visible at Rf. 0.08, 0.10, 0.41, 0.52, 0.68 and 0.76 (all pinkish red). On exposure to Iodine vapour six spots appear at Rf. 0.10, 0.50, 0.61, 0.68, 0.76 and 0.98 (all yellow)
CONSTITUENTS – Protein, Carbohydrates, Vitamin C and Mucilage
PROPERTIES AND ACTION
Rasa : Amla
Guna : Guru, Ruksa, Sara
Virya : Usna
Vipaka : Amla
Karma : Kaphahara, Pittakara, Vatahara, Caksusya, Vanidosahara
IMPORTANT FORMULATIONS – Marma Gutika.
THERAPEUTIC USES – Agnimandya., Sotha, Arsa, Gulma, Prameha, Vrana
DOSE – 3 – 6 g. of the drug in powder form.
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