Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Thirunethranathar Temple, Thirupalli Mukkudal, Thiruvarur Thirunethranathar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located at Thirupalli Mukkudal in Thiruvarur District of Tamilnadu. The historical name of the place is Kekkarai. Presiding Deity is called as Thirunethranathar / Mukkona Nathar. His consort, Parvati, is known as Mayilmevum Kanni / Anjakshi. Sthala Vriksham is Vilwa. Theertham is Shodasa (Mukkudal) Theertham. It is one of the shrines of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams - Shiva Sthalams glorified in the early medieval Thevaram poems by Tamil Saivite Nayanar Thirunavukkarasar. This is the 203rd Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam and 86th Sthalam on the south side of river Cauvery in Chozha Nadu. Legends Sri Rama performed Tharpan for his father Dasaratha here: This is one of the places where Lord Sri Rama performed Tharpan for his father Dasaratha. Performing Tharpan in this tank is considered equal to performing Shrardha for ancestors in Gaya. Hence, the place is name...

Alkaloids, the “bitter compounds” of many medicinal plants Alkaloids are “bitter” to many plant lovers, including a number of Botanists. But almost all of us encounter them at least once in a day. We use coffee, cocoa, black pepper, vasaa (Ardusi), Amruta , tobacco, betelnut , pomegranate, etc in our daily life. Among medicines quinine for malaria, reserpine for blood pressure, codeine as pain reliever, ephedrine for fever etc are familiar to most of us. Alkaloids are basic (alkali-like, thus the name), plant products having a heterocyclic nitrogen (nitrogen in a ring) and marked pharmacological activity. There are more than 12,000 Alkaloids in plant world, and this group was considered the largest group of Secondary metabolites. They are almost unheard in lower plants (except for ergot and Amanita ), rare in Gymnosperms (present only in Taxaceae and Gnetaceae) and seen mostly in Angiosperms. But only about 15% of Angiosperm families contain them. The alkaloid...

Neem (Azadirachta indica), medicinal, biopesticidal and dyeing properties.                 Neem is a versatile plant showing a large number of medicinal, biopesticidal and dyeing properties.           All the parts of the plant contain diterpenoids like margolone and large number of limonoid bitter principles. The stem bark yields nimbin, nimbidin, -sitosterol, tannins (12%) and a gum. Root bark also contains nimbin and nimbidin. Leaves contain nimbin, nimbinene, 6-desacetylnimbinene, nimbandiol, nimbolide, quercetin and -sitosterol. The fruits are found to contain gedunin, azadirachtin, 7-deacetoxy-7-hydroxy gedunin, azadiradione, azadiradone, 17--hydroxy azadiradione, 17-epi azadiradione and nimbiol. Seeds yield oil and a number of bitter principles both in oil and outside. The oil consists of oleic (56%), palmitic (16%), stearic (14%) and linoleic (9%) acids and 0.8% unsaponifiable matter c...

Triterpenoid containing medicinal plants: Part-1 of Terpenoids   (Photos. Ecdysterone, Grain Amaranth, Amaranth plant, Bitter gourd) Terpenoid containing medicinal plants run into dozens of thousands. Volatile oils, Iridoids, Sesquiterpenoid bitter principles, resins containing di- and triterpenoids, Steroids & Saponins and Carotenoids fall into this group. All terpenoids are made up of C5 isopentane- isoprene units and thus are known as Isoprenoids or isopentanoids and formed by mevalonic acid pathway. If 2 isopentane units combine, they form one C10 monoterpene (very volatile, volatile oils), 3 isoprenes make C15 sesquiterpene (less volatile volatile oils), 4 isoprenes join to make a C20 diterpene (resins), 6 isoprenes form a C30 triterpene (steroids, saponins), 8 isoprenes make a C40 tetreterpenoids (carotenoids and xanthophylls) and many isoprenoids unite to form Cn –polyterpenoids (Rubber and Gutta). Here we look into a comp...

Flower colours to protect our eyes and heart. It was a boring green/yellow Earth before 140 million years ago when Flowering plants (Angiosperms) were not born. The entire world as we see today became vibrantly coloredwith red, pink, purple , majenta , violet , blue and all their shades when Angiosperms entered the world with their variously colored flowers and fruits. Anthocyanins are coloring pigments of most flowers and fruits like blueberries, raspberries, currants, grapes, Jamun, dates, red to purplish blue-colored leafy vegetables, grains, roots, and tubers . Anthocyanins are C15 (C6-C3-C6) polyphenols structurally related to flavonols, consisting of a skeleton in which two benzene (aromatic) rings connected by a propane unit. They occur as glycosides (glycones) dissolved in cell sap. Anthocyanidins are their aglycones (non-sugar part). With acids they become red and with alkalies, blue. The various shades of colors mentioned i...