Mucuna Pruriens Essay

Mucuna pruriens is an herbaceous twinning plant found throughout India. It belongs to the Fabaceae family. All parts of the plant have been used for therapeutic purpose. The plant is mainly found in South East Asian countries like India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. Apart from Asia, it is also found in certain parts of America and Africa (Fung et al, 2011). In India it is grown throughout the entire length of the tropical plains (Muralia et al, 2003).

The plant has got various common names in different languages. It is commonly called the cowitch, velvet bean, buffalo bean. In Tamil it is called as Punaikkali, Poonaikkate (Quality standards of Indian Medicinal plants, 2003). It is usually cultivated in any soil type but more favourable

In India it is predominately found in Southern regions of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It is native to areas in southern China and Central and South America. It is widespread over most of the subcontinent and can be found in bushes, hedges and dry-deciduous. Thus it found in tropical and subtropical regions. It prefers well-drained soil, but can also grow in sandy soils and soils with great acidity range. MP prefers hot climatic conditions for its growth. Temperatures less than 5 degrees Celsius often proves to be fatal for the plant. The velvet beans are climbing vines (called lianas) that intertwine through the rain forest trees. Their flowers and pods are formed on long, rope like stems that hang from the forest canopy. In less tropical environments, such as the United States, the velvet bean grows alongside other farming crops in

The plant also produces clusters of pods which contain seeds known as Mucuna beans. The seed pods are covered with reddish-orange hairs that are readily dislodged and can cause intense irritation to the skin. The species name "pruriens" (from the Latin, "itching sensation") refers to the results to be had from contact with the seed pod hairs. Leaves are trifoliate, grey-silky beneath; petioles are long and silky, 6.3/1.3 cm. Leaflets are membranous, terminal leaflets are smaller, lateral very unequal sided. Dark purple flowers (6 to 30) occur in drooping racemes. Fruits are curved, seeded. The longitudinally ribbed pod, is densely covered with persistent pale-brown or grey trichrome that cause irritating blisters. Seeds are black ovoid and 12 mm long (Sastry et al, 1990; Agharkar, 1991 and Verma et al, 1993). The pods of the Mucuna have hair-like needles covering the outside. These hairs contain mucunian and serotonin and can cause itching, blisters, and dermatitis. The hairs have been used in itching powder and mixed with honey to be used as