Caryota urens L.
Traditional Knowledge
Useful plant parts :
Root, flower, bark and pith
Uses in traditional medicine :
- Brushes made by roots are used for tooth ailments
- Flower sap before fermentation is used for gastric ulcers and as a tonic
- Bark and tender flowers improve hair growth
- Jaggery from plant sap and ‘Thalapa’ made out of pith powder possess antidiabetic properties
- Porridge made by pith is given for snake bites
Scientific Research
Chemical constituents:
Alkaloids, Flavonoids, Tanins, lignins, glycosides, serpentines, terpenoids, saponins and phenols from flower
Bioactivity :
Treacle: moderate antioxidant activity, potential to be used as health promoting natural sweetener showing beneficial effects on serum lipid profile over white sugar (sucrose) as a sweetener
Clinical:
Note :
“Toddy” prepared by fermentation of plant sap is used as an alcoholic beverage
References : Charles, A. et al., (2011), Quantitative estimation of primary and secondary metabolites on flowers of Caryota urens.L., International Journal of Applied Biology and Pharmaceutical Technology, 2(3), 431-435. Ranasinghe, P. et al., (2010), Antioxidant activity of Caryota urens L. (Kithul palm) treacle, Annual Research Proceedings, University of Colombo Ranasinghe, P. et al., (2011), Effect of Caryota urens L. (Kithul) treacle on serum lipid parameters of normal rats, Annual Research Proceedings, University of Colombo
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