Punarnava

Botanical name : Boerhavia diffusa L. (Nyctaginaceae)
Habit:      Herb
Sanskrit Name:   Punarnava, Varshabhu, Madalachada, Vishakha
Vernacular Names: spreading hog-weed (English), Gadapurna, Lalpunarnava (Hindi), Punarnava, Komme (Kannada), Tashzutama (Malayalam), Mukurattai, Vatta Saattaranai, Saaranathi (Tamil), Atikamamidi, Erra galijeru (Telugu)
Part used: Roots, whole plant

• Taste (Rasa): Bitter (Tikta)
• Property (Guna): Dry (Ruksha)
• Potency (Veerya): Hot (Ushna)
• Post digestive effect (Vipaka):Pungent (Katu)
• Actions (Karma): Alleviates vitiated Vata and Kapha doshas (Vata-Kapha hara)

Significant rejuvenative actions (Rasayana Karmas):
Inflammatory swelling (sotha), anaemia (Pandu roga), cardiac disorders (Hrdaya roga), cough (Kasa), injury to the chest (Uraksata) and pain (Sula)

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
Punarnavoside (antifibrinolytic glycoside), boeravinones A-E, lignans, flavones, sterols, boeravine and hypoxanthine-9-L-arabinofuranosie

PROMOTIVE AND CURATIVE RECIPES

1) Rejuvenation (Rasayana):
Paste of fresh punarnava: Mix 15 g of Punarnava paste with milk and drink once daily for 1-2 months for better health. (Astanga Hrdaya, Uttara Tantra, 39/155)

2) Deficient digestion power (Agnimandya) and piles (Arsha):
Punarnava Kasaya (decoction): Consume 50 ml of Punarnava decoction twice daily after meals for minimum of 30 days. It corrects digestion and cures piles and ano rectal diseases (Astanga Sangraha, Chikitsa Sthana, 10/13)

3) Painful inflammatory swellings (Shwayathu):
Paste of fresh Punarnava for external application: Prepare a fine paste of Punarnava, Shunti (Zingiber officinalis) and Musta (Cyperus rotundus). Apply a thick layer of this paste on inflammatory swellings, 2-3 times a day for 3-4 days (Caraka Samhitha, Chikitsa Stana, 12/23)

• Aqueous and acetone extracts of roots of Boerhavia diffusa showed significant anti-inflammatory activity on carrageenin induced oedema and formaldehyde induced arthritis in albino rats (Bhalla et al., 1971)

4) Panduroga (anemia):
Juice of Punarnava: Consume around 10 ml of Punarnava plant juice twice daily for 30-60 days to get relief from general anemia (Bhavaprakasha Samhitha Madhyama Khanda)

• The hematinic effect of Punarnava is reported through a clinical study (Apparao et al. , 1967)

IMPORTANT FORMULATIONS OF PUNARNAVA
Punarnava Mandura, Punarnavadi Kashaya, Punarnavasava

PUBMED LINKS

anti oxidant and hepatoprotective
antiproliferative and antiestrogenic
Immunomodulatory
Anti-metastatic
Radio protective