Rubia cordifolia L.

DeFilipps, Robert A. & Krupnick, Gary A., 2018, The medicinal plants of Myanmar, PhytoKeys 102, pp. 1-341 : 150

Rubia cordifolia L.

Names.

English: Indian madder, munjeet.

Range.

Southern Europe to Africa and Asia. In Myanmar, found in Chin, Magway, Mandalay, and Shan.

Use.

Root: Used as tonic.

Notes.

The medicinal uses of this species in India are listed in Jain and DeFilipps (1991) as follows: The leaf and stem are used in a decoction as a vermifuge; the leaf is used on ulcers; the root as an astringent, for urinary trouble, for inflammation, and for sting of poisonous insects; the root and rootstock are employed as a tonic, antidysenteric, antiseptic, and deobstruent. Medicinal uses of this species in China are discussed in Duke and Ayensu (1985). Here the root is used an anodyne, diuretic, emrhea; for arthritis, dysmenorrhea, edema, epistaxis, fractures, hematuria, rhea, hemoptysis, hemorrhoids, hemorrhage, jaundice, menorrhagia, rheumatism, and traumatic injuries; also a diuretic for bladder and kidney ailments and stones.

Duke and Ayensu (1985) also extensively discuss the chemical composition of this species. They note that the root is bacteriostatic against Staphylococcus aureus .

Reference.

Nordal (1963).