Amalpori അമൽപൊരി
Genus: Rauvolfia
Botanical Name: Rauvolfia serpentina Benth ex.Kurz
Sanskrit Name : Sarpgandha
PLANT NAME IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
English : Indian snake root,Serpentine root.
Malayalam: Amalpori, Chuvanna amalpori, Sarpgandhi
Hindi Name : Sarpgandha
MEDICINAL PROPERTIES
Indian snake root is used in the preparation of medicinal pills, decoction and medicated ghee. It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it has the name shégēn mù. contains a number of bioactive chemicals, including yohimbine, reserpine, ajmaline, deserpidine, rescinnamine, serpentinine.
The extract of the plant has also been used for millennia in India — Alexander the Great administered this plant to cure his general Ptolemy I Soter of a poisoned arrow. It was reported that Mahatma Gandhi took it as a tranquilizer during his lifetime. A compound which it contains called reserpine, is used to treat high blood pressure and mental disorders including schizophrenia, and was particularly popular for that purpose in the West from 1954 to 1957.
It has been used for millennia to treat insect stings and the bites of venomous reptiles