DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY
MEDICINAL PLANTS
Jatropha curcas L.
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Common Name: Pig nut, Fig nut
Vernacular Names: Bagbherenda (Hindi), Kananaeranda (Sanskrit), Kadalamanakku (Tamil), Katalavanakku (Malayalam)
Plant Description
Jatropha curcas is an ornamental, medicinal and a multipurpose shrub belonging to the Euphorbiaceace family.
Habit: Shrub or small tree
Height: Upto 6 m
Stem: Pale brown bark, papery, peeling; slash exudes a copious watery latex, soapy to tough but soon becoming brittle and brownish when dry; branches glabrous, ascending, stout.
Leaves: Alternate, palmate, petiolate, stipulate; stipules minute; blade 3-5 lobed, lobes acute or shortly acuminate at the apex, margins entire or undulating, leaf base deeply cordate, glabrous or pubescent only on the veins below, basal veins 7-9, prominent, venation reticulate.
Flowers: Unisexual; occasionally hermaphroditic flowers occur; 10 stamens arranged in 2 distinct whorls of 5 each in a single column in the androecium and in close proximity to each other. In the gynaecium, the 3 slender styles are connate to about 2/3 of their length, dilating to a massive bifurcate stigma. Female flowers with sepals up to 18 mm long, persistent; ovary 3-locular, ellipsoid, style bifid.
Fruit: Ellipsoid capsule, 2-3 cm in diameter, yellow, turning black.
Seeds: black, 2 per cell, ellipsoid, triangular-convex.
Uses
• Biodiesel: The plant can be used to produce biodiesel.
• Medicine: The plant has been used to treat a variety of ailments, including skin, cancer, digestive, respiratory, and infectious diseases. Some of its medicinal uses include:
o Antibacterial: The plant has antibacterial activity against organisms like Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
o Anti-inflammatory: The plant has anti-inflammatory properties.
o Anti-cancer: The plant’s latex contains an alkaloid called jatrophine, which is believed to have anti-cancer properties.
o Anti-malarial: The leaves of the plant contain apigenin, vitexin, and isovitexin, which can help with malaria, rheumatic, and muscular pains.
o Snake venom antidote: The roots of the plant contain an antidote against snake venom.
o Gum bleeding: The root extract of the plant can help check bleeding from gums.
o Pesticides: The plant has pesticidal and fungicidal properties, so pesticides aren’t necessary.
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