Sahadevi – Vernonia cinerea is a herb mentioned in the ayurvedic pharmacopoeia for the treatment of fever, localized swelling, wounds, renal calculi, skin diseases and elephantiasis. It is called Purple feabane in English.
Latin Name- Vernonia cinerealess.
Family- Compositae
CLASSICAL CATEGORIZATION
Bhavaprakasha- Guduchyadi varga
Raja Nighantu- Shatahvadi varga
Shodala Nighantu- Lakshmanadi varga
SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION
Kingdom – Plantae
Order – Asterales
Family – Asteraceae
Tribe – Vernonieae
Genus – Vernonia
Morphology – Sahadevi is a small shrub growing found all over India in the temperate climate, growing to a height of 0.5 feet to 3 feet. The leaves are having hairy surface beneath and the flowers are purple or pink colored blooming in the rainy season.
PROPERTIES
Rasa (Taste) – Tikta (Bitter)
Guna (Qualities) – Laghu (Light for digestion), Ruksha (Dry in nature)
Vipaka – Katu (Undergoes Pungent taste after digestion)
Veerya (Potency) – Ushna (Hot)
Karma (Actions) – Kaphavata shamaka (reduces vitiated kapha and vata dosha)
Part Used – Root
Types – Shweta (White), Neela (Blue) – As per Raja Nighantu
DOSES
Fresh juice- 10 to 20 ml
Decoction of root- 50 to 75 ml
USES
- The paste of the leaves and stem is prepared and applied over the wounds and localized swelling as treatment.
- The decoction prepared from the root and stem of Vernonia cineria is administered in a dose of 40-50 ml to treat cases of renal calculi and burning micturition.
- The cold infusion prepared from the root and stem of Sahadevi is given in a dose of 50-60 ml to treat fever caused due to indigestion.
- In cases of insomnia, the paste prepared from the root of Sahadevi is applied over the scalp region as part of treatment.
- The decoction or cold infusion made from the root and leaves of Sahadevi is given in a dose of 50 ml to treat skin diseases and as blood purifier.
- The decoction of root in a dose of 30-40 ml is administered to treat intestinal worms.
- The cold infusion prepared from the leaves and root of Sahadevi is given in a dose of 50-60 ml to treat constipation.
- Usage of Sahadevi in fever – Charaka has mentioned that Root of this herb is tied to head to reduce fever. There should be some truth in this. The root is known to accumulate nickel, zinc, copper and manganese in it.
- Indicated in –
- Asrapitta – Bleeding disorders such as nasal bleeding, heavy periods, etc
- Shukrakara – Shukrala – improves sperm and semen quantity and quality
- Kshata – injury, bleeding
- Vishamajwara – Intermittent fever
- Sidhma Kushta – skin disease\
LATEST RESEARCH
Cyto protective effect: The extract of Vernonia cineria is found to be effective against nicotine toxicity on human umbilical vein endothelial cells.
Anti- oxidant effect: In this study, the ethanolic extract of Vernonia cinerea plant leaves were investigated for the antioxidant and hepatoprotective effects in male Wistar strain albino rats. The effect of extract on the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione S-transferase (GST) and reduced glutathione (GSH) content were estimated in the liver of rats intoxicated with CCl4. When compared to CCl4 treated group of rats, the extract significantly (p<0.05) increased the levels of SOD, CAT, GR, GSH, and GST. The extract also showed antioxidant effects by significantly decreasing (p<0.05) on FeCl2-Ascorbate induced lipid peroxidation in rat liver homogenate.
Anti- diarrheal activity: The present study was conducted with the objective of investigating the anti- diarrheal activity of Verninia cinerea. The plant extracts were collected through cold extraction method. The time of onset of first wet feces increased significantly and dose dependently by the extract.
The aim of the present study is to investigate the ameliorative potential of ethanolic extract of whole plant of Sahadevi in the chronic constriction injury (CCI) of sciatic nerve induced neuropathic pain in rats. Ethanolic extract of Sahadevi and pregabalin were administered for 14 consecutive days starting from the day of surgery. CCI of sciatic nerve has been shown to induce significant changes in behavioral, biochemical and histo-pathological assessments when compared to the sham control group.