Calotropis gigantea (L.) Dryand. (= Calotropis gigantea (L.) R.Br. ex Schult.)

DeFilipps, Robert A. & Krupnick, Gary A., 2018, The medicinal plants of Myanmar, PhytoKeys 102, pp. 1-341 : 11

Calotropis gigantea (L.) Dryand. (= Calotropis gigantea (L.) R.Br. ex Schult.)

Names.

Myanmar: mayo. English: crown flower.

Range.

Tropical Asia, including Myanmar.

Uses.

Sap: Used in treating leprosy and as a purgative. Bark: Used as an anthelmintic. Bark and Latex: Used to treat skin diseases and as a vermifuge. Flower: Used as an antiasthmatic. Root: Root bark has been substituted for ipecac, especially to treat dysentery; also used in treating skin disease.

Notes.

Medicinal uses of this species in India are discussed in Jain and DeFilipps (1991). In China, the bark of the species is used as a medicine for the treatment of neurodermatitis and syphilis, and the leaves are employed as a poultice ( Li et al. 1995).

The latex contains caoutchouc, resins, water soluble matter, and a residue. It yields digitalis-like principles (uscharin, calotropin, and calotoxin), and a nitrogen and sulphur-containg compound, gigantin, which depresses the heart. Calcium oxalate, traces of glutathione, and a proteolytic enzyme similar to papain have also been found ( Perry 1980).

References.

Nordal (1963), Perry (1980).