Journal of Agriculture and Value Addition

December 2023, Vol. 6(2): 37-57

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4038/java.v6i2.80

Myristica fragrans, Coriandrum sativum, Coscinium fenestratum, and bee honey

important in Ayurvedic medicine: a review

M.G.W.K Weerasinghe a and N. Dahanayaka b*

a
Department of Agricultural Plantation Engineering, Open University of Sri Lanka, Nawala,
Nugegoda 10250, Sri Lanka.
b
Department of Agricultural Biology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna,
Kamburupitiya 81100, Sri Lanka.
________________________________________________________________
Submitted: March 12, 2023; Revised: May 20, 2023; Accepted: May 30, 2023
*Correspondence: [email protected] , ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5222-9243

ABSTRACT
Covid-19 is a worldwide pandemic disaster that has been steadily rising mortality rates and reported
cases. Until today, scientists have struggled to find a therapy that is successful to control Covid-19.
It has been a tough undertaking due to the mutagenic character of the viral agent. In this situation,
it is necessary to concentrate on alternative methods to boost the immunity. One of the world's oldest
medical systems, Ayurvedic medicine, dates back thousands of years. Myristica fragrans,
Coriandrum sativum, Coscinium fenestratum and bee honey are four main ingredients that
frequently utilized in Ayurvedic heeling system, especially for immunity boosting purposes. This
review emphasises the medicinal properties of the mentioned ingredients in the Ayurvedic medicinal
system. The goal of this review is to encourage conservation by enhancing utilization.
Keywords: Covid-19, Essential oil, Medicinal plant, Traditional medicine system, Bioactive
compound
___________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION

The Sri Lankan Ayurvedic medicine system reaches back 3,000 years or more with
proof evidences. As a tropical country with diverse biodiversity, Sri Lanka is a
home to many plants and herbs enriched with medicinal values. During the past
few decades, Sri Lankan Ayurvedic medicine, gain an impressive level of
acceptance over the world with the concept of green synthesized medicines.

Ayurveda 'Helavedakama' is a broad phrase that refers to a variety of herbs,

formulations, and treatments used to boost the body resistance against infections.
It has the ability to improve the strength, energy, memory, intellect, youthfulness
and the maintenance of optimum strength of the body and senses. Bioactive
compounds of herbal and aromatic plants have potential to deliver a variety of
health benefits, such as empower the immunity, neurodegenerative disorders,
antioxidant activities, rejuvenators and thus, act as nutritional supplements. The
boost of immunity occurs in two main methods firstly, by improving the body
resisting capacity to limit the strength or progression of a disease, and secondly

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by using the body’s resistance capacity to avoid illness appearances. Traditional

medicine systems provide comprehensive ways to approaches and maintain the
healthy lifestyle. The ancient medicinal recipes pass from generation to
generation either orally or through printed documents which were written in the
native languages. Past Sri Lankan society was based on natural remedies from
aromatic and medicinal plants and plant appendages, such as flowers, leaves,
fruits, seeds, stems, roots, rhizomes or bulbs etc. Currently, 60-70% of the rural
population in Sri Lanka uses Ayurvedic medicines in treatment and prevention of
many illnesses (Zoysa et al., 2017). In addition to their health impact, many of
these herbal plants are utilized in culinary and aesthetic purposes such as
cosmetic productions. Medicines with natural origin are generally preferred as
they are less harmful on non-target organisms, ecologically safe, easy to modify,
relatively affordable, and have less side effects on both human and the
environment. In addition, the plant extracts possess much interest due to their
natural bioactive agents that demonstrate wide range of inflammations.

There is evidence in the literature that Ayuruvedic medicine give relief for several
pandemic illnesses like Covid-19. Many of their properties have potential to
create a suitable background for disease prevention and boost the human
immunity strength. These herbal plants were also identified as providing
protection to the body against harmful microorganisms based on available
scientific data. Various laboratory-based clinical investigations have been
conducted to investigate the scientific basis of the aforementioned herbs.

With the onset of Covid-19 global crises, improvement in scientific studies on

aromatic and herbal plant with immune enhancing properties was observed
(Srivastava et al., 2020). In Sri Lankan context, Ayuruvedic medicines has paid
attention to a variety of herbs with bioactive compounds that possess immune
stimulatory, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antidiabetic, mutagenic,
antimutagenic, anticancer properties. Considering different bioactive compounds
and their properties there is a scientific logic behind selection of different herbal
plants in preparation of immunity enhancing beverage. With the outbreak of
Covid-19 the entire society tends to search for natural immunity enhancing
methods, due to lack of potential antivirus treatments. With the scientific
estimation on 6th July 2020, there will be around 15.78 million confirmed cases
and 0.64 million deaths worldwide due to Covid-19 pandemic (Srivastava et al.,
2020). Mortality rate of the people enhanced with the poor immunity, especially
for the children and people with pre-existing health problems like diabetes,
cancer, respiratory disorders etc, or elderly patients (Srivastava et al., 2020).

According to the concept of ‘Prevention is better than cure’, people found

potential natural sources to fight against these invasive agents. With this context,
Myristica fragrans Houtt (Mace), Coriandrum sativum (Koththamalli), Coscinium
fenestratum (Venivelgeta) and Bee honey have become popular herbal plants used
to preparation of Auyruvedic beverages in Sri Lanka. There is a strong social

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belief that combination of these herbal plant compounds has a possibility of

enhancing the immunity strength of human. However, even though the
traditional medicine existed in Sri Lanka has been replaced by western medicines
recently, still there is a good demand for traditional Ayurvedic medicine. Thus,
the ancient medicinal systems cannot be ignored. During the Covid-19 pandemic,
Sri Lankans utilized Myristica fragrans, Coriandrum sativum, Coscinium fenestratum,
and bee honey to boost immunity. The overall goal of article is to inform readers
about the morphology, chemistry, and uses of the above-mentioned materials.
Morphological and pharmacological identification will be useful to increase their
utilization, conservation, and the industrial applications. Thus, this review will
help both researchers and industry personal to identify the potential medicinal
plants and their medicinal importance to use them in different applications to
meet their interest.

Bee Honey

Bee honey is a kind of natural diet produced by bees using different plant-based
sugar sources. Bee honey is being considered as one of the main ingredients in
the Ayuruvedic treatments throughout the world. Many of the researchers reported
that varieties of honey with darker appearance are having higher antioxidant
property (Kesić et al., 2009). Based on different floral sources, such as sun flower,
roses etc., constitution of the honey will differ from each other in its flavour,
colour and odour. It is a nutritious food containing various bioactive compounds
that differ according to the sources of floral organ (Kesić et al., 2009). Because of
these compounds, other than wound healing properties (burning wound, surgical
wound), bee honey possesses immunity enhancing and hormone regulation
ability. Moreover, bee honey contains number of vitamin supplements such as
vitamin A, E, K, B1 B2, B6, and C, that can reduce the damages of the free
radicals (Kesić et al., 2009). Honey shows broad spectrum of antibacterial
properties that affects wound healing by enhancing the tissue growth and
reducing the scars formation through enhancing the epithelialization and osmotic
effect. When consider about its nutrition composition, it contains different types
of sugar such as sucrose, fructose, glucose, and in addition vitamins, minerals
and amino acids (Al-Waili et al., 2011). It is considered as an alternative
sweetening agent for people who are suffering from diabetes. In addition, it has
the ability to reduce the atherosclerosis by reducing the low-density lipids and
enhancing the high-density lipids. It also contributes on the hair and skin health,
through avaoiding dehydration of skin, formation of acne (Hadi et al., 2016).

Beehives

Bee honey is an amazing product of bees in beehive (Figure 1). Beehives consist
of 500-1,000 of drones and 3,000-60,000 of workers with one queen where the
used to collect honey from the different plant sources around the hive. Bees ingest
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and regurgitate honey for many times and store in honeycombs. It contains a
high amount of water. Workers use their flies to evaporate the water from the
hive, and then they seal and wax the hives to preserve. The composition of the
honey may change with the plant sources. Acacia (Acacia baileyana) and Manuka
(Leptospermum scoparium) honey are the most popular types of honey. Manuka
honey is frequently used in dermatological aspects (Hadi et al., 2016).

Figure 1: (a) Honey comb and (b) small scale extracted bee honey

Composition of bee honey

Bee honey composite with number of ingredients such as glucose, fructose,

vitamins, phenolic compounds, enzymes (Hadi et al., 2016), and minerals (Al-
Waili et al., 2011). Al-Waili et al. (2011) recorded that the composition of bee
honey may change according to its sources and the form of monosaccharaides
and disaccharides which represents 82% of total carbohydrates. It contains
several enzymes namely invertase, and catalase, monosaccharide fructose and
eighteen different free amino acids where proline is the most abounded one.

Moisture (17.2%), glucose (31.28%), sucrose (1.31%), disaccharides (7.31%),

fructose (38.19%), free acid as gluconic (0.43%), lactone as gluconolactone
(0.14%), ash (0.17%), and nitrogen (0.04%) are the major components present in
bee honey (Hadi et al., 2016). In addition to these main constitutions, there are
two kinds of enzymes that are originated by plants and hypopharyngeal gland of
the workers bees. It contains several other minerals such as Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mn.
P, Zn, Na, and Mg. Honey contains benzaldehyde, benzene acetaldehyde,
toluene, and higher concentration of phenolic compounds comparatively to other
natural extract. Due to the presence of these ingredients and its ability to
regenerate the damaged skin layer, many researchers reported honey as one of
the best treatments that can be applied on infected skin. (Ali et al., 2014).

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Medicinal property of honey

Bee honey has an ability to promote positive impact on the human health and
considered as one of the energy diets. It contains approximately more than 80-90
% of sugar in the form of fructose and glucose. Because of ascorbic acid,
flavonoids, glucose oxidase, -tocopherol, catalase, and peroxidase it is
considered as one of the natural preservative agents (Crittenden, 2011).

Bee honey demonstrate the wide spectrum of antifungal, antiviral, antimicrobial,

anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, anticancer, and immune stimulating
properties (Al-Waili et al., 2011). Since ancient time, honey has a huge demand
as a food preservative agent and has been used in the Ayurvedic medicine. Honey
has antioxidant properties which derive due to the presence of phenolic
compounds. It protects and neutralise the skin from the free radical produced by
the hydrogen peroxide. In addition to that, honey is a higher viscous fluid, and
reduces the surfaces contact with water. It is effective during the wound healing
therapy and during the food preservation (Hadi et al., 2016).

Honey contains a number of different sugar types namely isomaltose, nigerose,

turanose, maltulose, and fructose. Thus, according to the Hadi et al. (2016) it has
become beneficial for a person with diabetes since such sugar in bee honey
absorbs slowly by the gastrointestinal track.

Skin care

Bee honey is rich with vitamins and minerals important to protect the skin by
healing and dehydration (Hadi et al., 2016) and enhance the epithelisation and
minimize the scares formation (Al-Waili et al., 2011). Honey is used in
preparation of cream and cosmetic products such as barrier cream, emollients,
lotions and ointment throughout the world, as it contains glucose and fructose
with natural humectant property (Hadi et al., 2016). Moreover, due to its
antioxidant and antibacterial features, it can be used in treating acne, removal of
dead or damaged tissues and replace the new layer of skin. According to the Al-
Waili et al. (2011) under the laboratory conditions, honey is being used to treat
the wounded rats, where bee honey will enhance the tissue formation of wounded
skin of the rats, formation of granulation tissues, blood vessels and collagen. In
addition to the healthy skin, honey is also impotent in maintaining a healthy hair.
It makes smooth and shiny hair that easy to comb (Hadi et al., 2016).

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Nutmeg and Mace (Myristica fragrans Houtt)

Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt) is a commodity with higher economic value

which is native to tropical Asia and Australia (Bamidele et al., 2011). Indonesia
is the world’s number one nutmeg producer, and the rest of the production is
made by Sri Lanka, Maluku, North Sulawesi, Papua, Nanggroe, West Java, and
West Sumatra (Rahardiyan et al., 2020). According to the Jose et al. (2016), world
annual nutmeg production is around 10,000 to 12,000 tons. Myristica plant gives
two valuable spices as maces and nutmeg (its sister spice, lacy) where the fruit
seed is represented by the nutmeg and the mature mace by the reddish covering
on the seed. Both spices have compositions that are beneficial to the spleen and
liver (Bamidele et al., 2011). The colour of mace is an important factor that affects
its commercial value (Jose et al., 2016). There are few nutmeg accessions namely
Myristica argenia WARB (Papua Nutmeg), Myristica succedena BLUME
(Halmahera Nutmeg), Myristica malabarica (Malabar Nutmeg), and Myristica
specisa WARB (Bacan Nutmeg) which were named according to their origin
(Rahardiyan et al., 2020). The Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR) has
released a new variety named ‘IISR vishwasree’ that yields about 1000 fruits at
the 8th year of planting. IISR has also released few elite lines such as A9- 20, 22,
25,69,150, A4-12,22,52, A11-23,70 as high yielders and possibility to distributed
as grafts (Jose et al., 2016). As it is a mild shade loving plant, it can be used to
intercrop with the coconut (Jose et al., 2016) and can be introduced to the other
export plantations. Weevil of the coffee bean Ataecerus fasciculatus is a major pest
in the production of stored nutmeg and mace (Jose et al., 2016).

Morphology of the nutmeg plant

Nutmeg is a perennial, diocious plant belongs to the Myristicaceae family, where

the male and female blooms are rarely found on the same tree (Jose et al., 2016).
Nutmeg plant grows to a height of 5 to 13 metres, and occasionally, 20 metres
plants also can be found. Flowers are pale yellow in colour with waxy, fleshy and
bell-shaped petals. M. fragrans is a dioecious plant bears small, supplementary
racemes of flowers (Naeem et al., 2016). The fruits are fleshy, drooping, smooth,
and 6 to 9 cm long with a longitudinal ridge (Jose et al., 2016). Male flowers
consist of six to ten stamens while female flowers are pale yellow in colour and
found in axils of leaves. According to Naeem et al. (2016), M. fragrans has a long
petiole (1cm) with pointed, dark green leaves that are arranged alternatively along
the branches. Further, it has comparatively large simple and entire leaves with
shiny upper leaf surfaces (Jose et al., 2016). The fruits are yellow in colour, with
a glossy outer layer (exocarp) and a squishy mesocarp underneath. The pericarp
of the fruit is composed of exocarp, mesocarp, and endocarp. Fruit is round
drupe, pendulous with succulent pericarp (Naeem et al., 2016). When ripe, the
succulent yellow fruit (mesocarp) splits into 2 valves revealing a purplish-brown,
shiny seed (nutmeg) surrounded by a red aril (mace) (Figure 2). Ovary is single

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and large seed finally mature into mace and nutmeg, and it can be harvested after
6-9 months of flowering (Jose et al., 2016).

Nutmeg consists of 77.8% flesh, 13.1% seed, 4.0% mace, and 5.1% shell. The
matured nutmeg fruit is yellowish green in color and has a tough texture and
creamy flesh. It is 3-9 cm in diameter, and the skin of the seeds is tough while the
colour is often dark chocolate. A coating of scarlet aril appears between the flesh
and the seed, surrounding the seed with a characteristic nutmeg scent and flavor,
but more delicate (Rahardiyan et al., 2020). Compared to mace, nutmeg gives a
strong aroma and sweet taste.

There should be specific climatic condition for the better growth of nutmeg plants
(Naeem et al., 2016). According to Jose et al., (2016) rich and well-drained soil
with sound rain fall around 2,000-3,500 mm with a temperature of around 25-
30ºC is suitable for the growth of nutmeg plants. Further, it grows well in
altitudes 700-4,500 m. Moreover, nutmeg shows a better growth under the soil
around pH 6.5-7.5, with sufficient water and high organic matter contents.

Figure 2: (a) Young plant, (b) leaves,(c) mature tree (d) fruits, (e) nutmeg and
mace ( f) mature fruit on the tree

Nutmeg is a kind of cross-pollinated plant where male and female plants are
grown separately (Naeem et al., 2016). Thus, when propagate using seed there is
a huge problems of unproductivity male plants in the population. Normally male
plants accounts around 50% of the nutmeg plant population. According to the
literature, the most effective propagation method for this plant is either grafting
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or budding. Female plants start fruiting by six year after planting. When fruits are
ready to harvest, the pericarp splits and the fruit become exposed to out. After
sun drying, the mace becomes dark brown in color and then it is easily separated
from the seed (Jose et al., 2016).

Composition of the nutmeg

Nutmeg plants have higher economic value as spices where it is popular in both
Ayurvedic and western medicines. Because nutmeg and mace have endemic smell,
pungent, medicinal properties, it is commonly used in bakery products, puddings,
vegetables and cakes, biscuits, custards, buns and as also in tea or soft drinks,
alcohol as a flavour enhancer. However, according to the Rahardiyan et al. (2020)
intake of more than 0.08% of nutmeg will create toxic effects for human body.

Myristicin is the principal component addition to malbaricone, macelignan,

pyrethrum (Figure 3), trimyristin (Rahardiyan et al., 2020) pine, sabincene,
camphene, myristin, elemicin, isoelemicin, eugenol, isoeugenol,
methoxyeugenol, safrole, diametric phenylpropanoids, lignas and neolignas
contains antioxidant, antibacterial, cytotoxicity, insecticidal activities (Jose et al.,
2016).

Seed and flower contain myristicin, elimicin, and safrole which has the ability to
induce hallucination (Rahardiyan et al., 2020). Terpeins that contain in the
essential oil is responsible for the specific smell. Terpene, phenylpropanes,
myricticin are the some of terpens and terpens derivatives that are toxic when
used frequently. Moreover, effect of myristicin and elemicin lead the
intoxification of nutmeg (Jose et al., 2016).

Nutmeg has two kinds of oil, as essential oil (volatile oil) and fixed oil (nutmeg
butter). Nutmeg seed contains 5-15% of six essential oils and 24- 40% of fixed oils
where myristic, stearic, palmitic, oleic, linoleic and lauric acids are the fixed oils
(Jose et al., 2016). Essential oil has antibacterial effects against the Bacillus
anthracis, Bacillus mycoides, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, and
Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Rahardiyan et al., 2020).

Nutmeg oil is a transparent and light yellowish or pale green oil with a unique
mild delicate scent (Figure 4). Nutmeg oil is extremely light and temperature
sensitive non-polar solvent. It is extremely soluble in ethanol, but not in water.
Seeds are primarily employed for oil extraction since the content of younger seeds
is higher than that of older seeds, resulting in oil that is pale yellow in color, more
volatile, and has a very distinct fragrance smell. The nutmeg oil is extracted via
simple steam distillation method or hydro-distillation. Nutmeg oil contains 61-
88% monoterpene hydrocarbons, 5-15% oxygenated hydrocarbons, and 2-18%
aromatic ether, as well as various minor chemicals in minute concentrations
(Rahardiyan et al., 2020). In addition to number of isolations calcium,

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phosphorous, iron, thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin also found in the nutmeg in
trace amounts (Jose et al., 2016).

According to the report of Rahardiyan et al. (2020), due to the presence of more
terpenoids, nutmeg oil extraction gets darker colour. Yellowish colour oil
indicates that it is uninfluenced by air or sunlight. Darker colour oil may be an
indication of oxidation of the oil due to exposure to oxygen which will directly
impact to aroma.

Figures 3: Chemical structure of the (A) Myristicin, (B) Malbaricone, (C)

Macelignan, and (D) Pyrethrum (Jose et al., 2016)

Figure 4: Colour variation of nutmeg oil extracts (Jose et al., 2016).

Uses of nutmeg

In the pharmaceutical sector, nutmeg oil has been used to treat abdominal pain,
diarrhoea, and bronchitis. Moreover, nutmeg may be useful in treating flatulence,
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increasing metabolism, dysentery, stomach inflammation, vomiting,

constipation, bloating and rheumatism and useful in treating paralysis and to
improve blood circulation. It is beneficial for the healthy metabolism of liver and
spleen. People in Israel are using nutmeg and mace extraction in treating different
skin disease (Bamidele et al., 2011).

Eugenol is another available chemical compound in nutmeg that frequently use

in dental treatments and toothpaste productions. According to the literature,
lignin contain in mace is used for skin whitening purposes since it has the ability
to control melanin production in skin (Naeem et al., 2016). Jose et al. (2016)
reports that use of nutmeg is efficient in getting rid of the pimples. Further, seed
oil is used in candle production (Terpineol), soap and hair lotions preparations.
Furthermore, camphene is utilized as a component in the perfumes.

Essential oils are applied in a variety of medicinal, cosmetic, and culinary

applications. It is used as a spice in various dishes, soft drinks or mixed in milk
and alcohol. Oleoresin is a mixture of resins and essential oils which have
characteristic flavour and aroma. It is used in culinary aspects, where mainly it is
added as a flour during the production of meat and fish, pickles, sauces, soups,
biscuits and bread or cake (Agbogidi and Azagbaekwe, 2013).

At high doses, ethanolic seed extract of M. fragrans appears to suppress the

haemopoietic system. Moreover, red blood cell (RBC) count, packed cell volume
(PCV), haemoglobin concentration (HbC), and platelet count all decreased
significantly (Bamidele et al., 2011).

Kottamalli (Coriandrum sativum L.)

Coriandrum sativum L., a member of the Umbelliferae family, is one of the most
important essential oil yielding spices and medicinal plants. C. sativum essential
oil and extracts have antifungal, antibacterial, anti-oxidative activities and
insecticidal properties in the various chemical components in different plant
parts. Furthermore, it is used to preserve the food, as a pharmaceuticals,
medicine, and home remedies. It’s a kind of herbaceous annual plant, which has
a long history dated back to around 1550 BC as a culinary herb. It’s a source of
aroma compounds and essential oils with biologically active components
(Shyamapada and Manisha, 2015). Ukraine is a large producer of coriander oil
and, has a sway on global prices (Aftab et al., 2021). The oil contains trans-
tridecen, which causes a nasty odour in immature fruits and leaves known as
"stink bug smell" (Shyamapada and Manisha, 2015). There are two varieties of
C. sativum as vulgare and Coriandrum microcarpum. Although all parts of the plant
are edible, the fresh leaves and dried seeds are the most commonly used in
cooking (Pathak et al., 2011). India, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and
Sri Lanka are large scale consumers of this green herb since it contains specific
native flavour (Schempp et al., 2012). Coriander fruits contain about 0.2–1.5% of

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volatile oil and 13–20% of fat (Shyamapada and Manisha, 2015). However, it’s
fresh leaves and dried seeds are most frequently used in day-to-day life. Its green
foliage, containing proteins, vitamins and rich reservoir of micronutrients and
nutritional elements such as calcium, phosphorus, and iron (Bhat et al., 2013).
Leaves and seeds contain essential oils, which offer characteristic flavour when
added to foods. It plays a significant part in preserving the shelf life of the food
by avoiding rotting (Casetti et al., 2011).

Morphology of the plant

C. sativum is growing throughout India, Netherlands, Italy, Eastern Europe,

Central China, and Bangladesh (Pathak et al., 2011). There are few wild relatives
have been recorded around worldwide. This plant can be easily grown under the
any environmental condition like disturbing areas like roadside (Schempp et al.,
2012). It has the ability to grow in wide range of climatic conditions (Pathak et
al., 2011).

It is an annual (short lived), melliferous, diversifies and flowering small herb that
reach to 0.20 to 1.40 m in height. According to Pathak et al. (2011), these plants
have a tap root system with three main branches and subbranches that originate
from the stem which terminates with an inflorescence. When it is matured, the
green colour stem turns to dark red or violet. Leaves appears in the lower part of
the plant are basal in shape with three undivided lobes (Figure 5), while the upper
leaves lanceolate and have filiform shape blade undivided but have three lobes.
Young leaves are oval while the aerial leaves are elongated in shape (Pathak et
al., 2011). Leaves are green or shiny green with lower side consisted with waxy
appearances. During flowering period, the leaves may be turn in to red or violet
while fruits start to bear from lower part of the plant. Inflorescence is a compound
umbel type with two to eight primary rays in different lengths. Central flowers
are sterile, so called as staminiferous and flowers are white in colour with inferior
ovary. The flowering time of coriander plants are shorter (Bhat et al., 2013). Two
to three days after opening the flowers, the pollen colour changed in to pink or
violet (Schempp et al., 2012). Fruits are round or ovate (Figure 5) and have teeth
like calyx with a diameter of about 6 mm. They are spontaneously split in to the
two pericarps. Every pericarp has six longitudinal splits, and when dry, it splits
easily (Shyamapada and Manisha, 2015).

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Figure 5: (a) Coriandrum seed, and (b) Coriandrum young leaves

Chemical composition
Different plant parts of coriander consist with different composition with
different uses. Essential oil and the fatty oil are the main constituent of the fruit.
The weight of essential oil content of ripe and dried fruits of coriander varies
between 0.03 - 2.6%, and the content of fatty oil varies between 9.9-27.7%. Main
constituent is the water (11 %), and fat (9.5%) while 28.43% is crude oil. Sugar
and other essential oils, and minerals are also present in trace amounts in the fruit
extract (Schempp et al., 2012).
Inalool, α- pinene, γ- terpine, Geranylacetate Camphor, Granio are the main
components of the essential oil of the C. sativum (Matasyoh et al., 2008). Essential
oil can be extracted from various parts of plants including leaves, flowers, stem,
seeds, roots, and bark. Composition of the essential oil can vary among different
parts even within the same plant. Important property of the seeds of C. sativum L
is its antibacterial quality against the Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
Due to its antioxidant property, it enhances the shelf life of the food while
delaying or preventing the food spoilage (Casetti et al., 2011). Essential oil
exhibited antibacterial action (Matasyoh et al., 2008). Essential oil has the
potential to induce superficial skin infections (Casetti et al., 2011). Volatile
components of essential oils from seeds and leaves have been shown to restrict
the development of a variety of microorganisms (Chung et al., 2012).
Major compounds present in coriander seeds extract are linalool (67.70%), alpha-
pinene (10.5%), gamma-terpinene (9.0%), geranyl acetate (4.0%), and camphor
(3.0%). It also contained high nutritional values including proteins, oils,
carbohydrates, fibres and wide range of minerals, trace elements, and vitamins
(Al-Snafi, 2016).

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Figure 6: Structures of major constituents in the essential oil from Coriandrum

sativum leaves and stems (Chung et al., 2012).

Uses of Coriander
Fruits are used for food processing like baking of fish and meat. Mostly it is used
as a curry powder. It is also used in preparation of condiments and spices, pickles,
sausages, and seasonings, and for flavouring pastry, cookies, buns and cakes, and
tobacco products (Schempp et al., 2012), alcoholic beverages, frozen dairy
desserts, candy, and puddings (Al-Snafi, 2016).
In traditional medicine, coriander seed combination with hot water is considered
as a painkiller and better for the disease related to the gastrointestinal tract (Zoysa
et al., 2017). Fruit oil extracted by steam distillation was a common ingredient in
creams, detergents, surfactants, emulsifiers, lotions, and perfumes (Al-Snafi,
2016). It is used as a stimulant, aromatic and carminative spice. It is used as a
spices and herb that increase palatability (Schempp et al., 2012). Seeds are applied
locally to relieve swelling and discomfort. A paste of green coriander was used to
cure headaches. Green coriander powder is also used in treating burning
sensations and pain inflammations (Al-Snafi, 2016).
The pharmacological studies revealed it have potential to anxiolytic,
antidepressant, anticonvulsant, memory enhancement, improvement of orofacial
dyskinesia, neuroprotective, antibacterial, antifungal, insecticidal, antioxidant,
cardiovascular, hypolipidemic, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, mutagenic,
antimutagenic, anticancer, gastrointestinal, dermatological, reproductive, and
detoxification activities (Al-Snafi, 2016).

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Table 1: Previous literature for uses and of Coriandrum sativum

Uses Plant Parts
Inflammation, joint pain Seeds aqueous extract
Antiviral and neuro-energizer Plants Aerial parts
Some liver diseases The roasted seeds' aqueous
extract

Convulsion, loss of appetite, insomnia, and Powdered seeds or dry extract

anxiety and in medical purposes

Diuretic, and stimulant activity The whole plant parts

Grounded as an Seeds and aqueous of leaves

ingredient of curry powder and gingerbread,

Digestive stimulant Leaves

Sedative and muscle relaxant effect The aqueous extract

Bad breath, unpleasant odor from genitalia Seeds

Against worm and to treat rheumatism Fruits
Stimulates gastric secretion, treats gastric ulcers Essential oils
and mouth infections
Sources: Emamghoreishi (2007); Khare (2008); Wichtl (2009); Taherian et al. (2012);
Nair et al. (2013); Grieve (2019); Bashir and Safdar (2020)

Venivelgeta (Coscinium fenestratum)

Coscinium fenestratum is a critically endangered shrub that is typically used in folk
and Ayurvedic medicinal systems. Many studies have been conducted on its
chemistry and medicinal properties. It belongs to the family Menispermaceae and
is a kind of woody climbing shrub with numerous medicinal properties. It’s a
kind of deciduous plant that grows in the evergreen, semi-evergreen, and
deciduous forests (Anjali et al., 2011). It is distributed in India, Sri Lanka,
Malaysia, Cambodia, and Vietnam. It is considered as the plant with the highest
medicinal value in European countries and India. The plant is on the edge of
extinction as a result of destructive collecting, overexploitation, and habitat loss.
It is considered as a critical endangered plant in India. In Vietnam, it is a
vulnerable and indeterminate plant in Sri Lankan conditions (Nair et al., 2005).

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This plant is important due to its active compound named berberine present in
both the stem and root (Vijay et al., 2020). Berberine is the main constitution that
is contained in C. fenestratum. In addition to that, it contains several other
important compounds for pharmacological activities. Literature reported that C.
fenestratum have antifungal, anti-yeast, antibacterial, hypotensive,
antiproliferative, anti-hepatotoxic, antipyretic, dressing wounds, antiulcer,
jaundice, antidiabetic, antioxidant, and cytotoxic activities. The Root of this
plant is used as stomachic, diuretic, hypotensive, and anti-dysenteric agent
(Anjali et al., 2011). Due to the presence of the above properties, it is used to cure
a number of diseases like diabetes, wounds and ulcers, fever, jaundice, snake
bites, and piles (Anjali et al., 2011).

Plant morphology of Coscinium fenestratum

C. fenestratum plants are abundantly grow under the high rainfall conditions
(Anjali et al., 2011) with an annual rainfall of 2,000 mm and an annual
temperature of 27oC in humus rich soil (Vijay et al., 2020). It’s a diocious, wood
climbing plant, where the male and female plants occur separately (Vijay et al.,
2020). Venivelgeta is a dioeciously cultivated plant (Khare. 2017). The flowers are
yellow in colour, unisexually born in axillary inflorescences from November to
September. Minimally, this plant takes around 15 years to flower (Anjali et al.,
2011). Leaves are simple, shiny, and smooth in appearance (Anjali et al., 2011),
thick and arranged alternatively (Vijay et al., 2020), broadly ovate at base, while
rounded, truncate or shallowly chordate at the apex (Khare, 2017).
C. fenestratum fruit type is known as drop, and the seeds are globular shape. The
sap of the wood is yellow (Kare., 2017). The bark of the plant is densely haired
when it is young. Cross sections absence the annual rings. The external cells of
the stem are bright yellow in colour, while the outer cells are brownish yellow in
colour. Most of the outer bark cells contain oil droplets (Vijay et al., 2020).
In Sri Lankan context, C. fenestratum is a non-cultivable plantation crop that is
typically found in forestry or rural settings (Vijay et al., 2020). It can be a
regeneration plant using the stumps and seeds of the mother plant. However, it
has low regeneration capacity, while the seeds have an average dormancy period
of around 6 months. When regenerating using vegetative methods, 15 cm stem
cutting is preferred, but seed propagation is the most commonly used method,
(Khare, 2017).

Chemical composition of Coscinium fenestratum

C. fenestratum contains 32 compounds, including two benzylisoquinoline
alkaloids, three aporphine alkaloids, 12 quaternary protoberberine alkaloids,
oxoprotoberberine alkaloids, three tetrahydroproto berberine alkaloids, and
some minor alkaloids (Anjali et al., 2011). Roots consist of alkaloids like
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berlambine, dihydroberlambine, 12, 13-dihydro-8-oxo berberine,

tetrahydroberberine, oxyberberine, and noroxyhydrastinine (Vijay et al., 2020).

Figure 7: (a) Venivalgeta leaf vein, (b and c) leaf appearances of vein, (d) stem,
and (e) cross section of the stem.

Figure 8: Structure of the Berberine

Wood is widely used for Ayurvedic purposes, while every component of this
plant, from root to leaves, is used for medicinal purposes. Dry wood is used for
crude drug preparation. Drugs have no specific odour but have a specific colour
(Vijay et al., 2020). Root pieces were used to isolate the Baberin (Anjali et al.,
2011). According to Nair et al. (2005), Berberine (Figure 8) is the active

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component of C. fenestratum which has an antibacterial effect on certain

microorganisms. Baberis is a kind of alkaloid with antiseptic properties (Zoysa et
al., 2017). Maceration with 80% ethanol gave the highest content of berberine in
the extract (Anjali et al., 2011), and it can be quantified using TLC of HPLC
methods.

Uses of C. fenestratum
C. fenestratum has been reported to possess various pharmacological actions such
as antioxidant, laxative, antiproliferative, antidiabetic, anti-hypotensive, anti-
plasmodial and antibacterial activities. It also has antifungal and anti-yeast,
activities which make it used as hair shampoo and soap production. It has also
been used to enhance the skin complexion and thus, being used in production of
Ayurvedic bath soap and bath oil. Moreover, it is used as a tea extract with other
herbals as an immunity booster. In addition, Berberine has a fluorescent property
(Vijay et al., 2020).
C. fenestratum is being used to treat coughs, wounds, ulcers, skin diseases,
abdominal disorders, jaundice, liver disorders, intrinsic haemorrhage, diabetes,
and fever (Vijay et al., 2020). According to the literature, it is used for healing of
wounds, skin cancer, detoxifying skin bites (Anjali et al., 2011) and abdominal
disorders. It significantly reduces fasting blood glucose levels as well as serum
triglyceride and cholesterol levels. It is also important in balancing blood pressure
(Vijay et al., 2020). In Malaysia, it’s very famous as a traditional fabric dyeing
agent, due to its natural yellow colour (Vijay et al., 2020).

CONCLUSION
It is vital to raise awareness about the possible therapeutic characteristics and the
influence of Ayurvedic and medicinal plant products in the treatment of infectious
and other disorders. Since these botanical plants are cheap, have low toxicity,
and are available across the country, they have the potential to boost immunity
against Covid-19 and other infectious diseases. It will contribute significantly in
stabilizing the healthy generation in Sri Lanka and around the world.
Bee honey is widely used in Ayurvedic medicine and, more recently,
pharmaceutical production. Due to its natural antioxidant property, it's a very
popular ingredient in skin care products. Myristica is the most economical spice
apart from common ingredients in Ayurvedic medicine and the western medicinal
system. Higher concentrations of some compounds cause the hallucination
condition. Kottamalli is a famous drink that is used at the domestic level as a first
aid for many diseases. Addition to the pharmaceutical applications it has being
used in food production and processing. C. fenestratum is a famous folk medicine

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in the Ayurvedic medicinal system and is frequently used in cosmetic production

at the industrial level.
According to the available research data it can conclude that herbal medicines
have good capability to regulate and protect the body from virus, bacteria etc.
Even though planting materials are healthy, some reports are pointing out toxic
levels, higher dosages will cause harmful effects.

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