Description

Gloriosa superba offers the possibility of using both seed as well as tuber for medicinal purposes, but the advantage of using seed is that it can be procured annually without disturbing the plant which is more eco-friendly, whereas the use of tuber involves destructive harvesting.It was found that the seed also possess the colchicine.Seed and tubers are also used for treating gout, rheumatism, cholera, typhus, Bright s disease, piles, gonorrhoea and chronic ulcers in Indian system of medicines. The medicinal properties of the drug prepared from it, are due to the presence of alkaloids, chiefly colchicine (C22H26O6H), present in its tubers and seed. Colchicine is used for treating gout, cancer control and for inducing polyploidy in plants.Moreover,the species also have anticoagulant properties and found effective for controlling the larvae of various livestock parasites viz. Rhipicephalus microplus, Paramphistomum cervi, Anopheles subpictus and Culex tritaeniorhynchus. The flowers are used as cut flowers due to their colour and shape.