Hemidesmus indicus, Indiansarsaparilla Hindi: anantamul or anant bel , is a species of plant that is found in South Asia. It is a slender, laticiferous, twining, sometimes prostrate or semi-erect shrub. Roots are woody and aromatic. The stem is numerous, slender, terete, thickened at the nodes. The leaves are opposite, short-petioled, very variable, elliptic-oblong to linear-lanceolate. The flowers are greenish outside, purplish inside, crowded in sub-sessile axillary cymes. It occurs over the greater part of India, from the upper Gangetic plain eastwards to Assam and in some places in central, western and South India. The root is a substitute for sarsaparilla. It should be distinguished from Mexican SarsaparillaSmilaxaristolochiifolia Mill. and Jamaican SarsaparillaSmilax ornata Hook.f..
Traditional uses
Hemidesmus indicus is used to make beverages like nannari sharbat, and also used in traditional medicine. In Ayurveda it goes by the name of Ananthamoola, also known locally in Southern India as naruneendi or nannari,. It is also known as anant vel /maeen mool in Marathi. In southern states of India, sarsaparilla roots are called maahali or mahani kizhangu and in its pickled form is also served along with rice dishes. It is also called the false sarsaparilla. It is administered in the form of powder, infusion or decoction as syrup. It is one of the Rasayana plants of Ayurveda. It is sometimes confused with another Ayurvedic herb called white sariva. The alcoholic extract of Hemidesmus indicusR.Br. possesses a significant antinociceptive activity. The extracts from the root are used in syrup with sugar and a dash of lemon and served at most small refreshment shops in South India.
Chemical constituents
The roots of H. indicus contain hexatriacontane, lupeol, its octacosanoate, α-amyrin, β-amyrin, its acetate and sitosterol. It also contains new coumarino-lignoid-hemidesminine, hemidesmin I and hemidesmin II50, six pentacyclic triterpenes including two oleanenes, and three ursenes. The stem contains calogenin acetylcalogenin-3-0-β-D-digitoxopyrannosyl-0-β-D-digitoxopyronsyl-0-β-D-digitoxopyranoside. It also afforded 3-keto-lup-12-en-21 28-olide along with lupanone, lupeol-3-β-acetate, hexadecanoic acid, 4-methoxy-3-methoxybenzalaldehyde and 3-methoxy-4-5methoxybenzalaldehydglycosides-indicine and hemidine. The leaves contain tannins, flavonoids, hyperoside, rutin and coumarino. Leucoderma lignoids such as hemidesminine, hemidesmin I and hemidesmin II are rare group of naturally occurring compounds present in leaves.
