Vinca is the dried entire plant of Catharanthus roseus Linn., belonging to family Apocynaceae.
VINCA
Synonyms
Vinca rosea, Catharanthus, Madagascar
periwinkle.
Barmasi.
Biological Source
Vinca is the dried entire plant of Catharanthus roseus Linn., belonging to family Apocynaceae.
Geographical Source
The plant is a native of Madagascar and is found in many
tropical and subtropical countries especially in India, Austra-lia, South
Africa and North and South America. The plant is cultivated as garden plant in
Europe and India.
Cultivation and Collection
The plant is perennial and retains its glossy leaves
through-out the winter. The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and
heavy (clay) soils and can grow in heavy clay soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral
and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) semishade
(light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate
drought. It is cultivated either by directly sowing the seeds or sowing the
seeds in nursery. Nursery sowing method is found to be economical and the fresh
seeds are sown in nursery in the month of February or March. The seedlings
attain a height of 5–8 cm after two months and then they are transplanted in to
the field at a distance of 45 cm × 30 cm. Proper fertilization and
weeding is done timely and leaves are stripped after nine months. In order to
collect the whole plant, the stems are first cut about 10 cm above the grounds
and the leaves, seeds, stems are separated and dried. The roots are collected
by plugging which are later washed and dried under shade and packed.
Characteristics
The leaves are green in colour, flowers are either violet,
pinkish white or carmine red and roots are pale grey in colour. It has
characteristic odour and bitter taste. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both
male and female organs) and are pollinated by bees. Leaves are petiolate,
entire margin, ovate or oblong, glossy appearance and with acute apex. Fruit is
follicles with numerous black seeds.
Microscopy
Vinca has dorsiventral leaf structure. Epidermis is a single
layer of rectangular cells covered with thick cuticle. It consists of
uni-cellular covering trichome and cruciferous stomata. In the mesophyll region
single layer of elongated and closely packed palisade parenchyma cells are
present just below the upper epidermis. In the midrib region two to three
layers of collenchyma is present, both below the upper epidermis and above the
lower epidermis. Vascular bundle consisting of xylem and phloem is present in
the middle of midrib region and rest of the intercellular space is covered by
five to eight layers of spongy parenchyma.
Calcium oxalate crystals are absent.
Catharanthus roseus
Transverse section of Vinca leaf
Chemical Constituents
Alkaloids are present in entire shrub but leaves and roots
contain more alkaloids. About 90 alkaloids have been isolated from Vinca from
which some like Ajmalicine, Serpentine and Tetrahydroalstonine are known and
are present in other species of Apocynaceae. The important alkaloids in
Catharanthus are the dimer indole indoline alkaloids Vinblastine and
Vincristine and they possess defi-nite anticancer activity. Vindoline and
Catharanthine are indole monomeric alkaloids. It also contains monoterpenes,
sesquiterpene, indole and indoline glycoside.
Uses
Vinblastin is an antitumour alkaloid used in the treatment
of Hodgkin’s disease. Vincristine is a cytotoxic compound and used to treat
leukaemia in children. Vinca is used in herbal practice for its astringent and
tonic properties in menorrhagia and in haemorrhages generally. In cases of
scurvy and for relaxed sore throat and inflamed tonsils, it may also be used as
a gargle. For bleeding piles, it may be applied externally, as well as taken
internally. It is also used in the treatment of diabetes.
The flowers of the Periwinkle are gently purgative, but lose
their effect on drying. If gathered in the spring and made into a syrup, they
impart all their virtues, and this, it is stated, is excellent as a gentle
laxative for children and also for overcoming chronic constipation in grown
persons.
Marketed Products
It is one of the ingredients of the preparation known as
Cytocristin (Cipla).
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