A REVIEW STUDY ON VASTUK

Abstract

Chenopodium album Linn. (Bathua) belongs to the family Chenopodiaceae, is an important medicinal plant in Ayurveda used in diseases of blood, heart, spleen, eye and in biliousness conditions, cough, abdominal pain, pulmonary obstruction and in nervous affections. The plant contains essential oils, besides alkaloids, trigonelline and chenopodine. Leaves are rich in potassium & vitamin C. Pharmacognostic evaluation including examinations of morphological and microscopic characters, determination of leaf constant, ash value, powder analysis, and extractive values were carried out. Phytochemical screening including qualitative chemical examinations was also carried out. The plant has effective pharmacological action. On the basis of recent pharmacological studies some additional medicinal properties of various species of the genus have been established. In the present paper an attempt has been made to summarize the review on Vastuk.