Kapikacchu (Mucuna pruriens): A Promising Indigenous Herbal Drug and Its Effect on Different Disease Conditions

Abstract

Mucuna pruriens is widely known as “velvet bean,” which originally belongs to eastern part of India and China where it is cultivated as vegetable crop. It has been shown that its seeds are potentially of substantial medicinal importance. Kapikacchu belongs to Fabaceae family and it is widely used for aphrodisiac purpose as well as for Parkinson disease. It has lots of pharmacological properties such as hypoglycemic activity, antioxidant activity, aphrodisiac activity, antimicrobial properties and antiparkinsons activity. Parkinson’s disease is treated with the seeds of Mucuna pruriens which is the richest source of Levo-dopa. According to Ayurvedic literature Kapikacchu is used as a potent aphrodisiac, vermifuge and as a geriatric tonic. It is also used for the treatment of menstrual disorder, constipation, oedema, fever and tuberculosis.

Keywords: Anti-Parkinsonism, aphrodisiac, Kapikacchu, Levo-dopa, Mucuna pruriens

Cite this Article
Binod Bihari Dora, Shobhit Kumar. Kapikacchu (Mucuna pruriens): A Promising Indigenous Herbal Drug and Its Effect on Different Disease Conditions. Research & Reviews: A Journal of Toxicology. 2017; 7(3): 1–5p.