Cullen corylifolium, synonymPsoralea corylifolia,[1] (babchi) is a plant used in Indian and Chinese traditional medicine. The seeds of this plant contain a variety of coumarins, including psoralen.
Etymology
Corylifolium comes from similarity of the leaves to those of Corylus, a genus of tree in northern world regions, such as Sweden.[2]
Description
Cullen corylifolium grows 50–90 cm tall and is an annual plant. It has pale-purple flowers in short, condensed, axillary spikes. Its corolla is pale purple. Flowers one-seeded fruits. The most distinctive feature is the occurrence of minute brown glands which are immersed in surface tissue on all parts of the plant, giving it a distinctive and pleasant fragrance.[2]
Habitat and distribution
Cullen corylifolium is native to north-east tropical Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, and tropical and subtropical Asia, including India and Sri Lanka.[1] It was occasionally cultivated in Arabia for its supposed medicinal properties.[2]
Cullen corylifolium, or bu gu zhi 补骨脂 in traditional Chinese medicine,[4] is an herb used as a therapy for several disorders, such as treatment of lichen planus by psoralen extract combined with sunlight exposure.[5]
^ abcG. Miller, Anthony; Morris, Miranda (1988). Plants of Dhofar. Oman. pp. 174–5. ISBN978-071570808-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Zhao LH, Huang CY, Shan Z, Xiang BG, Mei LH (2005). "Fingerprint analysis of Psoralea corylifolia by HLPC and LC-MS". J Chromatogr B. 821 (1): 67–74. doi:10.1016/j.jchromb.2005.04.008. PMID15905140.
^Cheng, Xia (2001). Easy Comprehension of Traditional Chinese Medicine: Chinese Materia Medica, Canadian Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, p343.
^Atzmony, L; Reiter, O; Hodak, E; Gdalevich, M; Mimouni, D (2016). "Treatments for cutaneous lichen planus: A systematic review and meta-analysis". American Journal of Clinical Dermatology. 17 (1): 11–22. doi:10.1007/s40257-015-0160-6. ISSN1175-0561. PMID26507510. S2CID3711429.