PARIJAT: SHRI KRAISHNA'S TREE FROM HEAVEN

 

Since archiac period, plants have been used for their therapeutic properties by all the major civilizations. These medicinally significant plants were also part of many traditions and rituals due to their ability to promote spiritual well-being in addition to their healing properties. One such highly medicinal and sacred plant is Parijat. The divine Parijat has an unending list of health benefits and is associated with many mythological stories in India. This enigmatic plant blooms at night and as the first rays of the Sun fall on the earth, its beautiful sweet-scented flowers start dropping on the ground (consequently named night-falling jasmine). Some people refer to it as a tree that can fulfil all your wishes. Scientifically known as Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, Parijat belongs to the Jasmine family (Oleaceae). It is the state flower of West Bengal.

 

COMMON NAMES

English: Coral jasmine, Night-blooming jasmine, Queen of the night, Tree of sorrow (because the foliage becomes droopy as blooming flowers fall off during early morning), Tree of sadness Hindi: Harsingar, Naipali, Newari, Nilika, Nishi-pushpa, Prajakta, Shiphalika Punjabi: Haar-singaar, Laduri, Pakura, Sital Sanskrit: Atyuha, Masika, Nilaka, Nishipushpa, Parijata, Rangalasini, Rajanihasa, Ranjana, Raktavrnta, Shiphalika, Shitamanjari, Shuklangi, Shvetasurasa Assamese: Nixipuspa, Pani-pipoli, Parijat Bengali: Harsinghar, Shephalika, Shiuli Gujarati: Harshangar, Parijatak Kannada: Havalamallige, Parijata Malayalam: Paarijaatham, Pavizhamalli Marathi: Parijatak, Prajakta, Shivali Odia: Atyuha, Gaurdagardaka, Naipali, Nilaka, Nishipushpa, Parijata, Rajani Hasa, Ranjani, Shephali, Sita nirgundi, Siuli Tamil: Cetal, Cuputpam, Cutam, Kaccantakarai, Mancat-pu, Paricatam, Pavala-mallikai, Tukir-t-tali Telugu: Bandeda, Pagadapu Jitta, Parijatamu, Shephali Urdu: Har-singar, Kesar, Naipali, Newari, Nilika, Nishi-pushpa, Shiphalika Source: Names of Plants in India

 

DISTRIBUTION

Parijat is native to India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Jawa, Laos, Nepal, Sumatera, Thailand and Vietnam up to 1000m. However, it has also been introduced in other parts of the world.

MORPHOLOGY

Parijat is a large shrub or a small-sized tree growing up to a height of up to 10 m. The young branches are quadrangular and greyish-green, while the old ones are round in outline and have grey bark. Leaves are simple, opposite decussate, up to 10 cm long and 5 cm broad, leathery and covered with stiff white hair. Flowering takes place during the  months of August to October. Flowers are pleasantly fragrant. They are white with orange centres and are  arranged in 3-7 flowered pedunculate heads. The Corolla tube is approximately 1 cm long, orange-red with spreading lobes. Fruit is a cordate or suborbicular capsule.

CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS

Parijat contains hundreds of secondary metabolite phytoconstituents distributed in leaves, bark, stem, flowers and fruits. Some of these phytochemicals are biologically active and medicinally important. Leaves contain tannic acid, ascorbic acid, methyl salicylate, D-mannitol, β-sitosterole, astragaline, nicotiflorin, oleanolic acid, nyctanthic acid, carotene, friedeline, lupeol, mannitol, glucose, fructose, iridoid glycosides, benzoic acid, etc. Flowers contain essential oils, α-pinene, p-cymene, 1- hexanol methyl heptanone, phenyl acetaldehyde, 1-deconol, anisaldehyde, nyctanthin, D-mannitol, tannin, glucose, carotenoid, glycosides, etc. Seeds are rich in arbortristoside A & B, glycerides of linoleic oleic, lignoceric, stearic, palmitic and myristic acids, nyctanthic acid, 3-4 secotriterpene acid. Stem contains glycosides, β-sitosterol and alkaloidal nyctanthine.

USES

I.       MEDICINAL USES

1.     Useful in Intermittent Fever

Parijat has excellent antipyretic properties. Leaf and bark extract is recommended for fevers.

2.     Beneficial in Sciatica

In Ayurveda, Parijat (10-20 ml leaf extract) is considered beneficial in sciatic pain as it balances three doshas of the human body.

3.     Anti-Allergic Activity

All parts of Parijat are used for allergic disorders in Ayurveda. Alcoholic extract of the plant was reported to inhibit passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) in experimental animals. It was reported to be as potent as standard drugs used for alleviating allergy and bronchial asthma. Mast cell stabilizing effect and anti-allergic potential of this plant can be attributed to the presence of phytochemical constituents arbortristoside A & C.

4.     Useful in Diabetes

Leaf powder is recommended to cure diabetes and maintain healthy blood glucose levels.

5.     Cures Arthritis

Parijat leaves are recommended as a herbal remedy for reducing pain associated with arthritis.

(Photo source: Patanjali Ayurved)

6.     Anti-Inflammatory Activity

Recent experimental studies on animal models have shown that flavonoids and β-sitosterol present in Parijat inhibit mediators like prostaglandins and exert an anti-inflammatory effect.

7.     Analgesic Activity

Parijat exhibits analgesic activity in experimental animals by inhibiting the pain mediators like prostaglandins.

8.     Antioxidant Activity

High phenolics and flavonoid contents in Parijat leaves and flowers make it a good antioxidant with free radical scavenging potential.

9.     Management of Cholesterol

Parijat is reported to decrease the total cholesterol and triglyceride levels in blood serum.

10. Immunostimulant

Flowers and leaves of Parijat are reported to exhibit immuno-stimulant effects through activation of cell-mediated and humoral immune responses. Aqueous extract of flowers has also shown promising effects on the induction of cytokines and proliferation of splenocytes in Swiss albino mice and Wistar rats.

11. Antiviral Effect

Phytochemicals Arbortristoside A and C have shown remarkable cytopathogenic effects against Encephalomyocarditis and Semliki Forest viruses in experimental studies.

12. Anthelmintic Activity

In experimental studies involving model worm Pheretima posthuman,  acetone extract of the leaves shows a dose-dependent anthelmintic activity.

13. Anti-Leishmanial Activity

Parijat is reported to exhibit significant activity against Leishmania donovani. Anti-leishmanial activity has been attributed to the presence of arbortristosides A, B, and C and 6-β-hydroxyloganin in this plant.

14. Antibacterial Activity

In various experimental studies,  the antibacterial efficacy of leaf extract has been reported against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia and Staphylococcus epidermidis.

15. Hepatoprotective Activity

Parijat is reported to possess hepatoprotective action by inhibiting the reactive oxygen species and normalizing the liver's biochemical parameters.

16. Uses in Homoeopathy

Nyctanthes arbor-tristis is used for treating bilious problems, obstinate remittent fever, irritation in eyes, sciatica pains and rheumatism in Homeopathy.

SAFETY

Parijat is considered safe when used in small quantities (14). The crude extract has been found to be safe with an LD₅₀ of 16gm/kg body weight (1). 

II.                WOOD POLISHING

Leaves of Parijat are used for polishing wood. 

III.             SOURCE OF A NATURAL DYE

An orange-red coloured natural dye is obtained from the corolla tube of Parijat. 

IV.           SACRED USES

Parijat is considered a divine tree by the Hindus. It is associated with Lord Shri Krishna, the 'Kanha of Gopis'. The legends say that Shri Krishna brought the Parijat tree from the heaven of Indra Dev and planted it in the courtyard of Satyabhama to placate her. Despite having the tree in her courtyards, the flowers of the tree used to fall into the adjacent backyard of Rukmini, the favourite wife of Shri Krishna. Parijat flowers are offered to the goddess Durga at the festival of Durga Puja in West Bengal. Many Durga puja songs and poems have references to this flower.

 REFERENCES 

1.     Agarwal J and Pal A (2013). Nyctanthes arbor-tristis Linn--a critical ethnopharmacological review. J. Ethnopharmacology 146(3):645-58.

2.     Gulshan B, Suri KA and Parul G (2015). A comprehensive review on Nyctanthes arbor-tristis. Int. J. Drug Dev. Res. 7(1): 183-193.

3.     Gupta P, Bajpai SK, Chandra K, Singh KL and Tandon JS (2005). Antiviral profile of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis L. against encephalitis causing viruses. Indian J Exp Biol. 43(12):1150-1160.

4.     Hukkeri V I, Akki K S, Sureban R R, Gopalakrishna B, Byahatti V V and Rajendra S V (2006). Hepatoprotective activity of the leaves of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis Linn. Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 68(4): 542-543.

5.     Jain PK and Pandey A (2016). The wonder of Ayurvedic medicine—Nyctanthes arbor-tristis. Int. J. Herbal Med. 4(4): 9–17.

6.     Khare CP (2007). Indian Medicinal Plants: An Illustrated Dictionary. Springer Science+BusinessMedia, LLC.

7.     Khatune NA, Mossadik MA and Haque ME (2001). Antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis flowers. Fitoterapia. 72(4): 412-414.

8.     Mahinda Y and Mohan JSS (2007). Screening of plants for their potential antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus and Salmonella spp. Natural Product Radiance 6(4): 301-305.

9.     Pattanayak C and Datta PP (2013). Analgesic activity of Nyctanthes Arbor-tristis leaves in rodents. J. Complement Med. Res. 2(2): 105-112.

10. Puri A, Saxena AR, Saxena RP, Saxena KC, Srivastava V and Tandon JS (1994). Immunostimulant activity of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis J. Ethnopharmacology 42(1): 31-37.

11. Rangika BS, Dayananda PD and Peiris DC (2015). Hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activities of aqueous extract of flowers from Nyctanthes arbor-tristis in male mice. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 15: 289.

12. Rani C, Chawla S, Mangal M, Mangal, AK, Kajla S and Dhawan AK (2011). Nyctanthes arbor-tristis linn. (Night jasmine): A sacred ornamental plant with immense medicinal potential. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge 11(3): 427-435.

13. Saxena RS, Gupta B and Lata S (2002). Tranquilizing, antihistaminic and purgative activity of Nyctanthes arbor tristis leaf extract. J Ethnopharmacol. 81(3): 321-325.

14. Sharma A, Goel A and Lin Z (2023). Analysis of anti-rheumatic activity of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis via in vivo and pharmacovigilance approaches. Front. Pharmacol. 14:1307799.

15. Suresh V and Senthilkumar N (2018). Evaluation of antidiabetic activity of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. European Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research 5(3): 295-300.

16. Tandon JS, Srivastava V and Guru PY (1991). Iridoids: A new class of leishmanicidal agents from Nyctanthes arbor-tristis. Journal of Natural Products 54(4): 1102-1104.