Indian Journal of Natural Products and Resources

Vol. 4(4), December 2013, pp. 432-435

Ethnobotanical notes on Houttuynia cordata Thunb. in

North-eastern region of India
R S Rathi*, Somnath Roy, A K Misra and S K Singh
National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR-ICAR), Regional Station, Umiam-793 103, Meghalaya, India
Received 29 August 2012; Accepted 16 May 2013
Houttuynia cordata Thunb. (Family-Saururaceae) is an ethnobotanically important plant of North eastern region of
India. It is a potential source of antioxidants and used extensively in treating number of diseases such as cancer, coronary
heart disease, diabetes, severe acute respiratory syndrome, blood deficiency, dysentery, etc. This herb is sensitive to severe
cold and remains dormant during winter and propagated through rhizomes. It is a good soil binder due to spreading nature of
roots and leaves. The herb is generally collected from wild and occasionally cultivated as homestead plant. This has resulted
great pressure on the populations occurring in the natural habitats and the plant has become endangered in many parts of
North-east India. This calls for sustainable management and conservation of wild and cultivated resources of H. cordata.
Keywords: Houttuynia cordata, Saururaceae, Medicinal plant, North-east India.
IPC code; Int. cl. (2011.01)A61K 36/00.

Introduction
Houttuynia cordata Thunb(a). is one of the
important plant of the family Saururaceae1. It is native
to mountainous region of Eastern Asia and occurring
up to an elevation of 2500 m asl. It is assumed that the
ancient people in China were the first to discover the
medicinal properties of this plant and they used the
herb both for edible and medicinal purposes. It is
widespread in North-eastern (NE) region of India and
is known with different local names, viz. Fish mint,
Fish wort, Chameleon, Lizards tail in English;
Ja-myrda or Jmyr-doh in Khasi; Machha-turi in Garo;
Ashundary, Tengalai, Dimasa - Mojoukhmo, Hmar -Ai
thang and Pnar-Jarmendo in Assam; Mumbre, Siiya
hamang, Muchandariin in Arunachal Pradesh; Toning
khokin in Manipur; Uithinthang in Mizo; Nuichua or
Nokana in Nagaland; Gandhi Jhar in Nepal and
Ghandhay jhar in North Bengal and Sikkim. The
entire North-eastern region of India represents a
unique set of topography, economic, sociological,
diversity and cultural conditions which differ mostly
from the rest of the country. It is inhabitated by more
than 150 tribes with variegated systems. These tribal
people living in the remote forest areas still depends
to a great extent on the indigenous traditional systems
_______________
*Correspondent author:
Phone: 0364-25701933; Fax: 0364-2570651
E-mail: ranbirsinghrathi@gmail.com

and gather different plants/herbs from the forests and

use in different ways. The tribes of NE region collect
H. cordata from the wild habitats both for
consumption and for selling in local markets.
The leaves and rhizomes of H. cordata are used as
vegetable, condiments and spices either cooked or
raw. The roots and leaves are also consumed as
salad2. The herb is used as folk medicine as it has
antiviral, antibacterial, immune-stimulant, diuretic,
anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects3,4. The
Japanese people use the leaves for preparing a
beverage called Dokudami cha. It is considered as a
good blood purifier. Leaves are used to cure stomach
ulcer and boiled extract of rhizomes for muscular
pains. The brew made of dried herb is considered very
effective
for
detoxification,
hypertension,
constipation, pulmonary tuberculosis and diuretics.
Besides, it is a good soil binder to protect soils from
erosion in hilly slopes. Considering the importance of
this plant, we have collected plant materials from
Nagaon (Assam), W. Kemeng, Lower Subansiri and
Kurung Kumey (Arunachal Pradesh) which are being
conserved in field gene bank at Umiam.
Distribution and Habitat
It is distributed in Bhutan, China, Indonesia, Japan,
Korea, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam,
North-West Himalayan region and NE Region of
India. It was introduced in European countries and

RATHI et al: HOUTTUYNIA CORDATA IN NORTH-EASTERN REGION OF INDIA

gained popularity due to various medicinal properties.

It grows well in moist and wet climatic conditions on
wide range of soils such as sandy loam, clay loam and
even on rocky places, with an average pH of 5.9 and
78% moisture5. It is a shade loving plant, thus can be
cultivated easily in areas, which has very low light
intensity and are shady. Generally grow in ditch
banks, thicket field margins, forests, wet meadows,
slopes, streams sides, ravines, rocky hills or
mountains parts and river banks.
Botanical description
Perennial herb attained 30 to 60 cm height with
creeping and thin rhizomatous in nature (Plate 1a).
Basal part of stems creeping rooted in whorls at
nodes, apical part erect, glabrous/pubescent on nodes
and sometimes purplish-red in colour. Stipular sheath
is 1-2.5 cm in length and one fourth to half as long as
petiole, usually ciliate, base enlarged and slightly
clasping. Petiole is 1-3.5 cm in length and glabrous.
The leaf blade broadly ovate to cordate, 4-10 cm long,
3-6 cm wide, densely glandular, usually glabrous,
sometimes pubescent at vein axils, generally purplish
abaxially, apex shortly acuminate; veins 5-7, basal or
innermost pair arising ca. 5 above base. Inflorescences
are yellow in colour with 1.5-2.5 cm long and 3-6 mm
wide; peduncles are 1.5-3 cm in length and sub
glabrous; involucral bracts oblong to ovate, 10-15 mm
long, 5-7 mm wide with rounded apex. Bracts are
whitish, linear and inconspicuous (Plate 1b). Stamens
are 3 times longer than ovary and having 2-3 mm
capsule with persistent style. Seed are dicotyledons,
sterile and sometimes produce false plants and the
1000 seed weight is around 0.04g6,7. Its rhizomatous
root spreads under the soil up to 90 cm on the sides in a
year. Roots start sprouting after winter months.

433

Propagation
It is propagated through rhizomes (Plate 1c), root
ball and seeds; however, the plants produced from
seeds are usually sterile. The root balls/rhizomes are
sliced in to small pieces and placed 5 cm below the
surface of soil with a spacing of 15100 cm. It is
planted early in the month of February. It starts
flowering in the month of April and continued up to
November and fruiting occurs between May to
December. One and half month old plants are suitable
for consumption and marketing.
Biochemical properties
The herb contains a variety of flavonoids,
glycosides, pyridine alkaloids and essential oils8. Four
flavonoids, viz. rutin, hyperoside, quercitrin and
quercetin, have been reported from H. cordata9. The
protein contents in leaves and rhizomes are 8.13 %
and 11.5 %, respectively. The herb has disagreeable
odour which is due to the presence of -myrcene and
2-decanone. The fatty acid content of the essential oil
is about 81%10. Among the methylated fatty acids,
capric acid methyl (43.66%), methyl laurate
(16.15%), methyl hexadecanoate (9.27%), undecanoic
acid methyl (5.62%), methyl oleate (1.98%) and
methyl linoleate (1.40%) are predominant. Other
major constituents were -myrcene (1.62%),
1-terpinen-4-ol (1.59%), decanal (1.49%) and
2-undecanone (1.47%). The roots contain crude fat
(2.070.06%), protein (12.220.22%), carbohydrate
(23.452.11%) and minerals such as Na (1.30 mg/g),
K (49.65 mg/g), Ca (8.25 mg/g), Mn (0.08 mg/g) and
Fe (0.98 mg/g) 11. The micronutrient profile of this
herb was also observed by Murugkar (2006)12 on the
basis % fresh weight and it has Ca (89.7 %), Fe
(3.3%) and -carotene (28.6). The herb also contains

Plate 1 (a) A bundle of full-grown herb (b) flower and (c) fresh rhizomes of Houttuynia cordata

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INDIAN J NAT PROD RESOUR, DECEMBER 2013

significant amount of water soluble polysaccharides

such as galacturonic acid (29.4%) and galactose
(24.0%), rhamnose (17.2%), arabinose (13.5%),
glucuronic acid (6.8%), glucose (5.3%), xylose
(2.1%) and mannose (1.8%)13.
Ethnobotanical uses
The herb has many health benefits and it acts against
allergies, asthma and bacterial infection and removes
free radicals (toxins) from the body. It has strong
antioxidant properties which act against stress related
diseases such as cancer, coronary heart disease,
diabetes14 and infections15. Leaves have been used to
treat the measles, dysentery and gonorrhoea16. This
plant is proven to have antibacterial effects against
many bacteria such as, Trichophyton, Staphylococci,
Gonococci, Tubercle bacilli, etc. The whole plant is
dried/brewed and used for treatments in antipyretics,
diuretics,
pus
removal, constipation,
colds,
detoxification, swelling, hypertension, tuberculosis and
para-nasal sinusitis. The injection prepared from this
plant is a traditional Chinese medicine used in severe
acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a life-threatening
form of pneumonia owing to the effect of curbing
inflammation17,18. It is antidotal astringent, antiinflammatory, analgesic and slow laxative. The root
juice is applied on skin to treat wounds and other skin
problems by the inhabitants in the North-east region19.
Externally it is used for abscesses, anal prolapsed, bone
growth stimulation, injuries, snake bites15, swelling,
urinary troubles and detoxification16. It is found that the
leaves of Houttuynia cordata and Psidium guajava
with stalk of Lasia spinosa possess a profound
anticestodal efficacy20. The excess consumption also
causes anti-fertility and itching as perceived by the
people in this region.
In NE region, the Assamese people collect and
prepared Chuttney from the leaves of this herb. The
Manipuri people eat both raw and cooked leaves and
stems, while local healer (Maiba) use the herb to cure
dysentery, muscular sprain and stomach ulcer21 and
anaemia, gastritis and tuberculosis22. Juice extracted
from root is taken in indigestion by the inhabitants in
North-eastern region of India. The tribes in North
Cachar hills of Assam eat leaves and stems to control the
dysentery23. In parts of North Bengal and Sikkim states
leaves are used as anthelmintic and used in the
traditional medicine by Naga and Manipuri tribes to treat
intestinal worm infection24. The Apatani tribe of Zero
valley in Arunachal Pradesh use this herb for freshness,
deep sleep and cardio-vascular disorders25. Tender

young shoots and leaves juice is taken in case of cholera,

dysentery and curing blood deficiency by Khasi, Jaintia
and Garo and other tribes in Meghalaya26.
Market importance
It is sold in small bundles in the local markets of
Assam and Meghalaya and one bundle of
approximately 50 g of weight costs about Rs.3-5. The
retail price in plain and hilly areas of Manipur range
between Rs.75-110 per kg. The aerial parts of herb
have been sold @ Rs.10-15 per bundle (250-300g) in
retail market of North Cachar Hills area of Assam22.
Conclusion
H. cordata is extensively used as leafy vegetable,
salad and to cure various ailments by the natives of
NE region of India. It contains water soluble
polysaccharides which are useful for medicine and
food industry. Realizing the importance of this
species, a sysematic management and utilization
needs to be initiated.
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