Feature l 08

Herbal Tech Industry

March 2008

Dactylorhiza hatagirea
A High Value Medicinal Plant of Himalayas
Pal Murugan .M , X. Janifer Raj and G. Phani Kumar
Plants, as extracts and in various other forms, are being used for centuries in different traditional systems of medicine for the treatment of human ailments. Uses of herbs and herbal based medicinal products have certain advantage, for instance, the plants are generally readily available, production costs are low and above all the products are biodegradable. The World Health Organization survey (2002) revealed that nearly 80% of population living in developing countries relies on the herbal medicine products for their healthcare needs. In India, more than 7800 manufacturing units are involved in the production of natural health products and traditional plant based herbal formulation which requires more than 2000 tonnes of medicinal plants raw material annually. Dactylorhiza hatagirea, a high value medicinal plant, is reported to occur in the temperate to alpine regions (2500-5000 above msl) In India, it is available in plenty in the regions such as the Ladakh, the Lahul- Spiti,and other high altitude areas of the Mighty Himalaya.It is estimated that the annual demand for Dactylorhiza hatagirea is approximately 5000 tonnes in the international market (Kala et al., 2001). Fig.1 Dactylorhiza hatagirea
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Scientific Classification
Kingdom : Division : Class : Order : Family : Genus : Species : Syn : Common Name: Plantae Magnoliophyta Liliopsida Asparagales Orchidaceae Dactylorhiza hatagirea Orchis latifoli auctplur Marsh Orchis in English and Salap in Urdu.

Aconitum heterophyllum and mineral salts, and made as tablets. Two to three tablets are taken twice day with hot water to treat fever till recovery (Ballabh and Chaurasia, 2007). Studies on male Albino Rats have also revealed the effectiveness of this herb in improving the functionality of sexual organ as well as the aphrodisiac activity which may be helpful in improving the sexual behavior and performance. The results also support the claims that the plant is capable of being nominated as herbal cure for sexual dysfunction (Thakur and Dixit, 2007). Further studies underpinning the chemical (B) Tuberous roots (a) Flowers in a raceme characterization of the herb and their effect on testicular functions could pave Occurrence way for the development of herbal drugs against sexual These orchids are distributed throughout the subarctic and abnormalities. D. hatagirea has been categorized as critically temperate Northern hemisphere regions like Europe, Scandinavia endangered (CAMP status), critically rare (Samant et al., 2001) to North Africa, Madeira, Iceland, West Asia, North Asia, the (IUCNstatus) and is listed under appendix II of CITES (Uniyal et Himalayas, North America and Alaska.These terrestrial orchids al., 2001) because of high demand in national and international grow in basic soils ,wet meadows, bogs, heathland and in areas market. Besides these, being an orchid, D. hatagirea can be sparsely populated by trees. As they are tuberous geophytes, they considered as an inherently slow-growing and poorly regenerating store large amounts of water in the thickened underground stem to species because of pollinator specificity and requirement for survive arid conditions. mycorrhizal association. Thus it becomes more important from conservation point of view. The species is also categorized as near Cultivation practices endemic(Dhar and Samant,1993). Therefore it is the need of the hour to develop a sustainable and coordinated exploitation to This orchids is easily cultivated in any good garden soil and it conserve this plant. prefers a rich sandy loam soil and damp condition. The tubers are harvested during August September in Ladakh region and stored in a cool frost-free place and replanted in the April May. The roots of this species are commonly collected from the wild for medicinal use (Ripu et al., 2006)

Naming
Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D. Don) Soo. is a potential medicinal plant belongs to the family Orchidaceae. The name Dactylorhiza is derived from Greek words "daktylos" (finger) and "rhiza" (root), referring to the palmately two- to five-lobed tubers of this genus (Foley,2005). The tuber of this particular species has got the Tibetan name "Wang lag. The name is based on two things. For one thing, there are the medicinal properties. This is reflected by "Wang", which stands for Wang po, the Vedic God Indra, who is associated with longevity and virility and who is being worshipped both in India and in Tibet as a bestower of these qualities. Then, there is the shape of the tuber which resembles a hand. "Lag pa" means hand in Tibetan. Another well known name for various orchid tubers is "Salep". Dactylorhiza were previously classified under Orchis which has two round tubers. This orchid is commonly known as Salam Panja ( Kasmir) and Hitajari (Uttarakhand )

References
1. Asolkar, L.V., Kakkar,KK. And Chakre,O.J., Second Supplement to Glossary of Indian Medicinal plants with Active Prionciples, CSIR, New Delhi 1992 Part I, P.256

Medicinal properties
This orchid is famous not only in Tibetan Medicine but also in Ayurveda, Unani etc. In India, people boil them with milk and use the brew as a rejuvenating tonic, aphrodisiac and to relieve hoarseness (Asolkar et al.,1992). The Salep obtained from this orchid is used as sizing material in silk industry (Anonymous,1976) The bulbous roots of Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D.Don) Soo,synonymous to the tubers of Orchis macula (Orchidaceae) serve as a source of Salep, used traditionally in Indian subcontinent specially in the Northern region and Nepal as aphrodisiac and sexual stimulant. It is considered as a nutritive and restorative tonic and also as an alternative source of Salep. Locally it is used as a nervine tonic also (Kala, 2004) The tuber roots have been used by the Ladakhi tribes of Nubra valley in treating kidney complaints (Chaurasia and Brahma Singh, 1996). The tuber roots of this orchid used for the treatment of fever along with other medicinal herbs in the Tibetian system of medicine known as Amchi Medicine in Ladakh. The tubers are collected in October, shade dried and powdered along with leaves of Azadirachta indica, Ficus religiosa,seeds of Punica granatum fruits of Terminalia chebula and Emblica officinalis, roots of

2. Anonymous, The Wealth of India, CSIR, New Delhi 1976 , Vol X, pp 77-81 3. Ballabh, B and Chaurasia, O.P.2007.Traditional medicinal plants of cold desert Ladakh used in treatment of cold, cough and fever. J.of Ethanopharmocology. Article in Press. 4. Chaurasia, O.P., and Brahma Singh. Cold Desert Plants, Vol II, Nubra Valley, Field Research Laboratory (FRL),DRDO, Leh (Jammu and Kashmir),1996.pp 6-7 5. Dhar, U. and Samant. 1993. S. S., J. Biogeogr., 20, 659668. 6. Foley, M .2005. Orchids of the British isles. Griffin press Publishing Ltd., Cherltenham, UK( ISBN 0954191617) 7. Kala,C.P., Rawat,G.S., and Mukherjee,S.K, 2001.In Himalayan Medicinal Plants-Potential and Prospects (Eds Samant,S.S., Dhar,U. and Palni,L.M.S),Gynodaya Prakashan Nainital India, pp 271-284 8. Kala C.P, Current Science, 2004, 86.1058-1059 9. Mayank Thakur and V. K. Dixit.2007.Aphrodisiac Activity of Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D.Don) Soo in Male Albino Rats. eCAM 2007; 4(S1)2931. 10. Ripu M Kunwar, Bal K Nepal,Hari B kshhetri,Sanjeev K Rai and Rainer W. 2006. Ethnomedicine in Himalaya: a case study from Dolpa, Humla, Jumla and Mustang districts of Nepal. J. of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, Vol 2: 11. Samant, S. S., Dhar, U. and Rawal, R. S.,In Himalayan Medicinal Plants Potentialand Prospects (eds Samant, S. S., Dhar, U. and Palni, L. M. S.), GyanodayaPrakashan, Nainital, 2001, pp. 166184. 12. Uniyal, S. K., Awasthi, A. and Rawat, G.S., Curr. Sci., 2002, 82, 12461252. 13. World health organisation, WHO/ EDM/ TRM/ 2002.1, WHO, Geneva 2002

Plant botany
Dactylorhiza hatagirea is a perennial herb with erect, stout and hollow leafy stem. The leaves are long lanceolate and also speckled. They grow along a rather long stem which reaches a height of 70-90 cm. Leaves higher on the stem are shorter than leaves lower on the stem. The inflorescence, compared to the length of the plant, is rather short. It consists of a compact raceme with 25-50 purple coloured flowers with green coloured bract and develop from axillary buds. Flowering occurs from June to August.The roots are tuberous and have 2 or 3 lobes.

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About the Authors

1. Dr.M.Pal Murugan, Scientist 'B', Field Research Laboratory (FRL), Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO),Ministry of Defence, C/O 56 APO, Leh, Ladakh. E-mail:palmurugan17@yahoo.co.in 2. X. Janifer Raj, M.Sc Student, Department of Molecular Biology and Plant Biotechnology, TamilNadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore - 641003. E-mail:jennigenes@yahoo.co.in 3. Dr. G. Phani Kumar, Scientist 'C ', Field Research Laboratory (FRL), Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), Ministry of Defence, C/O 56 APO, Leh, Ladakh.

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