Caralluma (Sensu lato): Antiobesity Plants

by A. Ugraiah, S Karuppusamy, T Pullaiah

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Caralluma has attracted the attention of general public because of its antiobesity activity and fascinating cacti growth with ornament flowers. If you search for Caralluma on the internet you get hundreds of websites for its antiobesity properties. Capsules of this plant are being sold in the west at exorbitant prices. It is a million dollar business. Because of this public has developed interest on this plant. This plant group is much attracted the gardeners, cacati lovers and horticulturists recently for its ornamental habit. Caralluma has been usually accepted to include about 120 species African, Asian and South East European distribution. The genus is now segregated into 17 genera by Plowes. Of these 4 genera, 16 species and 10 varieties occur in India. This genus is medicinally important as it shows diverse medicinal properties like Analgesic, anthelmintic, antiarthritic, antigastric ulcer, antihyperglycemic, anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, antirheumatic, antitumor, appetite suppressant, antiobesity, antioxidant, cytoprotective, Immunostimulating etc. The book includes about 199 pages of text, about 25 line drawings and 28 plates of colour photos. The book includes Introduction, Medicinal uses, Molecular taxonomy, In vitro propagation, Past and Present work, systematic enumeration, websites on Caralluma, References and Pioneer workers on Stapeliad taxonomy. The introductory chapter includes about the history of Caralluma. The following chapter includes medicinal uses and chemical constituents. All the information on the medicinal uses and research on medicinal properties of Caralluma is given in this chapter. Modern tools using molecular taxonomy is used in solving taxonomic problems. This aspect is dealt in chapter 3. Propagation of Caralluma through tissue culture is dealt in chapter 4. Past and present work on floristic of Caralluma in India and abroad is dealt with in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 deals with the systematic enumeration of all the taxa of Caralluma in India. It gives citation, detailed description, distribution of Caralluma in the world and India, nomenclatural notes and line drawings for identification. Websites about Caralluma, References, Contributors to the taxonomy of Caralluma are also given at the end.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR S Karuppusamy

Dr. S. Karuppusamy is Research Associate in Department of Botany, Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapur. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from Gandhigram Rural Institute, Deemed University, Tamil Nadu in 2003. Later he worked as a Post Doctoral Fellow in Department of Biotechnology, Sri Krishnadevaraya University. He published more than 20 research papers in referred journals. He is life member of many scientific societies and recipient of Young Botanist Award 2006 from Indian Botanical Society.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR T Pullaiah

Prof. T Pullah obtained his M.Sc. (1971) and Ph.D. degrees in Botany from Andhra University. He was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Moscow State University, Russia, during 1976-1978. He traveled widely in Europe and visited Universities and Botanic Gardens in about 16 countries. He joined Sri Krishnadevaraya University as Lecturer in 1979 and became Professor in 1993. He held several positions in the University as Dean, Faculty of Life Sciences, Head, Department of Botany; Chairman, Board of Studies in Botany; Head, Department of Sericulture; Co-ordinator and Chairman, Board of Studies in Biotechnology; Principal, S K University College and Warden, S K, University Hostels. He has published 43 books, 238 research papers and 35 popular articles in Journals of repute. He is the Principal – Investigator of 20 major Research Projects totaling more than a Crore of Rupees funded by DBT, DST, CSIR, UGC, BSI, WWF, GCC, BARC etc. Under his guidance, 45 students obtained their Ph.D. degrees and 34 students their M.Phil. degrees. He is the recipient of Best Teacher Award from the Government of Andhra Pradesh, Prof. P Maheshwari Gold Medal of the Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxanomy. He served as the Vice President of the Indian Botanical Society and presently the Councilor of the same. He served as a member of Species Survival commission of International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).