Gunchi Surkh | Gunja Surkh | Rosary Pea | Abrus Precatorius | گھونگچی سرخ

Botanical Name : Abrus Precatorius

Primary Medicinal Uses

Skin related problems

Abrus precatorius is very effective in treating leucoderma. It you are infected with acne sores or boils, the leaves of the herb serve as a great medicine. It also helps getting you rid of itching and other skin related problems.

Scratches from pet animals

If you are hurt by pet animals leading to scratches or wounds, apply a paste of the herb over the affected area.

Abdominal Pain

Prepare a paste of the roots and apply it over the abdomen. The herb cures the wounds rapidly.

Hair Growth

The oil extracted from the leaves of Gundumani has great medicinal properties in stimulating the growth of hairs.

Intestinal worms

Take the seeds of the plant. Dry them and powder them. Take the powder once for 2 days. Worms get killed.

Cough

Powder the roots of the herb and mix it with butter. Consume it three times a day. Cough gets cured. A tea is made from the leaves of the plant and consumed which is a good medicine for curing cold, cough and fever.

Additional Information

Abrus precatorius, the most common species within the genus, is an underutilized food legume distributed globally in tropical areas. In countries like, South Africa, the leaves and roots of this plant are used to cure diseases like asthma, cough, tuberculosis, bronchitis, and chest pain

Abrus precatorius plants are seen growing wild throughout all tropical forests, and are propagated through seeds. Traditionally the seeds were used for decorative and gold-weighing purposes. The plant is used in traditional herbal formulations to treat many ailments, mainly scratches, sores, and wounds caused by dogs, cats, and mice. In addition, it is also used to treat leucoderma, tetanus, and rabies (Chopra et al., 1956). The dry seeds are powdered and taken one teaspoonful once a day for 2 days to cure worm infections. Various African and Indian tribes use the powdered seeds as oral contraceptives. They have also been used against chronic eye diseases, and particularly against trachoma (Acharya, 2004). As well as the seeds, the leaves and roots of the plants are also used for medicinal purposes.

Abrus precatorius L. (Fabaceae), commonly known as “Rosary Pea” is an ornamental, twining, woody vine which grows to a height of 10–20 ft when supported by other plants. Leaves are alternate, compound, feather-like, with small oblong leaflets while the flowers are numerous and appear in the leaf axils along the stems. The flowers are also small and occur in clusters 1–3 inches long, usually red to purple, or occasionally white. The fruit is a legume about 3 cm long containing hard ovoid seeds about 1 cm long.

The leaves and roots of this plant are used in South Africa to cure tuberculosis, bronchitis, whooping cough, chest complaints, and asthma. The leaves of the plants also are used as tea by Tanzanian traditional healers to treat epilepsy.

In Zimbabwe, the plant is popularly used against schistosomiasis. The seeds of Abrus pretorius are used in Nigeria to treat diarrhea.

Precaution:

However, Abrus precatorius (mostly the seeds) was reported as actually one of the world’s most dangerous plants, after the castor oil plant Ricinus communis L. (Euphorbiaceae) and spurge laurel, Daphne laureola. The toxicity of the plant was found to be due to the presence of a lectin poison called abrin, so toxic that, if swallowed or chewed, it will result in almost immediate death. Abrin is one of the most lethal known poison, inducing severe vomiting, high fever, drooling, highly elevated levels of nervous tension, liver failure, bladder failure, bleeding from the eyes, and convulsive seizures. Abrin is a toxalbumen very similar to ricin found in castor seeds. It is a lectin composed of two polypeptide chains (A and B) connected by a disulfide bridge. This basic structure of two peptide chains linked by a single disulfide chain is similar to that of botulinum toxin, tetanus toxin, cholera toxin, diphtheria toxin, and insulin. The usual fatal dose of Ricinus communis is reported to be just 2–3 seeds for an average adult. Abrus poisoning generally causes severe vomiting and abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea, convulsions, and alteration of sensorium with depression of central nervous system. Toxicological analysis was reported not helpful in cases of abrus poisoning while thin layer chromatography using the seed extract and patient’s serum could be helpful. The decontamination (by stomach wash) was suggested as the major mode of treatment of abrus poisoning as no antidote is available yet. However, as the cause of death in most reported cases appears to be renal failure, hemodialysis is indicated in severe poisoning with associated renal compromise۔