Cullen corylifolium

Cullen corylifolium, synonym Psoralea corylifolia,[1] (babchi) is a plant used in Indian and Chinese traditional medicine. The seeds of this plant contain a variety of coumarins, including psoralen.

Cullen corylifolium
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Cullen
Species:
C. corylifolium
Binomial name
Cullen corylifolium
(L.) Medik.[1]
Synonyms[1]
  • Bipontinia corylifolia (L.) Alef.
  • Dorychnium corylifolium (L.) Moench
  • Lotodes corylifolia (L.) Kuntze
  • Psoralea corylifolia L.
  • Psoralea patersoniae Schönland
  • Trifolium unifolium Forssk.

Etymology

Corylifolium comes from similarity of the leaves to those of Corylus, a genus of tree in northern world regions, such as Sweden.[2]

Description

Cullen corylifolium grows 50–90 cm tall and is an annual plant. It has pale-purple flowers in short, condensed, axillary spikes. Its corolla is pale purple. Flowers one-seeded fruits. The most distinctive feature is the occurrence of minute brown glands which are immersed in surface tissue on all parts of the plant, giving it a distinctive and pleasant fragrance.[2]

Habitat and distribution

Cullen corylifolium is native to north-east tropical Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, and tropical and subtropical Asia, including India and Sri Lanka.[1] It was occasionally cultivated in Arabia for its supposed medicinal properties.[2]

Chemical constituents

Cullen corylifolium extract contains numerous phytochemicals, including flavonoids (neobavaisoflavone, isobavachalcone, bavachalcone, bavachinin, bavachin, corylin, corylifol, corylifolin and 6-prenylnaringenin), coumarins (psoralidin, psoralen, isopsoralen and angelicin), meroterpenes (bakuchiol, and 3-hydroxybakuchiol).[3]

Use in traditional medicine

Cullen corylifolium, or bu gu zhi in traditional Chinese medicine,[4] is an herb used as a therapy for several disorders, such as treatment of lichen planus by psoralen extract combined with sunlight exposure.[5]

References
  1. "Cullen corylifolium (L.) Medik". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  2. G. Miller, Anthony; Morris, Miranda (1988). Plants of Dhofar. Oman. pp. 174–5. ISBN 978-071570808-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. Zhao LH, Huang CY, Shan Z, Xiang BG, Mei LH (2005). "Fingerprint analysis of Psoralea corylifolia by HLPC and LC-MS". J Chromatogr B. 821 (1): 67–74. doi:10.1016/j.jchromb.2005.04.008. PMID 15905140.
  4. Cheng, Xia (2001). Easy Comprehension of Traditional Chinese Medicine: Chinese Materia Medica, Canadian Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, p343.
  5. Atzmony, L; Reiter, O; Hodak, E; Gdalevich, M; Mimouni, D (2016). "Treatments for cutaneous lichen planus: A systematic review and meta-analysis". American Journal of Clinical Dermatology. 17 (1): 11–22. doi:10.1007/s40257-015-0160-6. ISSN 1175-0561. PMID 26507510. S2CID 3711429.


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