Tinospora cordifolia

Plant Profile

Tinospora cordifolia - a close view

Therapeutic uses

• Giloe is a tonic and has alterative, diuretic, and aphrodisiac properties.
• It is a febrifuge used in malarial and chronic fever.
• It is also a liver tonic.
• The plant is used in general debility, loss of appetite, fevers, urinary disorders, diabetes, rheumatism, and dyspepsia.
• Fresh plant is more efficacious than dried plant.

Morphological characteristics

• Gurcha is a gregarious glabrous, twiner.
• Older stems are up to 2 cm in diameter and have corky bark.
• Aerial roots arise from nodal scars of branches.
• Stem and branches are specked with white vertical lenticels.
• Bark is grey-brown or creamy white, warty, papery thin, and peels off easily.
• Leaves are 5–15 cm, ovate, and acute.
• They are membranous when young but become more or less leathery with age.

Floral characteristics

• Flowers are yellow, unisexual, minute, and less than 2 mm in size.
• Male flowers are grouped in axillary racemes, while female flowers are solitary.
• Fruit is an ovoid and succulent drupe, lustrous, red in colour, and of the size of a large pea, having a single seed.
• Seed is fleshy and curved. Flowering occurs in May–June, while fruiting is witnessed in September–October.

Distribution

• The species is endemic to India and is common throughout tropical and subtropical zones at an altitude of 600 m.

Tinospora cordifolia - plant

Climate and soil

• The plant grows in subtropical and tropical climate.
• Light medium sandy loam soil rich in organic matter, and with adequate drainage, is suitable for its cultivation.
• It does not tolerate high rainfall or waterlogged conditions.

Propagation material

• Stem cuttings are the best planting material for raising commercial crop.
• The cuttings can be obtained from mother plants in June–July.
• The plant can also be raised using seeds. Seeds take almost more than double the time to mature and yield the same quantity of drug.

Agro-technique

Nursery technique

Raising propagules

• The stem cuttings are sown directly in the field.
• Cuttings are obtained from older stems with nodes.
• Cuttings should be sown within 24 hours of their removal from the mother plant. Meanwhile, they should be half-dipped in water vertically.

Propagule rate and pretreatment

• About 2500 cuttings are required for plantation in 1 hectare of land.
• No specific treatment is required before sowing.

Tinospora cordifolia - crop view

Planting in the field

Land preparation and fertilizer application

• The land is ploughed, harrowed, and made weed-free.
• A basal dose of FYM (farmyard manure) @ 10 tonnes per hectare and half dose of nitrogen (75 kg) are applied at the time of land preparation.

Transplanting and optimum spacing

• The stem cuttings with nodes are sown directly in the field.
• An optimum spacing of 3 m × 3 m is recommended for better yield.
• The plant requires support to grow, which can be provided by raising wooden stakes or trellis.
• Already growing shrubs or trees can also support the plant.

Intercropping system

• Being a large twiner, it needs a host to twine and covers the host in a very short period.
• If the stem cuttings with aerial roots are thrown over trees, they start growing and strike roots in the ground.

Interculture and maintenance practices

• Follow-up dose of 10 tonnes of FYM with 75 kg nitrogen (20% nitrogen content) is recommended.
• About two to three weedings and hoeings are required for good growth of twiner.
• The inter-row spaces between plants should be kept weed-free by frequent weeding and hoeing, as the plants may get suppressed by weeds, especially during early stages of growth.

Irrigation practices

• The crop is grown under rain-fed conditions.
• However, occasional irrigation during extremes of cold and hot weather may help the crop survive adverse conditions.

Disease and pest control

• No serious insect pest infestation or disease has been reported in this crop.

Tinospora cordifolia - fruits and flowers

Harvest management

Crop maturity and harvesting

• The stem is harvested during autumn when it develops to a diameter of more than 2.5 cm. Basal part is left for further growth.

Post-harvest management

• The stem should be cut into small pieces and dried in shade.
• It can be stored in gunny bags, and kept in cool and airy storage godowns.
• Stem bark peels off even by touch, thus stem should be cut very cautiously as peeled stem decays very soon.

Chemical constituents

• The stem contains bitter substances, of which tinosporine, a bitter principle, is a marker compound.
• Other compounds include gilonin, gilosterol, gilenin, and furanoditerpenes.

Yield

• The plant yields about 1500 kg of fresh woody stem, reduced to 300 kg of dry weight per hectare in about two years.

Source :Agro-Techniques of selected medicinal plants