Mikania Cordata

This shrub is common throughout the hot zones of India. The leaves are used in traditional medicine to treat itchiness and as a wound plaster. Neuropharmacological studies in animals (mice) have demonstrated that the root extract induces profound behavioral changes, particularly the disappearance of aggressive behavior. The root extract appears to have strong narcotic effects upon the central nervous system as well as analgesic properties (Bhattacharya et al. 1988). In the medicine of the Andean Callawaya, a closely related species (Mikania scandens Willd., known as guaco) is used together with other plants (see Erythroxylum coca, Cytisus spp.) to treat rheumatism (Bastien 1987, 131 *).

Literature Bhattacharya, Siddhartha, Siddhartha Pal, and A. K. Nag Chaudhuri. 1988. Neuropharmacological studies on Mikania cordata root extract. Planta Medica 54:483-87.