Bhumyalaki is an annual winter weed herb which grows in the wild after first showers of monsoon. It is native to India mainly seen in the tropical coastal areas and found in a variety of tropical and subtropical countries around the world. In India it is seen in States of Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, etc. “Bhumi amla” is commonly known as Chanca piedra, stone breaker and seed under leaves or gale of the wind. “Phyllanthus” means “leaf and flower” because the flower, as well as the fruit, seem to become one with the leaf. Bhumyamalaki had shown a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities including anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-plasmodial, anti-malarial, anti-diabetic, diuretic, hypolipidemic, antioxidant, hepato-protective, nephron-protective and anticancer properties.
In the Ayurvedic System of medicine the whole plant of Bhumyamalaki can be used for medicinal purposes. This drug is bitter, astringent, stomachic, diuretic, acrid with hepato-protective, lipid lowering, antidiabetic & anti-fungal actions. Ayurveda also recommends its use for asthma, increasing appetite, improving digestion, stimulating liver, producing laxative effects, bronchitis, leprosy, anaemia, urinary discharge, asthma etc. Bhumyamalaki is very popular in folk medicine where the whole plant, fresh leaves and fruits are used in the treatment of various diseases, particularly hepatitis and other viral infection. It is effectively used in ailments like dysentery, influenza, vaginitis, tumours, diabetes, diuretics, jaundice, kidney stone, dyspepsia. The plant is commonly harvested wildly for local use as a medicine, and is also the source of a dye. Local people of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand use it for the treatment of skin diseases, indigestion, cough, ulcers etc. In the Unani System of medicine this herb is good for sores and chronic dysentery. Its seeds are used in the treatment of ulcers, wounds, scabies and ringworms. The root of this plant is considered to be an excellent remedy for liver diseases. Phyllanthus is known for its liver healing properties so used in Chinese medicine for treatment of liver diseases.
The hot water extract of the entire plant of Bhumyamalaki is administered orally in fevers, diabetes, venereal diseases & malaria. They act as anti-inflammatory, diuretic, antipyretic, spasmolytic and laxative formulation. Dried entire plant grounded in buttermilk is administered orally for jaundice. Fresh leaf juice is used externally for cuts and bruises. Orally the decoction is used for coughs in infants. For eye diseases the juice is mixed with castor oil and applied to the eye. Infusion of dried leaves is administered orally for dysentery and diarrhoea. Infusion of green root is taken orally to treat heavy menstrual periods. Fresh plant juice is taken orally for genito-urinary disorders. The fruit is used externally for tubercular ulcers, scabies and ringworm. Water extract of the leaves and roots of Bhumyamalaki is taken orally for diabetes, and as a diuretic.
Bhumyamalaki are high in antioxidants, vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, dietary fibres, amino acids, minerals, steroids, alkaloids, antiviral and antibacterial phytochemicals all of which help to rejuvenate the immune system and effective against many communicable diseases. Seed is an important part of the plant which is used in the problems of stomach, genitourinary system, liver, kidney and spleen. Bhumyamalaki has long played a pivotal role in treatments for urinary tract stones and ulcers. It is effective in curing conditions like diarrhoea, dysentery, intermittent fevers, ophthalmopathy, scabies, gonorrhoea, menorrhagia, genital infections and wounds. Recent studies shows that Bhumyamalaki is an immunomodulator and also reports to possess an antiviral activity against several RNA viruses, such as hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus. As this precious drug is an abundant natural resource available in our country, it can reduce health-care costs associated with conventional drugs which are often inaccessible to the majority of the population for treatment like that of Hepatitis.
