''Helicteres isora'', sometimes called the Indian screw tree, is a small tree or large shrub found in southern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and northern

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

. It is usually assigned to the family

Malvaceae Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar ...

, but it is sometimes assigned to the family

Sterculiaceae Sterculiaceae was a family of flowering plant based on the genus ''Sterculia''. Genera formerly included in Sterculiaceae are now placed in the family Malvaceae, in the subfamilies: Byttnerioideae, Dombeyoideae, Helicteroideae and Sterculioideae. A ...

. The red flowers are pollinated mainly by

sunbird Sunbirds and spiderhunters make up the family Nectariniidae of passerine birds. They are small, slender passerines from the Old World, usually with downward-curved bills. Many are brightly coloured, often with iridescent feathers, particularly i ...

s, butterflies, and

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order (biology), order of insects, comprising the sawfly, sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are Par ...

.Warrier, P. K., Nambiar, V. P. K., & Ramankutty, C. (1994). Indian medicinal plants: A compendium of 500 species (Vol. 3). Orient Blackswan. 132-135Ahuja BS. Medicinal plants of Saharanpur (1965), Vedicbooks.net, 40-41Kirtikar KR, Basu BD. (1995) Indian medicinal plants. Vol. 1. Dehradun, India: International book distributors; 371–2Trivedi PC, Ethanobotany,2002; Sur, RR and Halder AC; 146-168 In the 19th century fibers from the bark were used to make rope and sacks, although nowadays the tree is harvested for the fruits and roots which are used in folk medicine.

Common names

*Sanskrit - Avartani, avartphala *Hindi - Marorphali (मरोड़ फली ), bhendu, jonkphal *English - Indian screw tree, East Indian screw tree, deer's horn *Marathi - Kewad, muradsheng (मुरुड शेंग) *Bengali - Antamora (আঁতমোড়া) *Gujarati - Maradashingh *Kannada - Yedmuri *Tamil - (வலம்புரி) *Telugu - Vadampiri *Malayalam - (ഇടംപിരി വലംപിരി, ഇടംപിരി വലംപിരി) *Thai - S̄amunpra pai ka bid (สมุนไพรปอกะบิด) *Sinhala - Liniya (ලීනිය) Other vernacular names include mochra, mudmudika, kurkurbicha, sinkri, valumbari, yedamuri, pita baranda, balampari, guvadarra, pedamuri, ishwarmuri, murmuriya, and vurkatee. In Indonesia it is called buah kayu ules or ulet-ulet on

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

.Satake, T., Kamiya, K., Saiki, Y., Hama, T., Fujimoto, Y., Kitanaka, S., ... & Umar, M. (1999). Studies on the Constituents of Fruits of Helicteres isora L. Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin -Tokyo-, 47, 1444–1447. Odia: Modi modika( ମୋଡି ମୋଡ଼ିକା)

Description

''H. isora'' is a small tree or large shrub, five to eight metres in height. It has grey bark and alternately arranged, hairy, ovate leaves with serrate margins. Its flowers are brick red or orange-red, and its fruits are green when raw, brown or grey when dried, and twisted, with a screw at its pointed end. Seeds of the plant are black or brown and are highly polished, roughly rhomboid, and rectangular or triangular. Pollinators of the flower include the

jungle babbler The jungle babbler (''Argya striata'') is a member of the family Leiothrichidae found in the Indian subcontinent. Jungle babblers are gregarious birds that forage in small groups of six to ten birds, a habit that has given them the popular name ...

, the

golden-fronted leafbird The golden-fronted leafbird (''Chloropsis aurifrons'') is a species of leafbird. It is found from the Indian subcontinent and south-western China, to south-east Asia and Sumatra. It builds its nest in a tree, laying 2-3 eggs. This species eats i ...

, the ashy drongo, and the white-bellied drongo.

Distribution

''H. isora'' is a tropical Asian plant. It is found throughout

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. However, it gregariously grows in dry deciduous forests of central and western India on hill slopes. It is also found on the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Economic importance

Fruits of ''H. isora'' are exported from India to 19 countries, with a 36-month value of US$ 274,055. At the farm gate local harvesters receive 0.3 US$ per kg, while it can be sold overseas for 2 US$.

Phytochemistry

''H. isora'' is a rich source of

antioxidant Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals. This can lead to polymerization and other chain reactions. They are frequently added to industrial products, such as fuels and lubricant ...

carbohydrate In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or ma ...

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

s, fibre,

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to ...

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

, and

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

.Gayathri, P., Gayathri Devi, S., & Sivagami Srinivasan, S. S. (2010). Screening and Quantitation of Phytochemicals and Nutritional Components of the Fruit and Bark of Helicteres isora. Hygeia journal for drugs and medicines, 2(1), 57-62. Active phytoconstituents include

gallic acid Gallic acid (also known as 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid) is a trihydroxybenzoic acid with the formula C6 H2( OH)3CO2H. It is classified as a phenolic acid. It is found in gallnuts, sumac, witch hazel, tea leaves, oak bark, and other plants. It i ...

caffeic acid Caffeic acid is an organic compound that is classified as a hydroxycinnamic acid. This yellow solid consists of both phenolic and acrylic functional groups. It is found in all plants because it is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of lignin, one ...

vanillin Vanillin is an organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a phenolic aldehyde. Its functional groups include aldehyde, hydroxyl, and ether. It is the primary component of the extract of the vanilla bean. Synthetic vanillin is now used ...

, and p-

coumaric acid Coumaric acid is a phenolic derivative of cinnamic acid having a hydroxy group In chemistry, a hydroxy or hydroxyl group is a functional group with the chemical formula and composed of one oxygen atom covalently bonded to one hydrogen atom. In ...

.Jain Amita, Sinha Prakriti; Desai Neetin S.; (2014) Estimation of flavonoid, Phenol content and antioxidant potential of Indian screw tree (Helicteres isora L.); International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research (4):1320–1330.Raaman, N., & Balasubramanian, K.(2012) Antioxidant and anticancer activity of Helicteres isora dried fruit solvent extracts. Journal of Academic and Industrial Research (1), 148-152. Cucurbitacin b and isocucurbitacin b have been isolated from the roots. Additionally, Satake et al. (1999) isolated rosmarinic acid and their derivatives; isoscutellarein and their derivatives; D-glucopyranosyl isorinic acid with

rosmarinic acid Rosmarinic acid, named after rosemary (''Salvia rosmarinus'' Linn.), is a polyphenol constituent of many culinary herbs, including rosemary (''Salvia rosmarinus'' L.), perilla (''Perilla frutescens'' L.), Salvia officinalis, sage (''Salvia offic ...

; helisterculins A and B; and helisorin.

Medicinal value

The fruits and roots of ''H. isora'' are used in traditional medicine systems of Asia, Iraq and South Africa, where they are credited with having value in treatment of a wide variety of conditions, including gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes, cancer, and infections. There appear to have been no scientific investigations of these beliefs. However, laboratory studies have confirmed that both bacteria and cancer cells may survive less well in the presence of extracts of the fruits. Animal studies have shown that extracts of the roots can improve glucose tolerance in diabetic rats.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5705291 Helicteroideae Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus