Chlorophytum borivilianum

Chlorophytum borivilianum
Chlorophytum borivilianum
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Plantae
clade: Angiosperms
clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Agavoideae
Genus: Chlorophytum
Species: C. borivilianum
Binomial name
Chlorophytum borivilianum

Chlorophytum borivilianum is a herb with lanceolate leaves, from tropical wet forests in peninsular India. The Hindi name is safed musli.

It is cultivated and eaten as a leaf vegetable in some parts of India, and its roots are used medicinally as a sex tonic under the name safed musli. The medicinal value is thought to derive from its saponin content, up to 17 percent by dry weight. It has also recently been suggested that it may produce an aphrodisiac agent. As medicinal demand has increased, the plant has been brought under cultivation. The saponins and alkaloids present in the plant are the source of its alleged aphrodisiac properties. [1][2]

  1. ^ http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/CropFactSheets/safedmoosli.html
  2. ^ http://www.fao.org/docrep/article/wfc/xii/0110-b4.htm


Stub icon This Asparagales article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.