''Picrorhiza kurroa'' is one of the major income generating non-timber forest products found in the Nepalese

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

. It is one of the oldest medicinal plants traded from the

Karnali zone Karnali Zone () was one of the fourteen zones located in the Mid-Western Development Region of Nepal. The headquarters of Karnali Zone was Jumla. Karnali Zone was one of the poorest and most remote regions of Nepal, not very accessible by roa ...

. Known as kutki or कुटकी in Nepali, it is a perennial herb and is used as a substitute for Indian

gentian ''Gentiana'' () is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the gentian family ( Gentianaceae), the tribe Gentianeae, and the monophyletic subtribe Gentianinae. With over 300 species, it is considered a large genus. Gentians are notable for thei ...

(''Gentiana kurroo'').

Habitat

It is found in the Himalayan region from Ladakh

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

at an elevation of 2700–4500 m and in

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, found abundantly between 3500 and 4800 m. It has been reported that ''Picrorhiza'' has been harvested to near extinction.

Description

Leaves: 5–15 cm long leaves, almost all at the base, often withered. Leaves are coarsely toothed, narrowed to a winged stalk.
Rhizomes of the plant are 15–25 cm long and woody.
Flowers: small, pale or purplish blue, borne in cylindric spikes, spikes borne on almost leafless erect stems. Flowers about 8 mm, 5-lobed to the middle, and with much longer stamens.
Fruits: 1.3 cm long. Chemistry: Chemical composition of ''Picrorhiza kurroa'' include Kutkin, a bitter glycoside which contains two C-9 iridoid glycosides, Picroside I and Kutakoside.

Conservation

In 1997, kutki was listed in appendix II of the

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Convention may refer to: * Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct ** Treaty, an agreement in international law ** Convention (political norm), uncodified legal or political tradition * Convention (meeting ...

(CITES). This listing resulted ultimately from a request by the Indian government. Overharvesting of the wild species for use as medicine was cited as the main reason for the listing. The species not widely cultivated, though this has been discussed as a potential way to preserve wild stands, especially since the Dunagiri Foundation Trust has created, implemented, and successfully employed protocols to generate export-quality organic ethical 'Dunagiri Certified' Kutki since 2014. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

Red List did not have a listing for this species as of 2014. ''

Picrorhiza scrophulariiflora ''Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae. It is used heavily as a substitute for ''Picrorhiza kurroa'' and is considered non-threatened under CITES. It is similar to ''P. kurrooa'' but has ...

'' appears to be used heavily as a substitute for ''P. kurroa'' and is considered non-threatened by CITES.

Usage

The

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

has a long history of use in Indian

Ayurvedic Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

medicine for the treatment of digestive problems. Other uses have been proposed (e.g. for asthma, liver damage, wound healing, vitiligo), but the medical evidence is not yet conclusive. It appears to be relatively safe based on its long history of traditional use. Kutki has hepato-protective properties and thus supports the liver and spleen. It is used in all forms of liver damage, cirrhosis, and inflammation of the liver. It protects the liver against damage from the

hepatitis C virus The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a small (55–65 nm in size), enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus of the family ''Flaviviridae''. The hepatitis C virus is the cause of hepatitis C and some cancers such as liver cancer ( hepatoc ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2562125 Flora of Nepal Plantaginaceae Herbs