CANCER PLANT

Cancer drug plant

Nothapodytes nimmoniana, a plant possessing an anti-cancer alkaloid camptothecin, will soon be protected from overexploitation.The National Biodiversity Authority has asked the Kerala State Biodiversity Board to initiate steps for declaring the plant a threatened species following reports of its unregulated and unscientific exploitation.The large shrub is found in the moist deciduous, evergreen and shola forests. It is found in China, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and China.In India, it has been reported from Assam, West Bengal, Goa, Kerala Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.In Kerala, its presence has been reported from all districts, except Alappuzha and Ernakulam. The plant is known as “Peenari” and “Pulippacha” in local parlance.

The small tree can grow up to a height of eight metres and has a smooth grey wrinkled bark. The bisexual and creamy yellow flowers of the plants are foul-smelling. The plants flower from April to June and bear fruits during August-October period, according to the illustrated field guide of 100 red-listed Medicinal Plants of Conservation Concern in Southern India brought out by the Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions, Bangalore.Though the medicinal use of the plant is not reported in any of the codified systems of the Indian medicine or folk traditions, the plant is used in modern medicine for obtaining camptothecin. Wood chips of the species were reportedly exported for extraction of the alkaloid. The species was propagated by seeds and stem cutting, the book said.The rare and sparsely distributed plant is found in altitudes between 500 metres and 2,300 metres. Despite its known anti-cancer, anti-HIV, and anti-fungal properties, no significant studies have been conducted regarding the propagation and population of the species.

Some experts had included the species on their list of 100 medicinal plants of South India that needed to be conserved, said P. Sujanapal, an expert in medicinal plant taxonomy of the Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, Thrissur.Though the presence of camptothecin had been identified in a few other plants also, the highest concentration was found in the plant. This has led to the massive exploitation of the species. The directive of the authority came in the wake of the medicinal value of the plant, its unregulated exploitation, and the absence of any conservation efforts, experts said.According to Indira Balachandran, Director of the Centre for Medicinal Plants Research of the Kottakkal Arya Vaidyasala, Malappuram, there is no reference about the species in the classical Ayurveda texts. The medicinal properties of the species might have been discovered recently. References on Phallathakam and Poovamkurunnila, with known anti-cancer properties, were there in the classical texts, she said.According to R.V. Varma, chairman of the Kerala board, the Biological Diversity Act empowers the Central government to notify any plant or animal species as a threatened species in consultation with the State government. The Kerala board was planning to convene a meeting of experts to discuss the issue and formulate steps for declaring the plant as a threatened species, he said.

Discussions were being held with experts regarding the process. The procedures were to be closely followed so that the declaration would have the proper legal back up, Dr. Varma said.It has been reported that the species found in the Kerala part of the Western Ghats yielded camptothecin most. The board is of the view that the benefits derived out of the biological resources like Nothapodytes should benefit the people of the State. Even while initiating steps for classifying the species as a threatened one, the board would work on the benefit sharing principles whereby the people of the State too would benefit, he said.

                                       Prof. John Kurakar