Medicina Tradicional y Naturopatía Clínica

Abstracto

A Study on the Plants Used as Chopachini

Perera BPR

Chopachini/Dvipantaravacha or China root is used in many alternative systems of medicine. The plant, first mentioned in Bhavaprakasha in 16th century has been attributed to variety of scientific names in literature. A study was conducted to find out the plants that have been used as Chopachini. The study resulted in several varieties of genus Smilax as well as Gynura paseudo-china of family Asteraceae. Smilax china is native to China and Japan and could be the reason the plant is called “Cheenaala” in Sinhala. Gynura pseudo-china is native to Indonesia, Thailand, and China. Both the plants are used in venereal diseases in the traditional systems of medicine in their native countries but have not been scientifically proven to be effective for treating syphilis. Therefore, it is unclear whether the plant mentioned in Bhavaprakasha is Smilax china or Gynura psuedo-china. However, considering the medicinal properties, Smilax china qualifies to be used as Chopachini/Dwipantaravacha.