"Calotropis procera (Asclepiadaceae) is a wild shrub, which grows up to a height of 1-3 m and its leaves are 10--13 cm wide by 17--19 cm long. Calotropis procera commonly known, as 'Akra' is a popular medicinal plant found throughout the tropics of Asia and Africa and is used in many traditional systems of medicine. Important factors of the various parts of this plant have been widely reported. Calotropis procera latex has been used in leprosy, eczema, inflammation, cutaneous infections, syphilis, malarial and low hectic fevers, and as abortifacient. Leaves: in rheumatism, as an anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial and Roots: as hepatoprotective agents, against colds and coughs, syphilis and elephantiasis, as an anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antimalarial and antimicrobial. Flowers: as cytostatic, abortifacient, antimalarial, in asthma and piles and villagers in Bikaner district ingest almost all plant parts in various dietary combinations for malarial fevers and pyrexias. The plant produces latex in the laticifers. Dried latex and chloroform extract of roots has been reported to possess anti-inflammatory activity . Aqueous extract of the flowers has been found to exhibit analgesic, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory activity. The alcoholic extract from different parts has been found to possess antimicrobial and spermicidal activity. Bast fibres of Calotropis procera (aak) plant have been separated by retting. The yarn of blend of cotton and aak in 1:1 proportion was inferior to cotton in respect of strength, fineness and evenness. The properties of cloth indicated that aak cloth has high tensile and abrasion strength and more weight per square metre than cotton cloth. Mosquito control by Calotropis latex has been reported by Girdhar et al. The dry latex of Calotropis procera (Asclepiadaceae), a potent anti-inflammatory agent has been evaluated for anti-diarrhoeal activity. The enzyme hydrolyses denatured natural substrates like casein, azoalbumin, and azocasein with high specific activity.
Source - Ashwani Kumar, writing on www.science20.com
John Milton alludes to this plant in his epic poem, Paradise Lost, while describing the fruit that Satan and his cohorts eat after having tempted Adam and Eve to eat an apple from the Tree of Good and Evil:
...greedy they pluck'd
The Frutage fair to sight, like that which grew
Neer that bituminous Lake where Sodom flam'd;
This more delusive, not the touch, but taste
Deceav'd; they fondly thinking to allay
Thir appetite with gust, instead of Fruit
Chewd bitter Ashes, which th' offended taste
With spattering noise rejected: oft they assayd
Hunger and thirst constraining...
According to Wikipedia:
"Calotropis procera (known by the common names apple of Sodom, Sodom apple, mudar, or osher or stabragh) is a species of flowering plant in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae, that is native to North Africa, Tropical Africa, Western Asia, South Asia, and Indochina. It is commonly known as apple of Sodom, a name derived from the Hebrew Tapuah Sdom. The green globes are hollow but the flesh contains a toxic milky sap that is extremely bitter and turns into a gluey coating resistant to soap."
This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of tens of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM 1080i High Definition, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at wfi @ vsnl.com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com.
