Habitat
It grows throughout India up to an altitude of 900 m.

Morphology Description (Habit)
A large perennial twiner with milky juice and fleshy branched. The leaves are very variable in shape; the flowers are tubular-campanulate, white, in few flowered cymes; the capsules globose with 4 or less, dull black, glabrous seeds.

Principal Constituents
A glycosidic resin.

Pharmacology
Alcoholic extracts of the fresh fruits of O.turpethum showed antibacterial activity against Micrococcus pyogenes var. aurus and E. coli¹.
The ethanolic, aqueous and ethereal extracts of O.turpethum roots showed anti-inflammatory activity against carrageenin induced rat paw edema as well as cotton pellet induced granuloma and formalin-induced arthritis in rats. The aqueous extract was found to be the most potent fraction against all the three models of experimental inflammation².

Toxicity
The LD50 of the ethanolic extract was >1000mg/kg i.p. in mice³.

Indications
The drug is used as a purgative.

References

1. Wealth of India, 1966, Raw materials, Vol. VII, 96-97.
2. Khare, A.K., Srivastava, M.C., Tewari, J.P., Puri, J.N., Singh, S. and Ansari, N.A. 1982. A preliminary study of anti-inflammatory activity of Ipomoea turpethum (Nisoth). Ind. Drugs, 19, 224.
3. Aswal, B.S., Bhakuni, D.S., Goel, A.K., Kar, K. and Mehrotra, B.N. 1984. Screening of Indian plants for biological activity. Part XI. Indian J. Exp. Biol. 22, 487.