Preparation & evaluation of herbal tea powder of parijat leaves and flower to treat dry cough

Nycthanthes arbor-tristis Linn. belongs to the family Oleaceae and commonly known as Night Jasmine. It is mythological plant with immense medical use in the Ayurveda. It is commonly known as harsinghar in Hindi, Parijat in Sanskrit and Night jasmine in English. It is widely grown in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. The generic name “Nycthanthes” has been coined from two Greek words, ‘Nykhta’ means ‘Night’ and ‘Anther’ means ‘flower’. The specific name ‘arbortristis’ meaning ‘the sad tree’ is supposedly derived from the look of tree during the daytime. The whole plant of Parijat has medical value. It contains alkaloids, flavonoids, anthraquinone, glycoside, tannins, steroids, saponins, phlobatannins, terpenoids etc. Its leaves contain mainly benzoic acid, fructose, glucose, carotene, amorphous resins, ascorbic acid, methyl salicylate, tannic acid, oleanolic acid, flavanol glycoside. And flowers contain apigenin, anthocyanin, D- mannitol, tannins, glucose, carotenoid, essential oils, kaemferol, nyctanthin, glycosides, quercetin, rengylone etc. The leaves and flowers have anti inflammatory, antioxidant, bronchodilator activity. The aqueous extract of the whole plant and alcoholic extract of leaves reported to have acute and subacute anti-inflammatory activity. The aim of the study is to prepare and evaluate herbal teapowder from leaves and flowers of Parijat leaves and flowers to treat dry cough. Cough is sudden expulsion of air from its lungs through mouth, typically caused by irritation or infection in the airways. By the stimulation of mechano or chemoreceptors, afferent impulse pass to cough center, it sends efferent impulse via parasympathetic and motor nerve to diaphragm, intercostal muscle and lung. It results in increased contraction of diaghramatic, abdominal and intercostal (ribs) muscle and causes noisy expiration, which is nothing but “Cough”. It classifies as: Acute (sudden onset), Subacute (3 to 8 weeks), Chronic (longer than 8 weeks). For this preparation Parijat leaves and flowers are collected from local area of Tembhurni. Taxonomical identification of plant was done by using with the help of flora of Solapur district, Maharashtra. The leaves, flower are dried along with ginger. After properly drying of Parijat leaves, flowers and ginger grind it and then mix all the three components. Store these tea powder in airtight container. During preparation of tea, add 1-2 teaspoon of these teapowder in cup of hot water and allow to steep for 5-10 min. For sweetening effect Jagger or honey can be added. These teapowder is help to relieve dry cough because it has anti-inflammatory activity.