Saussurea lappa: An Important Medicinal Plant for Treatment Different Diseases: A review

Saussurea lappa is belong to the family Astreaceae. It has been cultivated in various parts of the world a commonly known and potent plant which is well studied for its medicinal uses in diverse indigenous Indian systems of medicine. It is usually known as kuth root or costus and used in different system of medicine to treat various diseases such as asthma, ulcers and stomach problems.


Classification of saussurea
Saussurea lappa is member of family asteracea/ compositae. Asteracea is one of the largest angiosperm families, with more than 1,620 genera and about 23,600 species of plants including herbs, shrubs and trees. The genus Saussurea consists of about 300 species(kadm, 2014).

Geographical distribution
Saussurea lappa is indigenous to India, Pakistan and China, where it grows in the Himalaya region at 2500 -3500 m altitude (Rao RN et al., 2013) . It is found in cool temperature and arctic regions of Asia, Europe and North America. The plant is cosmopolitan in conveyance additionally among the districts of Himalayas, Kashmir, Jammu, Kishengange valley, Western Ghats and developed in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, wild in India at an elevation of 2500 to 3000 m and in Kashmir to take care of the business demand of the market due to over misuse of the wild (Kokate, CK et al., 2002). In India it is found in Kashmir, Jammu, and Western Ghats and is cultivated in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Kashmir to meet commercial demand.

Plant Description
Saussurea lappa commonly known as Costus which is a tall, perennial herb that grows to a height of 1-2 m; stem is upright, stout and fibrous

Chemistry
Saussurea lappa has explicit aromatic odour because of the existence of essential or volatile oil which is largely confined in roots. This scented volatile oil from root is chiefly comprises of hydrocarbons, oxides, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, esters and acids (Chang and Kim, 2008 ).
Amounts of above mentioned volatile constituents vary greatly between different cultivars due to variable climatic conditions including temperature, irradiation, and humidity. Moreover, genetic background of plant also affects the chemistry of volatile constituents. Roots also contain alkaloid saussurin (0.05%), a bitter resin (4-6%) and tannins.

C-Hypoglycaemic
Saussurea costus was found most effective for obese diabetes when a detailed survey and clinical study on potent hypoglycaemic plants of different regions from India was undertaken to find antidiabetic plants used in Indian folklore and by different tribes (Pandey et al., 2007).

D-Antimicrobial
The inhibitory effects of the ethanol extract of Saussurea lappa on the growth, acid production, adherence, and water-insoluble glucan synthesis of Streptococcus mutans were examined (Yu et al., 2006). The growth and acid production of Streptococcus mutans were significantly inhibited by the presence of ethanol extract of Saussurea lappa (0.5-4 mg/ml). The ethanol extract of Saussurea lappa (0.25-4 mg/ml) also significantly lowered the adherence of Streptococcus mutans in a dose dependent manner. In water-insoluble glucan synthesis assay, 2-4 mg/ml of the ethanol extract of Saussurea lappa significantly inhibited the formation of water-insoluble glucan. Saussurea lappa is known to have therapeutic effects on oral diseases such as halitosis, dental caries, and periodontal disease (Lee, 1986;Kim et al., 1991). These results provided some scientific rationales for its use in the treatment of dental diseases and suggested that Saussurea lappa may inhibit the caries-inducing properties of Streptococcus mutans.

E-Depressant
Some research also suggests that inhalation of costus sorrel oil by women during labor reduces symptoms related to pain during labor. The drug relieves anxiety, apprehension and related symptoms Mild anesthesia and no harmful effect on mother and fetus (Pandey et al., 2007).

Conclusion
Saussurea lappa is an important and widely recognized medicinal plant provided by the pharmaceutical systems of India, China, Korea and Pakistan. It is used to treat many diseases and disorders after the experiments conducted on it, such as headache, stomach pain, epilepsy, leprosy, typhoid, pneumonia, especially chronic bronchitis, and chemicals extracted from plant roots show many pharmacological activities such as anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, etc. An examination of the literature on this plant concluded that it is medicinally important and endangered due to high demand and illegal consumption and exploitation. From various evidence it has been shown that S. lappa is safe and effective when used in conventional doses. It also shows some other properties except medicinal properties, such as perfume, antiparasitic and insecticide. Due to its long-standing important pharmacological and ethnological uses and the presence of several important bioactive substances that can lead to the extraction and identification of some new chemical compounds, it was concluded that Saussurea lappa could help in future clinical and chemical research.