Ashwagandha Withania somnifera

[Stillman]

I'm growing a fair bit of this at the moment was interested in anyones personal experiences with the plant. I'm mainly interested in the root properties but I believe the leaf can be cured and a tea made, and the berries are also taken for medicinal qualities? Although there is mixed literature on this. How much root can you expect from a year old plant? They seem to like my climate so I'm hoping for a reasonable yield the soils nice and loamy?

I'll attach some links for anyone interested in the plant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Withania_somnifera

http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-ashwagandha.html

http://www.chopra.com/ashwagandha

and from SAB

http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=30054&hl=ashwagandha&fromsearch=1

http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=29618&hl=ashwagandha&fromsearch=1

Also is it easy to start from seed? I have dried some berries and put a few seeds down yesterday so I'm thinking being in nightshade family they should be relatively easy to sprout?

Pm me if your keen for some seed as I have heaps of berries ripening at present.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Stillman

[planthelper]

How much root can you expect from a year old plant?

 

a similar discussion: http://www.shaman-au...ra&fromsearch=1

the dried root of this plant, can almost elude the same flair as, it's cousin the mandrake root, speaking strickly regarding a visual sence only.

beautyfull, sometimes "human shaped?" root mass.

definately a plant worth some serious efforts.

Edited November 18, 2012 by planthelper

[Stillman]

I have been reading alot about Ayurveda medicine and some of the herbs that are used. Have been taking a good dose of Brahmi daily and I feel better for it, I am currently studying and wether placebo or not I feel focused and capable of absorbing information. So I am really interested in testing out Ashwagandha and see how I take to it, but I find it pretty expensive so am holding off until my crop is ready. My Grandfather was recently diagnosed with prostate Cancer and has been remarkably opened minded to the idea of alternative medicine with his medical treatment. I thought both of these herbs would be good for him particularly Ashwangandha. Anyway I'm thinking i might do a mass planting as the more I read about these plants the more I find greater application for various conditions. Thanks for that link PH.

[coin]

the use of immature plants (< 3 years) could give the impression that ashwagandha is not a very effective herb. Maybe 2 years could be a minimum.

it is easy to germinate seed

[mindperformer]

I've also grown Withania and took it often, in extract form and tea. You can get it even as capsules in Asian stores which sell ayurvedic herbs

All in all it is sedative and adaptogenic. The seeds can be used for making cheese as they act as coagulant (like Galium verum seeds). I've also made cheese with goatmilk, soymilk and hempmilk with them, so it is a very versatile plant.

The active constituents are steroid lactones (withanolides) like Withaferin A, which induced regeneration of both axons and dendrites, in addition to reconstruction of pre- and postsynapses in cortical neurons.

It is also effective in preventing neuroleptic-induced extrapyramidal side effects. An indirect GABAergic action (enhanced the binding of flunitrazepam) is responsible for t's sedative and anticonvulsant effect, but it also induced an increase in cortical muscarinic acetylcholine receptor capacity, additional it has acetylcholinesterase activity, which might be responsible for its memory- enhancing properties.

It also has antitumor and cardiotonic effects.

Ashwagandholine showed relaxant and antispasmodic effects.

Repeated administration of Withania for 9 days attenuated the development to morphine-induced analgesia and also suppressed morphine-withdrawal.

Pretreatment with Sitoindosides VII to X and Withaferin A from Withania at all doses (10 to 150mg/kg, i.p.) significantly reversed morphine-induced inhibition of gastrointestinal tract transit and inhibited development of tolerance to morphine-induced analgesia. The treatment did not itself influence intestinal motility, nor produce any perceptible analgesic effect. It is suggested that Withania may be useful in the treatment of morphine withdrawal syndroms and the attendant physical dependence on morphine, including immunodepression.

Jaborosa integrifolia also contains Withaferin A.

Withania somnifera is strongly distributed in Irak and it is possible that it was in use in old Mesopotamia.

The dried roots:

The standartized extract:

The ayurvedic capsules from an ayurvedic store:

The seeds together with Galium verum, both in use as coagulant:

[Stillman]

great info thankyou.

[Stillman]

Coin I'm curious why you say plants must be 3 years old? Is this due to your environment or some testing you have done? Everything I have read has stated that the plants should be harvested after the first full fruiting and that some of the Withanolides may actually brake down in older roots? From what I have read all commercial Ashwagandha is harvested at about 180 to 200 days? Having said that they have fairly constant dry hot day temps unlike Melbourne. Also a question for those people who grow Aswagandah how big does your plant get? Mine are probably just under a metre, apparently there are some strains that get quite tall, not sure if this is a different strain or just environmental?

Edited November 27, 2012 by Stillman

[mindperformer]

wow, impressive plants

I can't say much about the culture, because I have only grown some in small pots

[coin]

Stillman - you may be able to find some reports by Pankaj Oudhia, online, regarding traditional knowledge of harvesting ashwagandha. I came across multiple sources saying that the plants should be mature. I also asked my Ayurvedacharya about the age and he said "at least few years, maybe two".

The photo of dried roots above...the bark is very thin

The root bark should be pretty thick. It would not be considered good traditional practice to harvest wild plants with such small roots.

Commercial production is different to traditional use. Grown for yield and harvested after one season. Maybe they compensate by using standardised extracts but it doesn't mean the composition is the same. The herbs are about more than just the alkaloids (I don't mean anything magical). Anyway...traditional usage is considered and cautious in prescribing, and knowing which plants shouldn't be used because of specific growing conditions, where if you follow supplement industry literature, every modern stressed person should be taking ashwagandha.

It's just an idea I have - but in Ayurveda, ashwagandha is considered quite heating and shouldn't be used through late Spring - Summer, or by particular people with 'heat' conditions, and it's given with cooling herbs like licorice/amla, etc - and I think this caution is based on the very potent and effective, properly harvested/selected root. It's really powerful used under the right conditions but maybe using the younger roots give a "softer, sweeter" effect

Edited November 28, 2012 by coin

[Stillman]

Thanks for that Coin that all makes sense I'll keep researching. I have a few good sized plants that I was going to pull in March but I might leave 1 in for at least another year and see how it fairs. I'm actually having really low germination from my seeds, I think I may have not let the fruit dry enough before I planted them?

[Stillman]

Having a read today found this, if anyones interested I'd really appreciate some second opinions of some of the information below regarding withanolides and there potential antitumor properties?

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Withanolide

http://www.withanolide.com/

http://scholarsresea...0-1-3-56-63.pdf

http://www.mdpi.com/...-3049/14/7/2373

http://www.ethnoleaflets.com/leaflets/withafer.htm

http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/.fulltext/11/4/269.pdf

http://www.heatshock.net/showabstract.php?pmid=19769945

Edited December 1, 2012 by Stillman

[Stillman]

http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.als.20120201.02.html#Sec4.2

It is well established that the various compounds of Withania species, such as withaferin A from the leaves, are known to posses anti-cancer properties (Jayaprakasam et al 2003). They have been reported to inhibit the cell growth of various human cancer cell lines, including lung cancer (NCI-H460). Withaferin A showed antiproliferative activity against head and neck squamous carcinoma, by reduced cell viability in cell lines in vitro (Subramanian et al 1969). This mechanism of action is a part of the result of G2/M cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis in HNSCC cells. Withaferin A inhibited the activation of Akt and reduced total Akt levels. Additional studies will be required to evaluate the potential of withaferin A activity application, for future anticancer drug development in head and neck squamous carcinoma (Samadi et al 2010).

Phytochemical studies on withaferin A has shown cytotoxity in vitro, against KB cell cultures derived of intramuscular carcinoma (Fluka et al 1987). The studies also showed growth inhibitory and radio sensitizing effects in vivo on mouse Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (a transplantable, poorly differentiated malignant tumor as a spontaneous breast carcinoma in a mouse) (Devi et al 1995). Withaferin A showed significant anticancer activity in animals cell cultures by decreasing the expression of the nuclear factor-kappa β and suppressing the intercellular tumor necrosis factor, therefore has the potential of apoptotic signaling in cancerous cell lines (Ichikawa et al 2006). Withaferin A showed inhibition growth and cytotoxic activity against human lung cancer cell lines (NCI-H460) (Choudhary et al 2010).

The mechanism by which withanolides demonstrates antiproliferative, antimetastatic, antiangiogenic, anti-invasive, and proapoptotic activities was associated with the suppression of NF-jB and NF-jB-regulated gene products (Ichikawa et al 2006). The precise role of these substances in tumor promotion is not clear, but a correlation of elevated prostaglandins in carcinogenesis has been established (Lupulescu 1978) and certain nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents (e.g. indomethacin and piroxicam) demonstrate chemopreventive activity assessed by Reddy et al (1992) (Atta-ur-Rahman 1998-e). It has evaluated that the plant extracts have potential to inhibit cyclooxygenase (Verma et al 1980, Jang and Pezzuto 1997). One of the most promising agents which have been identified as an inhibitor of cyclooxygenase is resveratrol. In addition to the blocking of the cyclooxygenase activity of the enzyme, the hydroperoxidase activity is inhibited. A related effect is the inhibition of COX-2 (this enzyme induced during the process of tumor promotion). So research for specific inhibitors of COX-2, versus COX-1 and a more favorable profile of activity would be anticipated (Jang et al 1997). The mechanism of action of COX-1 in treatment of rheumatism might be attributed to the inhibition of T- and B-cell functions (Huang et al 2009).

So how could Withaferin A be extracted from Ashwagandha leaf?

Edited December 1, 2012 by Stillman

[mindperformer]

the Withanolides accumulate even more in the leaves:

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/22822528

in another study I've read that the young leaves contain more

you can use 98% Ethanol (spirit of wine) to extract the Withaferin A from dried, powdered leaf

Edited December 1, 2012 by mindperformer

[Stillman]

Very interesting article MP

http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/736/art%253A10.1007%252Fs10456-004-1026-3.pdf?auth66=1354699598_c4b1049bd3ed1c25299d4fd48332641e&ext=.pdf

[Stillman]

ANd another from 2011

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89629/1/yorkyu_1.pdf

[Stillman]

This is an interesting take on growing Withiana in areoponics to produce more rapid leaf and plant size.

http://azcc.arizona.edu/node/2815

[mindperformer]

Very interesting studies, Stillman.

For anti-cancer action I would combine it with Murdannia loriformis- herb (very promising in some kinds of cancer) and Reishi (also has anti-tumor effects and works synergistic with most adaptogenic herbs)

I've tried many methods for plant cultivation, but what I omitted was aeroponics and hydroponics. Although there are good results, and apart from the fact that its non-natural, I think the complete biochemistry of the plants might be different in aeroponics / hydroponics. Soil-ground is very complex and not only the medium for the culture. In good soil there are some organic acids (fulvic-, humic-, possibly citric- and other acids) which act as ion-exchanger, there are nitrifying bacteria and mycorrhiza-fungi. There are also many trace elements like manganese and zinc (also important: the S:N ratio and more), amino acids (the common and Zeatin) and possibly Triacontanol in organic compost and soil- additives like rock flours. Many of this factors are not necessary if you simply want high yield with some plants, but lets compare the hydroponical and non-organic grown high-output tomatoes (in EU most often from spain of the netherlands) with some grown on natural compost garden soil... The second taste much better (although they are smaller and have a shorter durability) because they could develop their full spectrum of aroma-components, flavonoids, amino acids and so on...

I don't think there is real organic aeroponic / hydroponic growing out there,

the (part insoluble) organic compounds, bacteria and humins would clog the pumps of the system

Edited December 4, 2012 by mindperformer

[Stillman]

you'd be surprised at the efficiency of some nutrients available MP. Some of the Canna products are out of this world. But your right there is need for testing to ensure efficiency doesn't surpass effectiveness. Personally I am fond of the Canna Terra systems

http://www.canna-uk.com/terra

[mindperformer]

*g* I absolutely agree, I also use Canna for most plants ...the BioCanna-series

But, because of the reasons I mentioned, it does not replace a good soil medium

Edited December 4, 2012 by mindperformer

[Stillman]

a short blog article on the tea made of just the leaf.

http://smartwellness.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/ashwagandha-tea.html

[Stillman]

My first plants, its been dry and Hot here and I haven't watered these planst sinc eNovember, so they are certainly drought tolerant.

lots of ripe berries

A couple trays of seedlings not sure what I am doing with them yet.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Stillman

[mindperformer]

really nice plants... and the cycle starts again

Edited January 13, 2013 by mindperformer

[Herbmajik]

I have been growing and using withania for many years in my herbal practice. 2 - 3 years old usually gets the best yields and best quality . The leaf and seed are used for anemia and treatment of cancer.

The roots spread ou to the edges of where the branches extend too. It sends down one very large tap root .

Easy to propogate from seed and there are a lo of them on one bush. Vigorous pruning stimulates the root growth.

Putting the leaves into your compost puts iron back into the soil.

Love s the climate here in the west , grows like a weed.

Gotta love the solanacea family . Has lots of the good ones.

[vadub]

They do quite well in a coir ebb and flow table with nearly no nutrients.

edit: the leaves are quite stinky, one moreso uniquely stanky. Interesting

Edited February 16, 2013 by vadub

[vadub]

Has anyone ever heard of any anecdotal reports of people quidding leaf? I think I heard something about it being a little toxic but who knows really.

These plants of mine have really developed into little bushes under the 600HPS. Small plants but I think they are very cool. I guess once they produce berries (tiny ones at that) they will go back outside in large containers to reveg and flower on a much grander scale for the summer here.

Edited April 26, 2013 by vadub