Family: Asteraceae
Synonyms: Arcion majus, Arcion tomentosum,Arctium adhaerens, Arctium bardana, Arctium chaorum, Arctium grandiflorum, Arctium lappa, Arctium leiospermum, Arctium majus, Arctium minus nemorosum, Arctium ruderale, Arctium vulgare, Arctium vulgare, Bardana arctium, Bardana lappa, Lappa glabra, Lappa major, Lappa nemorosa, Lappa officinalis, Lappa platylepis, Lappa vulgaris.
Common Name: Great Burdock
Local Name: Jangli kunth (जंगली कुंठ)

Jangli kunth is an herbaceous, biennial plant that grows from a deep, stout taproot and produce a rosette of basal leaves before flowering. Jangli kunth is frequently present in  variety of habitat like waste ground, meadows, near habitation, roadsides, riversides, wet places, forest margins, thickets, valleys and slopes up to an altitude of 1000 to 3,500 meters in Western Himalayas. Jangli kunth is propogated by seeds and it grows best in moist soils from partial shade to sunny habitat.

All the parts of this plant roots, leaves, stem, branches and seeds are edible and eaten both raw or cooked. Mature roots, young leaves and shoot terminals of jangli kunth are cooked into a delicious vegetable while flowering stem branches are boiled and then cooked into vegetable.

Jangli kunth  is harvested from wild habitat as a source of food, medicine and material for local personal use.by the inhabitants of Western Himalayas.Care should be taken if harvesting the seed in any quantity since tiny hairs from the seeds can be inhaled and these are toxic¹.

Jangli kunth Plant:

Plant is erect, perennial, coarse, rough herbs, up to 1.5 -2 m tall.

Leaves are alternate, petioled, 7-30 to 6 – 12 cm, broadly ovate, cordate, sinuate- toothed, upper surface glabrous, lower hoary or white- lanate.

Heads are discoid, globose, 2-2.5 cm across, in terminal clusters. Involucral bracts many, upper half spreading, tip rigid, hooked. Receptacle flat, densely bristly. Flowers purple, 5-6 mm long, pappus minutely barbed. Corolla-tube long, 5- lobed. Style white, arms united.

Achene’s large, angled, glabrous, finely ribbed.

Jangli kunth best provide edible roots when flowering is over from autumn to pre-winter season. Edible leaves, stem and branches can be collected from spring to autumn and seeds in autumn season. Plant is in flowering and from August- September. For sustainable development Jangli kunth need to be bring into domestication and collection of edible plant parts specially roots and seeds should be done on habitat rotation basis.

Edible Uses:

Young roots, leaves and stem pulp of jangli kunth is eaten as salad. Roots, terminal shoot and leaves are cooked into delicious vegetable. Flowering stem pith is boiled and before cooking. Roots can be dried for later use. Jangli kunth seeds are eaten sprouted.

Root Vegetable:

Ingredients:

 Peeled off, chopped roots/stem and branches/ chopped young leaves, 1 kg; mustard oil, 3-4 table spoons; coriander powder 1 table spoon; fenugreek powder, ½ table spoon; cumin seed, 1 tea spoon;  turmeric powder, 1/2 table spoon; red chilies; 2-3 medium sized chopped onions, 2-4; garlic, 4-5 cloves; ginger paste, ½ table spoon; garam masala, ½ tea spoon;1 cup amount chopped green coriander leaves and salt according to taste.

Method:

For preparing vegetable, chopped roots alone or along with green parts is sauted in hot oil along with spice listed before in sequence, cook for 5-10 minutes, garnish the recipe with chopped coriander leaves and garam masala then serve with chapatis. The preparation tastes very good. If it is to be taken with rice, then add 4 cups of curd or butter milk and cook for another 5-10 minutes, add garam masala then serve.

Leaves Vegetable:

Ingredients:

 Chopped young leaves and shoot terminals, 1 kg; mustard oil, 3-4 table spoons; coriander powder 1 table spoon; fenugreek powder, ½ table spoon; cumin seed, 1 tea spoon;  turmeric powder, 1/2 table spoon; red chilies; 2-3,  medium sized chopped onions, 2-4; garlic, 4-5 cloves; ginger paste, ½ table spoon; medium sized chopped onions, 2-4;  garam masala, ½ tea spoon;1 cup amount chopped green coriander leaves and salt according to taste.

Method:

Chopped young leaves and shoot terminals are sauted in hot oil along with spice and chopped potato listed before in sequence, cook these for till become soft, garnish the recipe with chopped coriander leaves and garam masala then serve with chapatis.

Nutrient analysis:

Root (Serving Size: 1 Cup, 125 g)

Protein, 2.61 g; Ash, 1.22 g; Carbohydrate, 26.44 g; Total dietary Fiber, 2.2 g; Water,94.55 g; Energy,110 Kcal; P, 116 mg;  Mn, 0.338 mg; Cu, 0.111 mg; Fe, 0.96 mg; Mg,   49 mg; K, 450 mg; Ca, 61 mg; Zn, 0.48 mg; Se, 1.1 µg;  Na, 5 mg; Vitamin B6, 0.349 mg; Vitamin B5,0.441 mg; Vitamin B9, 25 µg; Vitamin B2, 0.072 mg, Vitamin B1 0.049 mg,  Vitamin B3,0.4 mg; Cl, 17.9 mg; Vitamin C, 3.2 mg; Histidine 0.052 g, Lysine, 0.115 g; Isoleucine, 0.051 g; Valine , 0.058 g; Threonine,    0.044 g; Tryptophan, 0.01 g; Leucine,0.055 g; Tyrosine, 0.03 g; Vitamin B6 (26.85%) ⁹

The leaves contain about 3.5% protein, 1.8% fat, 19.4% carbohydrate, 8.8% ash⁸.

Seek professional advice before using this plant medicinally.

Medicinal uses:

The plant extract has been found to cause sharp, long lasting reduction of blood sugar within increase in carbohydrate tolerance and less toxicity². 50% ethyl alcohol extract was found as cardiac, stimulant, diuretic and spasmolytic. It has diuretic and axexigenic properties and it has been used for cutaneous eruptions, rheumatism, cystitis, gout and specifically for eczema and psoriasis ². It is used to treat conditions caused by an ‘overload’ of toxins, such as throat and other infections, boils, rashes and other skin problems ³. The root is thought to be particularly good at helping to eliminate heavy metals from the body ³. The plant is antibacterial, antifungal, carminative ^4,5. It has soothing, mucilaginous properties and is said to be one of the most certain cures for many types of skin diseases, burns, bruises etc. ⁶. The plant can be taken internally as an infusion, or used externally as a wash ⁶.

Chemical constituents:

The roots contain a hexasaccharide, arctose, a mucilaginous substance, tannin, volatile oil, stigmasterol and sitosterol. The presences of volatile and non – volatile fatty acids, various free amino acids including most of the essential one. And gamma-guanidino-n- butyric acid, a new sulphur- containing acetlyenic acid called arctic acid has also been reported ².

Other Uses:

The juice of the plant, when used as a friction, is said to have a stimulating action against baldness ⁷.

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References:

1. Erhardt, W. (1992). Hemerocallis: daylilies. Timber Press Inc..
2. Purohit SS, Sharma AK, Prajapati ND, Kumar T. (2009); A handbook of medicinal plants: a complete source book. 2:352-3.
3. Shinwari, Z. K., Khan, I., Naz, S., & Hussain, A. (2009). Assessment of antibacterial activity of three plants used in Pakistan to cure respiratory diseases. African Journal of Biotechnology, 8(24).
4. Sajid, S. M., Zubair, M., Waqas, M., Nawaz, M., & Ahmad, Z. (2015). A review on quince (Cydonia oblonga): a useful medicinal plant. Global Vetenaria, 14, 517-524.
5. Padmapriya, H., Karthikeyan, A. V. P., Jahir Hussain, G., Karthi, C., & Velayutham, P. (2011). An efficient protocol for in vitro propagation of Solanum nigrum L. from nodal explants. J Agric Technol, 7(4), 1063-73.
6. Arayne, M. S., Sultana, N., Mirza, A. Z., Zuberi, M. H., & Siddiqui, F. A. (2007). In vitro hypoglycemic activity of methanolic extract of some indigenous plants. Pak J Pharm Sci, 20(4), 268-273.
7. Patil, S. B., Kondawar, M. S., Ghodke, D. S., Naikwade, N. S., & Magdum, C. S. (2009). Use of flower extracts as an indicator in acid-base titrations. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology, 2(2), 421-422.
8. Read, B. E. (1977). Famine foods listed in the Chiu Huang Pen Ts’ ao, giving their identity, nutritional values and notes on their preparation. Famine foods listed in the Chiu Huang Pen Ts’ ao, giving their identity, nutritional values and notes on their preparation.
9. https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/burdock.