UpdateBot at 15:04, 31 March 2022

2022-03-31T15:04:04Z

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{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{speciesbox
|taxon = Asparagus racemosus
| name = Shatavari
| image = Asparagus racemosus.JPG
| image_caption = Plant photographed at [[Pune]]
| authority = [[Willd.]]<ref name=grin>{{GRIN | accessdate=April 25, 2009}}</ref>
| synonyms = *''Asparagus rigidulus'' [[Takenoshin Nakai|Nakai]]<ref name=grin/>
*''Protasparagus racemosus'' ([[Willd.]]) [[Oberm.]]<ref name=grin/>
}}

'''''Asparagus racemosus''''' ('''satavar''', '''shatavari''', or '''shatamull''', '''shatawari''') is a species of asparagus common throughout [[India]] and the [[Himalaya]]s.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} and northern [[Australia]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=H. T. Clifford, J. G. Conran|title=Flora of Australia|publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment|year=2020|location=Canberra|chapter=Asparagus racemosus|access-date=2021-03-21|chapter-url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Asparagus%20racemosus}}</ref> It grows {{convert|1-2|m|abbr=on}} tall and prefers to take root in gravelly, rocky soils high up in [[piedmont (geography)|piedmont]] plains, at {{convert|1300–1400|m|abbr=on}} elevation.<ref name=rf>{{cite web |url=http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/faminefoods/ff_families/liliaceae.html |title=LILIACEAE – Famine Foods |author=Robert Freeman |work=Centre for New Crops and Plant Products, Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture |publisher=[[Purdue University]] |date=February 26, 1998 |accessdate=April 25, 2009}}</ref> It was botanically described in 1799.<ref name=grin/> Because of its multiple uses, the demand for ''Asparagus racemosus'' is constantly on the rise. Due to destructive harvesting, combined with [[habitat destruction]], and [[deforestation]], the plant is now considered "endangered" in its natural habitat.{{citation needed|date=November 2013}}

== Description ==
[[File:Asparagus racemosus fleurs.JPG|thumb|right|Close-up on flowers]]
''Asparagus racemosus'' is a climber having stems up to 4 m long. Its roots are both fibrous and tuberous.<ref name=":1" />

Shatavari has small [[Pine needle|pine-needle]]-like [[phylloclade]]s (photosynthetic branches) that are uniform and shiny green. In July, it produces minute, white [[flower]]s on short, spiky [[Plant stem|stem]]s, and in September it [[fruit]]s, producing blackish-purple, globular [[berry (botany)|berries]]. It has an [[adventitious|adventitious root system]] with [[tuber|tuberous roots]] that measure about one metre in length, tapering at both ends, with roughly a hundred on each plant.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

==Uses==
Shatavari is used in [[Ayurveda|Indian traditional medicine]].<ref name="Pizzorno">{{cite book |last1=Pizzorno Jr. |first1=Joseph E. |last2=Murray |first2=Michael T. |last3=Joiner-Bey |first3=Herb |title=The Clinician's Handbook of Natural Medicine |date=2015 |publisher=Churchill Livingstone |isbn=9780702055140 |page=516 |edition=3rd}}</ref><ref name="Hechtman">{{cite book |last1=Hechtman |first1=Leah |title=Clinical Naturopathic Medicine |date=2018 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=9780729542425 |pages=879, 908 |edition=2}}</ref><ref name="Goyal">{{cite journal |last1=Goyal |first1=R. K. |last2=Singh |first2=Janardhan |last3=Lal |first3=Harbans |title=Asparagus racemosus—an update |journal=Indian Journal of Medical Sciences |date=September 2003 |volume=57 |issue=9 |pages=408–414 |pmid=14515032}}</ref> Despite its long history of use in Ayurveda, no [[evidence-based medicine|high-quality clinical evidence]] exists to support using shatavari as a therapy for any disease.<ref name="LactMed"/><ref name="Pizzorno"/> Studies of its effects on [[lactation]] have shown mixed results.<ref name="LactMed">{{cite web |title=Wild asparagus |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30000872/ |website=LactMed |publisher=National Library of Medicine, US National Institutes of Health |accessdate=31 March 2022|date=16 August 2021|pmid=30000872|language=en}}</ref> Its safety has not been well-studied, with two small trials finding no [[adverse effect]]s in mothers or their babies.<ref name="LactMed"/> Constituents of shatavari include steroidal [[saponin]]s, [[mucilage]], and [[alkaloid]]s.<ref name="LactMed"/>

=== Australian aboriginal uses ===
The roots of ''Asparagus racemosa'' are boiled and give a liquid used as an external wash to treat colds and other sicknesses, by the aborigines of the [[Moyle River]] area in the [[Northern Territory]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite Q|Q106088130|pages=166}}</ref> (The [[Nganʼgityemerri language|Ngan'gi]] name for the plant is '''yerrwuwu'''.)<ref name=":0" />

==Chemical constituents==
[[Asparagamine A]], a [[polycyclic compound|polycyclic]] [[alkaloid]] was isolated from the dried roots<ref>[http://leygroup.ch.cam.ac.uk/lab_letters/PDF/asparagamine.pdf The Ley Group: Combinatorial Chemistry and total synthesis of natural products] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120525200654/http://leygroup.ch.cam.ac.uk/lab_letters/PDF/asparagamine.pdf |date=May 25, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1002/chin.199505264 | volume=26 | issue=5 | pages=no | title=ChemInform Abstract: Structure of Asparagamine A (I), a Novel Polycyclic Alkaloid from Asparagus racemosus | year=2010 | journal=ChemInform | last1 = Sekine | first1 = T.}}</ref> and subsequently synthesized to allow for the construction of analogs.<ref>[http://www.researchgrantdatabase.com/g/1F32CA091635-01/Total-Synthesis-of-the-Antitumor-Agent-Asparagamine-A/ Total Synthesis Of The Antitumor Agent Asparagamine A] retrieved 11-02-2011 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425132550/http://www.researchgrantdatabase.com/g/1F32CA091635-01/Total-Synthesis-of-the-Antitumor-Agent-Asparagamine-A/ |date=April 25, 2012 }}</ref>

[[Steroid]]al [[saponin]]s, [[shatavaroside A]], [[shatavaroside B]], [[filiasparoside C]], [[shatavarin]]s, immunoside, and schidigerasaponin D5 (or asparanin A) were isolated from the roots of ''Asparagus racemosus''.<ref>{{Cite journal | pmid = 19652422| year = 2009| last1 = Sharma| first1 = U| title = Steroidal saponins from Asparagus racemosus| journal = Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin| volume = 57| issue = 8| pages = 890–3| last2 = Saini| first2 = R| last3 = Kumar| first3 = N| last4 = Singh| first4 = B| doi=10.1248/cpb.57.890| doi-access = free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/j.phytochem.2007.09.001| pmid = 17936315| title = Steroidal saponins from the roots of Asparagus racemosus| journal = Phytochemistry| volume = 69| issue = 3| pages = 796–804| year = 2008| last1 = Hayes| first1 = Patricia Y.| last2 = Jahidin| first2 = Aisyah H.| last3 = Lehmann| first3 = Reg| last4 = Penman| first4 = Kerry| last5 = Kitching| first5 = William| last6 = De Voss| first6 = James J.}}</ref>

Also known is the [[isoflavone]] 8-methoxy-5,6,4'-trihydroxyisoflavone 7-''O''-β-<small>D</small>-glucopyranoside.<ref>{{cite journal | pmid = 11295314| year = 2001| last1 = Saxena| first1 = V. K.| title = A new isoflavone from the roots of Asparagus racemosus| journal = Fitoterapia| volume = 72| issue = 3| pages = 307–9| last2 = Chourasia| first2 = S| doi=10.1016/s0367-326x(00)00315-4}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Shatavar Vatika Herbal Park, Hisar]], [[Haryana]]—a herbal park in India for the research, preservation and production of Ayurveda products, including shatavari

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Asparagus racemosus}}
* [http://www.flowersofindia.net/longshots/Satawari.jpg Picture of ''A. racemosus'' flowers from "Flowers of India" website]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q4807702}}

[[Category:Asparagus|racemosus]]
[[Category:Flora of the Indian subcontinent]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1799]]
[[Category:Plants used in Ayurveda]]

Asparagus racemosus - Revision history

UpdateBot at 15:04, 31 March 2022