Aparajitha: The Memory Booster

Text & photographs by Dr. Mahadeswara Swamy, Scientist Among the innumerable plants used in native system of medicines ‘Aparajita’ stands out as a curative herb to improve memory. In Ayurveda, it is grouped under ‘Medhya’ category forming part of “Shirovirechanopaga” group of herbs associated with detoxification and cleansing of the brain and associated nervous system. A perennial creeper known as ‘Shanku pushpa’ in Kannada, it is often seen in the backyards of Indian household. (English: ‘Butterfly pea’, Asian pigeon-wings, bluebell-vine, blue pea, cordofan pea and Darwin pea; Hindi: Aparajita, Gokarni, Khagtu; Kannada: Aparajite, Girikarnike, Kantisoppu, Gokarna; Malayalam: Sangu pushpam; Marathi: Gokarna, Shankha pushpa; Sanskrit: Aparajita, Girikarnika, Ghrstih; Tamil: Kakkanam, Kakkattan Kannikkodi, Uyvai; Telugu: Gentana, Sankhu-pushpamu). The scientific name is Clitoria ternatea of Fabaceae family. The genus name “Clitoria”, from the Latin name “Clitoris” is due to its petals resembling human female genitals (yoni). It is native to Africa & South East Asia and widely cultivated in India, South America and Australia. Description Clitoria ternatea is a vigorous, trailing, scrambling or climbing vine with a strong woody rootstock. Stems are sparsely hairy, sub-erect and produce slender new stems from the woody base each year. The leaves are compound with 5-7 leaflets, elliptical, 3-5 cm long. The flowers are solitary or paired, blue or white, about 1 to 1.5 inches with bract and bracteole (leafy structures on the stalk subtending the petiole); petals varying in colour (vivid deep / cobalt blue or light blue with a white throat or pure white), standard large, emarginated, wings oblong, keel incurved with a yellow to white pattern in the centre of the lower petal. Stamens 10 ( 9 fused to form a tube+ 1 free) . Ovary elongated, densely clothed in white hairs. Fruits are flat, linear, sparsely pubescent pods dehiscing violently at maturity […]

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