Swertia chirata, Ophelia chirata, S. chirayita Chiretta, Chirata, Chirayta, Brown Chirata, White Chiretta, East Indian Balmony   Family: Gentianaceae   
PART USED: Whole plant- Collected when in flower.
TASTE: Intensely bitter   ODORLESS
GROUP: Bitter tonic
ACTIONS
1. Bitter tonic.[1]
1. Orexigenic.[1,2] Stomachic.[2]
2. Antimalarial.[1,2] Febrifuge.[2]
INDICATIONS
1. Anorexia.[1] Dyspepsia.[1] Gastro-intestinal atony.[1]
2. Debility of convalescence.[1]
3. Reputed use for malaria.[1]
SPECIFIC INDICATIONS: Anorexia associated with general debility.[1]
COMBINATIONS
- Gall Bladder disease, use with Berberis and Dandelion.
- Convalescence debility or loss of appetite, combines well with other herbal remedies.
PREPARATIONS 3X/day
Dried herb  0.3-2 g or by infusion.[1]
Powder 0.5-2 g.[2]
Liquid extract  1:1 in 25% alcohol  2-4 ml.[1,2]
Tincture (BPC1934)  2-4 ml.[1]
Concentrated infusion (BPC1949) 2-4 ml.[1]

ORIGIN: Northern India
DESCRIPTION:  Leaves; opposite and sessile, ovale or lanceolate with prominent curving lateral veins, glabrous. Flowers; small and panicled. Fruit; is a bicarpellary, superior, ovoid, pointed capsule.
References
Constituents
Research

Evaluation of the anticarcinogenic activity of Swertia chirata Buch.Ham, an Indian medicinal plant, on DMBA-induced mouse skin carcinogenesis model.
Saha P, Mandal S, Das A, Das PC, Das S.
Abstract
Considerable attention has been focused on plants which are sources of natural anti-oxidant compounds, because most of them have a modulatory role on physiological functions and biotransformation reactions involved in the detoxification process. Such compounds are likely to afford protection from cytotoxic, genotoxic and metabolic actions of environmental toxicant thereby reducing the risk for cancer. The present study reports the anticarcinogenic activity of Swertia chirata Buch.Ham, an Indian medicinal plant. All the four detoxification enzymes studied viz, GST, GPx, SOD and CAT were found to be activated in different degrees following treatment with infusion of Swertia chirata, its crude extract and a purified 'Amarogentin' rich extract. The activation of the enzymes was accompanied by significant reduction in lipid peroxidation and inhibition of incidence as well as multiplicity of Dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) induced papillomas. The effect of S.chirata on apoptosis and cell proliferation was also studied in mice skin exposed to DMBA. Both the crude and purified extracts significantly inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis. This is the fi rst report of its kind and the observation suggests the chemopreventive potential of Swertia chirata.
PMID: 15173996 DOI: 10.1002/ptr.1436 Phytother Res. 2004 May;18(5):373-8. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Antiviral activity of the Indian medicinal plant extract Swertia chirata against herpes simplex viruses: a study by in-vitro and molecular approach.
Verma H, Patil PR, Kolhapure RM, Gopalkrishna V.
Abstract
PURPOSE:
The antiviral activity of Indian Medicinal plant extract Swertia chirata was tested against Herpes simplex virus (HSV) type-1, using multiple approaches both at cellular and molecular level.
METHODS:
Cytotoxicity, plaque reduction, virus infectivity, antigen expression and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were conducted to test the antiviral activity of the plant extract.
RESULTS:
Swertia plant crude extract (1 gm/mL) at 1:64 dilution inhibited HSV-1, plaque formation at more than 70% level. HSV antigen expression and time kinetics experiments conducted by indirect immunofluorescence (IFA) test, revealed a characteristic pattern of small foci of single fluorescent cells in Swertia extract treated HSV-1 infected cells at 4 hours post infection dose, suggested drug inhibited viral dissemination. Infected cell cultures treated with Swertia extract at various time intervals, tested by PCR, failed to show amplification at 12, 24-72 hours. HSV-1 infected cells treated with Acyclovir (antiviral drug) did not show any amplification by PCR.
CONCLUSIONS:
In this preliminary study, the Indian medicinal plant extract, Swertia chirata showed antiviral properties against Herpes simplex virus type-1.
PMID: 18974483
Indian J Med Microbiol. 2008 Oct-Dec;26(4):322-6. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Antihepatotoxic activity of Swertia chirata on carbon tetrachloride induced hepatotoxicity in rats
M. Karan, K. Vasisht, S. S. Handa
Abstract
The methanol extract of Swertia chirata was evaluated for antihepatotoxic activity against carbon tetrachloride induced liver toxicity in experimental rats. The extract was found to be active and on fractionation into butanol soluble and chloroform soluble fractions, the activity was traced and found more profound in the chloroform soluble fraction. The butanol soluble bitter rich fraction showed marginal activity. The results based on biochemical estimations have been expressed statistically and are additionally supported by histopathological examination of the liver of experimental rats and pentobarbitone induced sleep time studies in mice.
First published: 15 February 1999Full publication history
DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1573(199902)13:1<24::AID-PTR378>3.0.CO;2-L onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Antipyretic Potential of Swertia chirata Buch Ham. Root Extract
Sushil BHARGAVA, Prakash S. RAO, Paridhi BHARGAVA and Shivshankar SHUKLA
Published: 4 July 2009
Abstract
The aqueous extract of Swertia chirata Buch Ham. Root (ASC) (Family: Gentianaceae) was evaluated for its antipyretic potential on Brewer’s yeastinduced pyrexia in albino rats and Typhoid-Paratyphoid A, B vaccine induced Hyperexia in rabbits. In both models, the extract, at dose of 200 mg kg-1 body wt. and 400 mg kg-1 body weight, produced significant (p<0.001) reduction in elevated body temperature in a dose dependent manner. The antipyretic effect of the extract was comparable to that of paracetamol (150 mg kg-1 body weight, p.o.), a standard antipyretic agent.
Keywords: Swertia chirata; Chirayta; Antipyretic; Hyperexia; Fever
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).
Sci. Pharm. 2009, 77(3), 617-624; doi:10.3797/scipharm.0812-10 mdpi.com