Plantago ovata (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Plantago ovata Forssk.

Protologue: Fl. aegypt.-arab.: 31 (1775).

• Flea seed, blond psyllium (En).

South-eastern Spain, northern Africa, western Asia to Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan; much cultivated in India and locally introduced in South-East Asia as medicinal plant, e.g. in Thailand.

The mucilage obtained from the seeds is widely used as laxative. It can also be used as a gelling agent for tissue culture.

• A small annual or sometimes perennial herb up to 15(-20) cm tall.
• Leaves in one or few rosettes, linear-lanceolate to linear, 2-12 cm × 0.1-0.8 cm, entire or distantly denticulate, sparsely to densely villous-lanate.
• Spike 0.5-3.5 cm long, dense, bracts suborbicular to ovate, about 3 mm long.
• Fruit about 3 mm long, 2-seeded; seeds boat-shaped, 2-2.5 mm long, smooth and yellowish-brown to pale greyish-pink.

P. ovata occurs in dry regions, and is cultivated on poor to moderately fertile sandy soils.

• [147] Bhattacharya, P., Dey, S. & Bhattacharya, B.C., 1994. Use of low-cost gelling agents and support matrices for industrial scale plant tissue culture. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 37(1): 15-23.
• [193] Bruneton, J., 1995. Pharmacognosy, phytochemistry, medicinal plants. Technique & Documentation Lavoisier, Paris, France. 915 pp.
• [287] Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1948-1976. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials & industrial products. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, New Delhi, India.
• [411] Fernandez-Banares, F. et al., 1999. Randomized clinical trial of Plantago ovata seeds (dietary fibre) as compared with mesalamine in maintaining remission in ulcerative colitis. Spanish group for the study of Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis (GETECCU). American journal of gastroenterology 94(2): 427-433.
• [525] Gupta, R., 1990. Indian herbs and herbal raw material - time-tested remedies for all ailments. Indian Horticulture 34(4): 39-41.
• [549] Hänsel, R. et al. (Editors), 1992. Hagers Handbuch der Pharmazeutishe Praxis [Hagers handbook of the practice of pharmacology]. Springer Verlag, Berlin, Germany. 1209 pp.
• [1012] Nasir, E. & Ali, S.I. (Editors), 1970-1988. Flora of West Pakistan. No 1-188. Department of Botany, University of Karachi and National Herbarium, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad, Pakistan.
• [1125] Perez-Miranda, M., Gomez-Cedenilla, A., Leon-Colombo, T., Pajares, J. & Mate-Jimenez, J., 1996. Effect of fiber supplements on internal bleeding hemorroids. Hepato-Gatroenterology 43(12): 1504-1507.
• [1566] Wichtl, M. (Editor), 1994. Herbal drugs and phytopharmaceuticals. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, United States. 800 pp.

• Plantago (Medicinal plants)

• Lilis Pangemanan