Curry leaf

Fig. 1 Blooming plant of Murraya koenigii (curry-leaf tree). (Courtesy of Calvin Lemke, Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Oklahoma)...

Indian curry leaf Murraya koenigii Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons. 

Beena, A.K., Annie, A., and Leelamma, S. 1995. Haemtological and histological studies after curry leaf [Murraya koenigii ] and mustered [Brassicajuncea ] feedings in rats. Indian J. Med. Res. 102, 184-186. 

Curry leaf Murraya koenigii Spreng Leaf India, Burma... 

The curry leaf plant is highly valued for its characteristic aroma and medicinal value (Philip, 1981). A number of leaf essential oil constituents and carbazole alkaloids have been extracted from the plant (Mallavarapu et al., 1999). There are a large number of oxygenated mono- and sesquiterpenes present, e.g. c/s-ocimene (34.1%), a-pinene (19.1%), y-terpinene (6.7%) and P-caryophyllene (9.5%), which appear to be responsible for the intense odour associated with the stalk and flower parts of curry leaves (Onayade and Adebajo, 2000). In fresh bay leaves, 1, 8-cineole is the major component, together with a-terpinyl acetate, sabinene, a-pinene, P-pinene, P-elemene, a-terpineol, linalool and eugenol (Kilic et al., 2004). 

Curry leaf (Murraya koenigii Spreng.) Murrayacine, koenigine, a-pinene, /3-phellandrene ... 

Philip, J. (1981) Curry leaf and its uses. World Crops 33, 125-127. 

Ray, D.P. and Srivastava, S. (2006) Curry leaf (Murraya koenigii) the aromatic biopesticide. Journal of Interacademicia 10, 231-235. 

Curry leaf (M koenigii L. Spreng) belongs to the citrus family, Rutaceae. It is a small tree maintained, under cultivation, as a small shrub. Some trees have been observed at a height of more than 5 m. Under cultivation, they are maintained below 2.5 m high. The... 

The leaf extract of curry leaf has been reported to contain moisture (66.3%), protein (1%), fat (1%), carbohydrate (16%), fibre (6.4%) and mineral matter (4.2%). The main minerals per 100 g of leaves are calcium (810 mg), phosphorus (600 mg) and iron (2.1 mg). The vitamins in the leaves are carotene (12,600 i.u.), nicotinic acid (2.3 mg) and vitamin C (4 mg) (Anon., 1962 Kumar et al., 1999). The extract also contains oxalic acid, which reduces the availability of calcium. The contents are total oxalate (1.352%) and soluble oxalate (1.155%) (Ananthasamy et al., 1960 Walde et al., 2005). The effects of storage temperature on the nutritive value were studied by Palaniswamy et al. (2002). Reisch et al. (1994a) found the furocou-marins in the seeds. 

The flavour volatile constituents of the seed cotyledons, fruits and leaves of M. koenigii L. were analysed by GC-MS and compared with curry leaf flavour constituents (Walde et al., 2005). These consist of monoterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. The major constituents of curry leaf are monoterpenes (70%), seed cotyledons (86%) constituting a-pinene (52%) and c/s-P-ocimene (34%) raw fruit oil containing monoterpenes (80%) and oxygenated monoterpenes (4.8%) and fruit pulp oil containing monoterpenes (61%). 

Curry leaf has been used in folk medicine in China and other Asian countries as an analgesic, astringent, antidysenteric, anti-... 

The essential oil of curry leaf is composed of many chemicals with a multispectral... 

Curry leaf has been reported to contain plant growth inhibitors. Bhattacharya et al. (1989) described the isolation and characterization of two coumarins present in M. koenigii bark. The growth-inhibitory properties are comparable to those of other coumarins, such as psoralen and xanthotoxin. 

M. koenigii (Linn), commonly known as the curry leaf plant, is highly valued for its characteristic aroma and medicinal properties. Its leaves are used extensively for culinary purposes, especially in curries and chut-neys, but also in vegetable, fish and meat dishes, pickles, buttermilk preparations, curry powder blends, etc. The major volatile components in curry leaf are a-pinene, 3-caryophyllene, (Ii)-P-ocimene, linalool and P-phellandrene. M. koenigii is a rich source of carbazole alkaloids. Its leaves, roots and bark are a tonic, stomachic and carminative. It is shown to possess a hypo-cholesterol effect and many other health benefits. The crop promises great scope in various biochemical and industrial applications in the future. 

Hiremath, S.M. and Madalageri, B.B. (1 997) Volatile aroma constituents of curry leaf cv. Suwasini. Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Science 1 0, 602-604. 

Kumar, V.S., Sharma, A., Tiwari, R. and Sushil, K. (1999) Murraya koenigii (curry leaf) a review. Journal of Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Sciences 21, 1139-1144. 

Lai, R.K., Sharma, J.R., Singh, N., Misra, H.O. and Naqvi, A. (2000) Genetic associations and diversity in the genetic resources of curry leaf Murraya koenigii. Journal of Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Sciences 22—23(4A-1 A), 216-220. 

Lalitha, S., Thamburaj, S., Thangaraj, T. and Vijayakumar, M. (1997) Evaluation of curry leaf (Murraya koenigii Spreng) ecotypes. South Indian Horticulture 45, 78-80. 

Palaniswamy, U.R., Stuart, J.D. and Caporuscio, C.A. (2002) Effects of storage temperature on the nutritive value of curry leaf. In Janick, J. and Whipkey, A. (eds) Trends in New Crops and New Uses. Proceedings V National Symposium, Atlanta, Georgia, 10-13 November 2001. ASHA Press, Alexandria, Virginia, pp. 567-569. 

Palaniswamy, U.R., Caporuscio, C. and Stuart, J.D. (2003) A chemical analysis of antioxidant vitamins in fresh curry leaf (Murraya koenigii) by reversed phase HPLC with UV detection. Acta Horticulturae 620, 475 178. 

Ramalakshmi, K., Sulochanamma, G. and Raghvan, B. (2000) Physico-chemical changes on processing of curry leaf (Murraya koenigii Spreng.). Journal of Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Science 22(1 B), 510-51 6. 

Shanthala, M. and Prakash, J. (2005) Acceptability of curry leaf (Murraya koenigii) incorporated products and attitude toward consumption. Journal of Food Processing and Preservation 29, 33-44. 

Vinuthan, M.K., Girish Kumara, V., Narayanaswamya, M. and Veena, T. (2007) Lipid lowering effect of aqueous leaves extract of Murraya koenigii (curry leaf) on alloxan-induced male diabetic rats. Pharmacognosy Magazine 3(10), 112-115. 

Bismurrayafoline E Murraya koenigii (curry leaf) AO/FRS - scavenges DPPH... 

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