Emodi-podophyllin

Podophyllum peltatum (may apple, or American mandrake) and P. emodi are. respectively, American and Himalayan plants, widely separated geographically but used in both places as cathartics in folk medicine (94). An alcoholic extract of the rhizome known as podophyllin was included in many pharmacopoeias for its gastrointestinal effects it was included in the U.S.P., for example, from 1820 to 1942. At about this time the beneficial effect of podophyllin, applied topically to benign tumors known as condylomata acuminata, was demonstrated clinically (96). This usage was not inspirational, given that there are records of topical application in the treatment of cancer by the Penobscot Indians of Maine and, subsequently, by various medical practitioners in the United States from the 19th century (96). The crude resinous podophyllin is an irritant and unpleasant mixture unsuited to systemic administration. 

The resin product obtained by extraction of the dried roots and rhizomes of the North American plant Podophyllum peltatum L. (the American mandrake or mayapple) and of the related Indian species Podophyllum emodi Wall. Ex Royle is known as podophyllin and has long been known to possess medicinal properties. The major active substance in podophyllin is the lignan lactone podophyllotoxin (7) although a variety of other lignans and lignan glycosides have also been isolated from podophyllin. ... 

Indian podophyllin obtained similarly from Indian podophyllum (rhizome and roots of Podophyllum hexandrum Royle, also known as P. emodi Wall.) is now more widely used. 

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