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Mucuna Pruriens

Botanical Name(s): Mucuna Pruriens
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceace
Tribe: Phaseoleae
Genus: Mucuna
Species: Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC.
Popular Name(s): Cowitch, Cowhage Plant, Kavach, Kapikachhu, Atmagupta Naikaranam, Kawanch, Kewach
Parts Used: Roots, Seeds and Leaves
Habitat: This herb is an annual climbing shrub found in the tropics of India.

Description
Mucuna Pruriens is an annual, climbing shrub with long vines that can reach over 15 m. It bears white, lavender, or purple flowers and pods that are covered in loose orange hair, which can cause a severe itch. The young plant is covered with fuzzy hair, but as it grows older, the hair disappears. The leaves of the plant are tripinnate, ovate, reverse ovate, rhombus shaped or widely ovate.

Plant Chemicals
The main plant chemicals found in velvet bean include alkaloids, alkylamines, arachidic acid, behenic acid, betacarboline, beta-sitosterol, bufotenine, cystine, dopamine, fatty acids, flavones, galactose d, gallic acid, genistein, glutamic acid, glutathione, glycine, histidine, hydroxygenistein, 5-hydroxytryptamine, isoleucine, l-dopa, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, lysine, mannose d, methionine, 6-methoxyharman, mucunadine, mucunain, mucunine, myristic acid, niacin, nicotine, oleic acid, palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid, phenylalanine, prurienidine, prurienine, riboflavin, saponins, serine, serotonin, stearic acid, stizolamine, threonine, trypsin, tryptamine, tyrosine, valine, and vernolic acid.

Uses & Benefits of Mucuna Pruriens