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Asparagus

Botanical Name(s): Asparagus Racemosus, Asparagus Sarmentosus, Asparagus Gonoclados, Asparagus Adscendens
Family Name: Liliaceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Division:
Class:
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily:
Tribe:
Genus: Asparagus
Species: A. racemosus
Popular Name(s): Wild Asparagus, Asparagus Root, Satavari, Shatamuli
Parts Used: Tuberous Roots
Habitat: Found in the jungles around 8,000 feet altitude throughout India, especially Northern India.

Description
Also known as Satawari, Asparagus means ‘one who possesses a hundred husbands’. A much-branched spinous under-shrub with tuberous, short rootstock, it has numerous fusiform succulent tuberous roots. The plant contains odd little pine-needle-like leaves that are uniform, small and shiny green. The plant bears white flowers on short, spiky stems in summers, while in winters, blackish-purple, globular pulpy berries can be seen. It is a creeper, about 1 to 2 meters tall and the root is taken up in gravelly, rocky soils, high up in piedmont plains. The amazing herb is commonly found throughout India and the Himalayas. It is known as the ‘Queen of Herbs’ in Ayurvedic system of medicine, since it promotes love and loyalty.

Plant Chemicals
(+)- steroidal saponins, rhamnose moieties, sarsasapogenin, alkaloids, proteins, starch, tannin, isoflavones including 8-methoxy-5,6,4’-trihydroxyisoflavone 7-0-beta-D-glucopyranoside, asparagamine, racemosol, polysaccharides.

Uses & Benefits of Asparagus