Ammi visnaga is a medicinal plant used in various disease treatment . It's a part of pharmaceutical pharmacognosy . It's a medicinal plant having various pharmacological activities.

1. Kamlesh Singh Bora(B-Pharma 3rd Year)
DBIPR DEHRADUN
SUBMITED TO – Mr. Bhupander kumar

2. ofAmmivisnaga
Ammi visnaga is a species of flowering plant in the carrot
family known by many common names, including toothpick-plant,
toothpickweed, bisnaga, khella, or sometimes Bishop's weed. It is
native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, but it can be found
throughout the world as an introduced species. This is an annual
or biennial herb growing from a taproot erect to a maximum
height near 80 centimeters. Leaves are up to 20 centimeters long
and generally oval to triangular in shape but dissected into many
small linear to lance-shaped segments. The inflorescence is a
compound umbel of white flowers similar to those of other
Apiaceae species. The fruit is a compressed oval-shaped body less
than 3 millimeters long. This and other Ammi species are sources
of khellin, a diuretic extract.
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3. Khella, Pick tooth fruit.
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4. Geographical Source
These are dried ripe fruits of Ammi vasnaga Linn.,
belonging to family Umbelliferae.
The drug is native of Nile delta in Egypt. It has been
cultivated in Egypt and Chile in South America.
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Biological Source
Cultivation and Collection
The plant which is an annual herb growing about 1 to 1.5
meters in height, is propagated by means od seeds in loamy
soil of nursery beds in August. After attaining a height of
about 6 – 7 cm, transplantation is done into open fields.
After 7 – 8 months, the plant bears flowers and harvesting is
done at the stage of ripening of first fertilized flowers. The
plants are cut and preserved in heaps, during which all the
fruits are ripened.

5. Macroscopic Characters
Through, it is an umbelliferous fruit, very few cremocarps
are entire. Otherwise they occur as separate mericarps.
The latter are plano-convex in shapes and ovoid-
lanceolate in appearance.
Mericrap shows 5 primary ridges and 4 secondary
ridges.
• Color - Fruit Greenish-brown
• Odour - Characteristic
• Size - Fruit length 2 – 2.5 mm , width 0.7 – 1.2
mm, thickness 0.8 – 1 mm
• Taste - The drug first gives a sweet taste followed
by an intentionally bitter taste.
The fracture is smooth but tough and flexible in
moist drug.
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6. Microscopic Characters
The transverse section of mericarp
shows characteristic parts of
umbelliferous fruits. It has 5 vascular
bundles and 4 oil glands. The section
appears as a pentagon. A large lacuna is
primary ridge on the outer side of
vascular bundle. This is s distinguishing
features of this drug.
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7. Chemical Constant
The dug contains volatile oil about 1 per cent khellin, 0.1 per cent visnagin and 0.3 percent Khelloside. They are
furanocoumarin derivatives. Khellin occurs as odourless bitter tasting crystals and it is 2-methyl-5, 8 dimetoxy
furanochrome. It is soluble in mineral acids and organic solvent s excepts ether.
Glucoside R1 R2 R3
Visnagin OCH3 H H
Khellin OCH3 OCH3 H
Khelloside OCH3 H O-glucoside
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The oil present in drug contains samidine, dihydrosamidine and visnadine.
H2C
R1 R2
R2 R2

8. Uses
Khellin is a smooth muscle relaxant and used as coronary vasodilator in angina pectoris,
renal and uterine colic, Bronchial asthma and whooping cough.
Samidine, dihydrosmidine and visuadine are strong vasodilators.
Khella is touted as a natural remedy for the following health conditions :
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 angina
 asthma
 atherosclerosis
 bronchitis
 cough
 cramps
 premenstrual syndrome
 diabetes
 heart disease
 high blood pressure
 high cholesterol
 kidney stones
 menstrual pain
When applied topically (i.e., directly to the skin), khella is said to aid in the
treatment of a number of skin disorders (including alopecia areata, psoriasis,
and vitiligo). Topical use of khella is also thought to promote healing from
wounds and poisonous bites.

9. o Medicinal Uses -
Antispasmodic due to papaverinic-type relaxing action:
a) Coronary dilator, ++++
b) Bronchial dilator ++++
c) Ureteral dilator++++
d) Antimicrobial
o Traditional Uses -
Ammi visnaga was traditionally used in the Mediterranean for the treatment of
heart conditions for thousands of years. It is thought that the mechanism of action is
similar to calcium channel blocking drugs.
This oil from this herb was also used in the treatment of kidney stones. The
main chemical, khellin, was first isolated in 1879 by Mustapha.
Intal, an asthma drug widely used with conventional medicine, is
derived chemically from khellin, along with Nasal Chrom. Khellin is
structurally similar to psoralen and may stimulate melanine synthesis.
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10. Pharmacology
o Mechanism of action - The used parts of khella are the dried, ripe fruits.
Khella has several constituents with known
pharmacological activity, including visnadin, visnagin, and khellin. All of these
constituents may have cardiovascular effects attributed to calcium channel blocking
actions. Visnadin is the most active. It can inhibit vascular smooth muscle
contraction and may dilate peripheral and coronary vessels and increase coronary
circulation. Visnagin also has negative chronotropic and inotropic effects and
reduces peripheral vascular resistance. The khellin constituent also acts as a
vasodilator and has bronchodilatory activity. There is some preliminary evidence
that khellin might also increase HDL-cholesterol levels without affecting total
cholesterol or triglyceride concentrations.
A khella extract seems to have some antimicrobial activity. This might be attributable to
both the khellin and visnagin constituents, which both seem to have antifungal,
antibacterial, and antiviral activity. Researchers are interested in khella for use in
psoriasis. The khellin constituent is structurally similar to the
psoralen nucleus and might be useful as a photosensitizer in patients
with psoriasis.
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11. o Dosing and administration - Orally khella is typically given as an extract
standardized based on khellin content.
Extracts are usually standardized to 12% khellin. A typical dose of khella is an amount that
provides 20 mg of the khellin constituent per day. For angina, khella in an amount providing
doses of 30–300 mg of the khellin constituent has also been used. Khella is sometimes used
as a tea. The tea is usually prepared by pouring boiling water over powdered fruit, steeping
10–15 min, and straining.
o Safety profile - Ammi visnaga is possibly unsafe when used orally in high doses. High
doses of khella can cause increases in liver enzymes and possible liver
damage. It is unlikely safe when used orally in pregnancy. The active constituent, khellin, has
uterine stimulant activity; therefore is contraindicated in pregnancy. In lactation insufficient
reliable information is available, however, it is advised to avoid using.
o Possible adverse effects - Orally, prolonged use or use of high doses of khella can
cause nausea, dizziness, constipation, lack is known to
affect liver enzymes. Liver dysfunction and jaundice are typicof appetite, headache, itching,
and insomnia. In some patients, khella can cause elevated liver transaminase (enzymes
aspartate transaminase and alanine transaminase) and gamma-glutamyltransferase levels
(alkaline phosphatase), probably due to the khellin constituent; which ally reversible when
khella is discontinued. There is also some concern that khella might cause
photosensitivity because of the constituents khellin and the furocoumarin.
Prolonged use or overdose may cause nausea, vertigo, constipation, lack of
appetite, headache, and sleeplessness.
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12. Marketed Formulation
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Kamlesh Singh Bora
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