Purslane

Portulaca oleraceae

Names:

L.portulacaceae,P. quadrifida, Yellow Portulaca,Wild Purslane,Garden Purslane.Ruellius.

History

Used as food in India and ME.
Cultivated in Europe as of the Middle Ages.
First grown in 1582in Britain.
Known as "Ruellius" before this in France and Italy.
Seeds boiled in wine were used for swollen gums, to relieve soreness and to fasten loose teeth.
Purslane was said (in Culpepper), to be a coolant when the leaves were bruised and applied to the forehead.
With oil of Roses it was applied to swollen gums to relieve infection and to set loosened teeth.

Constituents

Vitamin C(700 mg per 100grams of fresh plant)>potassium salts,(1% in fresh,70% in dried plants) urea oxalic acid carotenoid pigmentscollected from alkaloids(0.03%),glucoside: (ß-sitosterol),volatile oil , organic acids (to 1%),sacchariferoid (2%),resins.

Uses:

scurvy, vit C, nutritive, diuretic, tonic, anti-scorbutic ,pulmonary disease, urino-genital; given to children as a vermifuge; skin remedies; vaso-constrictive properties; for high blood pressure ; to give greater heart contractions.

Portulaca oleracae var. sativa (L)DC. :

Garden Purslane, Pigweed; Green Purslane,
Though Kitchen-Garden Purslane, having similar constituents, is cooked or used in salads but not used medicinally, the leaf, collected in wilderness Africa is still used as an emetic by South African Zulus .

Contra-Indications: NONE

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