Common Name: Chiretta

General Information

Swertia chirayita is a biennial to monocarpic perennial plant, producing a rosette of leaves in its first one or more years of growth before producing a robust flowering stem around 60 - 150cm tall with branches in the top part. The plant usually dies after flowering[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine and for commercial use in cosmetics. A very popular medicinal herb in India and Nepal, where it is harvested in large quantities and traded[]. It is one of the most commonly exported medicinal herbs in Nepal, where large quantities are sent to India and traded in the markets there[]. As a result of its popularity as a medicine, the plant is now (2008) being cultivated in parts of Nepal[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

E. Asia - Himalayas from Pakistan, through Nepal to northeast India.

Habitat

Open and moist places, shady places on the forest floor, pastures, and along the edges of agriculture fields; at elevations from 1,200 - 3,000 metres[, , ].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Annual/Biennial
Height	1.00 m
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

Swertia chirayita is a fairly cold-hardy plant, tolerating winter temperatures down to at least -15°c[]. It grows best in areas with cool summers[].
Succeeds in a moist humus-rich soil in damp light woodlands, streamsides or the bog garden[]. The plant thrives in fertile sandy-loam soils of acidic nature[] Succeeds in full sun or partial shade[].
In its first year or more of growth the plant remains vegetative, producing only a rosette of leaves above ground. Only after two to three years does the plant produce a flowering stem and usually dies after it has produced seed. Occasionally the plant will not die after flowering but will live for at least another flowering season[].

Edible Uses

The plant contains the bitter glycoside amarogentin, which is used to some extent as an alternative bitter agent to quinine in the liquor and soft drink industries[].

Medicinal

Chiretta is a traditional Ayurvedic herb. A strongly bitter tonic it is an excellent remedy for a weak stomach, especially when this gives rise to nausea, indigestion and bloating, and it has also been shown to protect the liver[]. It is perhaps best known in India as the main ingredient in 'mahasudarshana churna', a remedy containing more than 50 herbs[].
The whole plant is an extremely bitter tonic digestive herb that lowers fevers and is stimulant[, ]. It also shows antipyretic, sudorific, antiperiodic, anthelmintic, antiinflammatory and hypoglycaemic properties[]. It has a beneficial effect on the liver, promoting the flow of bile, it also treats constipation and is useful for treating dyspepsia[, ]. The plant is widely used to treat fevers. The dried plant is soaked in water overnight and the extract is taken orally to treat fevers, colds and coughs[].
Applied topically, the plant is also used in the treatment of cuts and wounds[].

The crushed seeds are considered most effective in treating fevers, colds, coughs[].

The juice of the leaves and roots is taken with water to treat headache, malarial fever, stomach disorder and as an anthelmintic medicine[].

The leaves and part of the stem are chewed raw to treat fevers and malarial fever[].

The plant has an interesting chemistry, similar in many respects to Gentiana lutea, a widely used restorative tonic of the digestive system[].
The plant contains xanthones, which are reputedly effective against malaria and tuberculosis[].
The plant contains the bitter glycosides amaroswerin and amarogentin. Amarogentin is the most bitter substance known, with a bitterness index of 58,000,000[], and there is evidence that it may protect the liver against carbon tetrachloride poisoning[].
The plant is harvested when the seed is setting and then dried for later use[].

Other Uses

An extract of the whole plant is used as an ingredient in commercial cosmetic preparations as a humectant[].
An extract of the leaves is used as an ingredient in commercial cosmetic preparations as an astringent[].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in temperatures not exceeding 10°c in a humus-rich medium[]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in early summer.
The seed has a viability of 3+ years[].