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Tianma

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Essentials of Medicinal and Aromatic Crops

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Abstract

Gastrodia elata also commonly known as Tianma is a medicinal plant which is rich in different compounds like phenolics, organic acids, polysaccharides and sterols. Tianma preparations have been used in combination with other medicines as “Tianma steamed egg”, “Tianma stewed pig brain” and “Tianma sleeping Poridge”. The nutrient composition of G. elata is rich in crude protein, crude fat and vitamin C. It grows at height of 1300–10,500 feet at the edges of forests and can tolerate as low as −15 °C temperature. Germination of seed takes place in the first year by symbiotic relationship with fungus called M. osmundicola and protocorms from which immature tubers are obtained after 1 year of cultivation with Armillaria. The plant is harvested either in winters or in spring. Naturally cross-pollinated by insects, epigynous with a lower Ovary is done in flowers of G. elata. The dried tubers have a long oval-shaped, minor fat, and signs of shrinkage and bending. As far medicinal uses are concerned, Gastrodia elata with bioactive compounds like gastrodin, phenolic compounds, perishin and 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol play great role in curing life-threating diseases. It works effectively as an anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and whitening agent for skin. Studies have also shown importance of its Gastrodin component to treat various central-nervous system diseases like Epilepsy, Alzheimer and Parkinson’s disease. Gastrodin have also shown potential for treating cardiovascular diseases since last years.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan

    Laiba Ahmed, Maham Saeed, Khaqan Zia, Sahar Nazeer, Ayoub Rashid Ch & Shahzad Sharif

  2. Department of Microbiology, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

    Saima Muzammil

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  1. Laiba Ahmed
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  2. Maham Saeed
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  4. Sahar Nazeer
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Correspondence to Shahzad Sharif .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan

    Muhammad Zia-Ul-Haq

  2. Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Arwa Abdulkreem AL-Huqail

  3. Department of Pharmacy, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal Dir Upper, Pakistan

    Muhammad Riaz

  4. Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Government College University, Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan

    Umar Farooq Gohar

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© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Ahmed, L. et al. (2023). Tianma. In: Zia-Ul-Haq, M., Abdulkreem AL-Huqail, A., Riaz, M., Farooq Gohar, U. (eds) Essentials of Medicinal and Aromatic Crops. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35403-8_32

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