Enhydra fluctuans Lour: A Review

Enhydra fluctuans Lour, a tropical herb, commonly known as helencha or harkuch,belonging to family Asteraceae, is gaining lot of importance for its therapeutic potentials. This is an edible semi-aquatic herbaceous vegetable plant with serrate leaves, grows commonly all over the country. The plant is a prostrate herb with opposite sessile, linear oblong leaves, 1–3 inches long. The herb is quite glabrous sometimes pubescent glandular. Stems are 0.3–0.6m, elongated simple or divaricating rooting at the nodes. The leaves are slightly bitter, cure inflammation, skin diseases, laxative, bronchitis, nervous affection, leucoderma, biliousness and good in small pox. The plant possesses nutritional value including-β-carotene, saponins, cholesterol, glucoside, enhydrin and so on. It is reported that plant possesses Antioxidant, Hepatoprotective, CNS Depressant, Analgesic and Antidiarrheal activity. The leaves extract of Enhydra fluctuans is an effective antibacterial against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus. This review aims at compiling the potential benefits of Enhydra fluctuans Lour based on its pharmacological activity.