Psoralea Corylifolia

Other Names : Babchi, Bu Gu Zhi, Babechi, Kushtanashini, Fountain bush, West Indian Satinwood, Somaraji, Bakuchi, Ravoli

Special Precautions of Psoralea Corylifolia

P. corylifolia has been implicated in at least one case of severe hepatotoxicity in a 64-year-old woman who self-medicated with a variety of Aryuvedic herbs for her vitiligo. The authors identify psoralens as "the primary candidate causing the hepatotoxic reaction".

Benefits and uses of Psoralea Corylifolia are

P. corylifolia extract contains a number of chemical compounds including flavonoids (neobavaisoflavone, isobavachalcone, bavachalcone, bavachinin, bavachin, corylin, corylifol, corylifolin and 6-prenylnaringenin), coumarins (psoralidin, psoralen, isopsoralen and angelicin) and meroterpenes (bakuchiol and 3-hydroxybakuchiol).

• Bu Gu Zhi in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to tonify the kidneys, particularly kidney yang and essence. It is used for helping the healing of bone fractures, for lower back and knee pain, impotence, bed wetting, hair loss, and vitiligo.
• An extract of the plant's fruit Fructus psoraleæ has been shown to act as a norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor in vitro.
• Extracts obtained from the seeds of P. corylifolia have been shown to inhibit mitochondrial complex I in vitro and may therefore increase susceptibility to oxidative stress.