Botanical Name(s): Smilax regelii
Species: S. regelii
Popular Name(s): Indian Sarasaparilla, Anantamool
Parts Used: Root
Habitat: Found in Central India
Sarsaparilla is a woody wine that can grow up to a height of 50 m. It has small flowers and black, blue or red fruits, in berry-like form, which are eaten by the birds. It is a member of the lily family and is native to the tropical and temperate parts of the world, such as South America, Jamaica, the Caribbean, Mexico, Honduras, and the West Indies. Its long, tuberous rootstock produces a vine, which trails on the ground and climbs by means of tendrils growing in pairs from the petioles of the alternate, orbicular to ovate, evergreen leaves. The small, greenish flowers grow in auxiliary umbels.
Sarsaparilla's main plant chemicals include acetyl-parigenin, astilbin, beta-sitosterol, caffeoyl-shikimic acids, dihydroquercetin, diosgenin, engeletin, essential oils, epsilon-sitosterol, eucryphin, eurryphin, ferulic acid, glucopyranosides, isoastilbin, isoengetitin, kaempferol, parigenin, parillin, pollinastanol, resveratrol, rhamnose, saponin, sarasaponin, sarsaparilloside, sarsaponin, sarsasapogenin, shikimic acid, sitosterol-d-glucoside, smilagenin, smilasaponin, smilax saponins A-C, smiglaside A-E, smitilbin, stigmasterol, taxifolin, and titogenin. Majority of sarsaparilla's pharmacological properties can be attributed to the plant steroids sarsasapogenin, smilagenin, sitosterol, stigmasterol, and pollinastanol; and the saponins sarsasaponin, smilasaponin, sarsaparilloside, and sitosterol glucoside.
Uses & Benefits of Sarsaparilla