Evaluation of Charu Prepared from Acalypha Indica L- An Important Medicinal Plant of Traditional Siddha System Useful in Treating Skin Diseases

Siddha system of medicine is practiced in regions of South India. The eighteen Siddhars were the men who achieved supreme knowledge in the field of medicine, yoga and tap, since then this system of medicine developed. Acalypha indica is an important medicinal plant mentioned in Siddha literature. In the present study, Charu prepared from raw powder of leaves of this plant were evaluated by using different techniques like Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy analysis for determination of associated functional group, Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) for the quantification of trace and heavy elements and antifungal activity of Charu were tested. FTIR analysis showed the broad peaks for numerous functional groups like alkanes, alkynes, alkyl halide, aromatics, alkaloid etc. Elemental analysis from this plant shows good results for most of trace as well as heavy elements which have great significance in diet. Plant product Charu shows good antifungal activity against four different pathogenic skin disease causing fungi and hence the formulation can be used to treat dermal infections.