Gymnema sylvestre

Gymnema sylvestre is a perennial woody vine that grows in tropical areas of India, Africa, and Australia and has been used for medicinal purposes in Ayurvedic medicine. Common names include gymnema, Australian cowplant, and Periploca of the woods, and the Hindi term gurmar, which means 'sugar destroyer'. The leaves and extracts contain gymnemic acids, the major bioactive constituents that interact with taste receptors on the tongue to temporarily suppress the taste of sweetness. The plant is a climber with leaves having soft hairs on the upper surface. The leaves are elongated-oval in shape. It has a small, yellow, umbelliferous inflorescence that is produced throughout the year. G. sylvestre has a long history of use in herbal medicine and a broad range of therapeutic properties. Its leaves contain triterpenoid saponins, flavonols, and gurmarin. The major biologically active plant molecules are gymnemic acids, a class of triterpenoid saponins, which have the effect of suppressing the taste of sweetness on the tongue from sucrose (sugar), stevia, xylitol, and artificial sweeteners such as aspartame. The sweet-blocking effect of G. sylvestre lasts from 15 to 50 minutes and may even persist for several hours. Gymnemic acids apparently have no long-term effects on taste and they do not influence bitter, salty, and sour taste perception. Gymnema derives from the Greek words gymnos (γυμνὀς) and nēma (νῆμα) meaning 'naked' and 'thread', respectively; the species epitheton sylvestre means 'of the forest' in Latin. The Hindi and Urdu name gurmar, Sanskrit madhunashini, Malayalam chakkarakolli, and Telugu podapatri, literally mean 'sugar destroyer'. (Sanskrit) meshasringa translates as 'ram's horn', a name given to the plant due to the shape of its fruits.