General Information - Catharanthus roseus is a tropical hardy plant grown as a pot ornamental plant for its rosy or white flowers. It is popularly known as Madagascar periwinkle. It is small in size perennial herbaceous evergreen plant that was native to the Madagascar island. The plant has very good tolerance against heat, grows one or two feet high, have glossy, dark green leaves (1-2 inches long) and flowers even in the hot weather. The blooms of the natural wild plants are pale pink with a purple "eye" in their centers, but horticulturists have developed varieties with colors ranging from white to pink to purple. The plant has immense medicinal importance for its alkaloids. All parts of the plant including leaf, root, shoot and stem contains more than 200 alkaloids, which are used for therapeutic purposes against several diseases. The most important alkaloids vinblastine and vincristine are derived from leaves and they exhibits anti-cancer and anti-diabetic property. Another alkaloid rubacine derived from roots is used as hypotensive and anti-arrhythmic agent.
Phytochemicals - A wide range of alkaloids has been discovered from C. roseus. More than 130 alkaloids of the indole and the dihydro-indole groups have been isolated and characterized from different plant organs. Vinblastin is very important alkaloid extracted from leaf part of C. roseus.
