Chicken weed can boost stamina, build muscles!

Vadodara: ‘Nani luni’ can stop athletes and sportspersons from hazarding their lives using banned anabolic steroids to boost their strength and add muscles. Reason? Botanists have found a treasure trove of phytochemicals that can help athletes build muscles and body in this wonder weed found abundantly in agricultural farms.
Nani Luni or chicken weed in English is a well-known herb that is used to ease hypertension in western countries.
An LCMS (Liquid chromatograph mass spectrometers) study conducted by professor M Daniel and his team at the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC), Gandhinagar, has identified at least eight phytochemicals which improve stamina, reduce fatigue, builds muscles and accelerate other anabolic activities in the plant species.
“Athletes and sports persons can use this plant instead of the banned anabolic steroids. These compounds are permitted as they are from plant foods. It is also very useful to combat depression and hypertension which is so rampant in the post-Covid era,” Prof Daniel, former HOD of Botany and ex-dean of MS University’s Faculty of Science told TOI. “Through the study we identified at least eight phytochemicals like vinaginsenoside, biliverdin, testosterone, glucuronide, and coumestrin,” he said.
“We also found more than a dozen compounds including nicergoline, ganglioside, crocin among others which are neuroprotective, can reduce depression and insomnia, induce sleep and rectify Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases,” he said.
“The cardiotonic (heart-friendly) compounds located are panogenin (that reduces platelets aggregation), epicatechin (thins blood), lupeol (reduces cholesterol) and 7-hydroxy ticlopidine (thins blood, strengthens cardiac muscles). We have also identified eight anticancer compounds in Nani Luni apart from other compounds which are antibacterial and antiviral,” he said.
Additionally, this herb is found to contain a large number compounds (more than 800) consisting of essential chemicals like phospholipids (including sphingolipids needed for membranes, brain, heart, neurons) , many free fatty acids, fatty alcohols, free amino acids, plant hormones, minerals and co-enzymes which form a metabolic pool of compounds useful in the regular growth of human body. “The alcoholic extract of this plant is found to contain a total of 997 compounds, of which 899 have been identified at GBRC, Gandhinagar,” he said.