Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 3(3), July 2004, pp. 257-270 Tinospora cordifolia (Guduchi), a reservoir plant for therapeutic applications: A Review Kirti Sinha, N P Mishra, J Singh * and S P S Khanuja Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, (CIMAP) Lucknow 226015, U.P. E.mail: j.singh@cimap.res.in, jsinghcimap@rediffmail.com Received 15 October 2003; revised 18 May 2004 Tinospora cordifolia (Guduchi or Amrita) is an important drug of Ayurvedic System of Medicine and found mention in various classical texts for the treatment of diseases such as jaundice, fever, diabetes and skin disease etc. In present times, this drug has been subjected for numerous chemicals, pharmacological, pre-clinical and clinical investigations and many new therapeutic applications have been indicated. This paper presents a critical review in areas of chemical constituents, proved pre-clinical and clinical trials along with its medicinal uses in dif- ferent streams of medical sciences. Keywords: Tinospora cordifolia, Guduchi, Tinosporosides, Immunomodulator. IPC Int. Cl. 7 : A61K35/78, A61P25/20, A61P1/16, A61P35/00, A61P1/04, A61P25/00, A61P3/10, A61P3/06, A61P1/14, A61P13/04, A61P29/02, A61P37/00. Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers ex Hook. F. & Thoms. (Family: Menisper- maceae) commonly known, as “Amrita” or “Guduchi” is an important drug of In- dian Systems of Medicine (ISM) and used in medicines since times immemorial. The drug is well known Indian bitter and prescribed in fevers, diabetes, dyspepsia, jaundice, urinary problems, skin diseases and chronic diarrhoea and dysentery 1 . It has been also indicated useful in the treatment of heart diseases, leprosy, hel- menthiasis and rheumatoid arthritis 1-4 . The starch obtained from the stem known as “Guduchi-satva” is highly nutritive and digestive and used in many diseases. Dur- ing last two decades, the drug has been subjected to extensive phytochemical, pharmacological and clinical investiga- tions and many interesting findings in the areas of immunomodulation, anticancer activity, liver disorders and hypoglycae- mic are reported. Botanical and phramacognostical descriptions Botanical description It is a large, deciduous extensively spreading climbing shrub with several _________ *Correspondent author