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Question 77 of 92

Q.The medicinal plant commonly known as "King of Bitters" is :

(a) Nilavembu
(b) Holy basil
(c) Adathodai
(d) Turmeric
Puducherry TnboardTamil Nadu HSC (DGE) Board 2020MCQ· 1mImportance★★★★★
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Nilavembu (Andrographis paniculata) is the medicinal plant known as the King of Bitters.

Andrographis paniculata is an intensely bitter-tasting medicinal herb widely used in Siddha and Ayurvedic traditional medicine systems, most famously as the key ingredient of Nilavembu Kudineer, a herbal decoction promoted in Tamil Nadu for managing fever, including during dengue and viral fever outbreaks. Its extreme bitterness, attributed to diterpenoid lactone compounds such as andrographolide, is the basis for its common English epithet 'King of Bitters,' and its Tamil name, Nilavembu, is the name under which it is grown and marketed across South India. Holy basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum, Tulsi) is valued for its aromatic, adaptogenic and antimicrobial properties rather than extreme bitt …

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