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Acalypha / Indian Copperleaf (Acalypha indica)
Materia Medica
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Botanical name: Acalypha indica L.
Common names: Indian Copperleaf, Indian Acalypha, Indian Nettle, Three-Seeded Mercury
Traditional names: Kuppaimeni, Kuppameni, Haritamañjarī, Haritamanjari, Kuppi, Khokali
Parts used: Whole plant, leaves, roots, aerial parts
Growth habit: Erect annual herb, occasionally becoming more robust in favorable tropical conditions
Primary traditions: Ayurveda, Siddha, South and Southeast Asian folk medicine, historical British pharmacy
Actions & Energetics
Rasa: Tikta, Kaṭu — bitter, pungent
Guṇa: Laghu, Rūkṣa — light, dry
Vīrya: Uṣṇa — heating
Vipāka: Kaṭu — pungent post-digestive effect
Traditional actions: Kaphaghna, Vāmaka, Sramsana, Krimighna, Mūtrala, Tvakdoṣahara, Āmadoṣahara.
Traditional materia medica also describes the plant as expectorant, emetic, purgative, diuretic, anthelmintic, gastrointestinal irritant, and a topical herb for skin complaints.
Botanical Description
Acalypha indica is usually an erect annual herb with pubescent stems and long-petioled alternate leaves. The leaf blades are ovate, broadly ovate, rhomboid-ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, generally about 2–9 cm long and 1–5 cm wide, with serrated margins and several prominent veins arising near the base.
The inflorescences are slender axillary spikes. The lower portion commonly carries female flowers enclosed by conspicuous green, toothed, leaf-like bracts, while the upper portion bears very small male flowers. The fruit is a tiny capsule associated with the female bracts.
Name Confusion & Related Plants
Acalypha indica is distinct from ornamental copperleaf, Acalypha wilkesiana, and chenille plant, Acalypha hispida. “Indian nettle” is a common name only; the plant is not a member of the true nettle genus Urtica. Historical botanical literature also records names such as Acalypha chinensis.
Traditional Indications
Ayurvedic and Siddha records describe Haritamanjari or Kuppaimeni in connection with digestive impairment, toothache, earache, cough, asthma, bronchitis, constipation, abdominal colic, hemorrhoids, intestinal worms, joint swelling, ulcers, itching, and other skin disorders.
Regional traditions in South and Southeast Asia and the western Indian Ocean also record leaf juice, leaf paste, whole-plant decoctions, and root preparations for respiratory complaints, purgation, sores, swelling, scabies, wounds, and intestinal complaints.
Preparations & Dosage
Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia — Whole Plant
- Cūrṇa / powder: 3–5 g
- Svarasa / fresh juice: 5–10 mL
- Ear use recorded for Karṇaśūla: 1–3 drops
Historical Succus Acalyphae
Formula: 3 volumes freshly expressed leaf juice with 1 volume 90% alcohol.
Method: Express the juice from fresh leaves, combine three measured volumes of juice with one measured volume of 90% alcohol, allow the mixture to clarify, and filter as recorded in historical British pharmacy.
Historical dose: 1–4 fluidrachms, approximately 3.7–14.8 mL.
Historical Tincture — 1:10
Formula: Historical Indian materia medica records a tincture prepared at approximately 1 part Acalypha drug to 9 parts alcohol, producing a roughly 1:10 tincture.
Historical dose: 30–60 drops.
Historical Fresh-Herb Ether Tincture
Formula: One historical preparation attributed to Dr. Langley used 3 ounces of fresh herb to 1 pint of spirit of ether.
Historical dose: 20–60 minims, approximately 1.2–3.7 mL.
Historical Liquid Extract
Historical British pharmacy also prepared a liquid extract of Acalypha with 90% alcohol. The source records the menstruum and dose but does not give a complete drug-to-solvent ratio in the entry, so no ratio is invented here.
Historical dose: 5–30 minims, approximately 0.3–1.8 mL.
Human Pilot Study — Whole-Plant Powder
A 2024 Siddha pilot study used 2 g of shade-dried whole-plant powder twice daily with water for 48 days. Ten participants with first- through third-degree internal hemorrhoids were enrolled, and the protocol also included two fig fruits daily.
Classical & Traditional Formulations
- Punarnavādi Cūrṇa
- Haritamanjari / Kuppaimeni whole-plant powder as a single-drug Siddha and Ayurvedic preparation
- Succus Acalyphae in historical British pharmacy
- Extractum Acalyphae Liquidum in historical British pharmacy
Constituents
Reported constituents include acalyphin and related cyanogenic constituents, acalyphamide, quinone-type compounds, sterols, tannins, phenolic compounds, fatty acids, coumarins, and flavonoid glycosides. Kaempferol glycosides reported from leaves and flowers include mauritianin, clitorin, nicotiflorin, and biorobin.
Modern Human Research
The 2024 hemorrhoid pilot study used 2 g whole-plant powder twice daily for 48 days in ten participants, together with two figs daily. Eight participants with first- and second-degree hemorrhoids recorded complete symptom relief by the study endpoint. The study was small and used a combined dietary protocol.
Most other pharmacological work on Acalypha indica remains laboratory or animal research, including studies of inflammation, antimicrobial activity, wound-related responses, and other extract-specific effects.
Documented Adverse Effects
Human ingestion has been associated with acute intravascular hemolysis and methemoglobinemia. Reports include fresh juice, herbal broth, boiled leaves, and leaves eaten as a vegetable.
In a Thai poison-center series of eight patients, all eight developed hemolysis, seven were diagnosed with methemoglobinemia, four developed acute kidney injury, three required dialysis, and one patient died in a case complicated by preexisting heart and respiratory disease. Dark urine, jaundice, fever, cyanosis, and oxygen-saturation abnormalities were among the recorded findings.
G6PD Deficiency
Several published cases involve people with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. Acute oxidative hemolysis after Acalypha indica ingestion has been reported in adults and children with G6PD deficiency. One case also documented transiently low G6PD activity during the hemolytic episode with later normalization.
Historical Reproductive Action
Siddha and older herbal records describe the plant as an emmenagogue. This belongs to the traditional pharmacological record of the herb.
Interactions & Contraindications
No specific clinically established herb-drug interaction has been demonstrated in controlled human studies. The major documented contraindication is G6PD deficiency: published human cases repeatedly describe oxidative hemolysis and methemoglobinemia after ingestion of Acalypha indica. Internal use should therefore be avoided in people with known G6PD deficiency. Previous hemolytic reactions to the plant are also a clear reason to avoid re-exposure.
Pregnancy & Breastfeeding
Traditional Siddha and older herbal sources describe Acalypha indica as an emmenagogue. Modern human pregnancy and breastfeeding safety data are limited. Documented human cases of hemolysis and methemoglobinemia after ingestion support caution with internal medicinal use during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
Food Use
Ethnobotanical records from India and Indonesia describe the young shoots and leaves cooked as a vegetable. This culinary record exists alongside published human poisoning reports involving ingestion of leaves or boiled plant preparations, particularly in people with G6PD deficiency.
Habitat & Cultivation
- Native range: Tropical and subtropical Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of the western Pacific
- Habitats: Disturbed ground, cultivated land, garden margins, shaded thickets, sandy river margins, seasonal watercourses, and rocky sites
- Light: Sun to partial shade
- Moisture: Moderate to high moisture supports rapid tender growth
- Climate: Warm tropical and subtropical conditions
Propagation
Propagation is by seed. In warm regions without a pronounced dry season, the plant may flower through much of the year. It readily occupies disturbed ground and can behave as a weed in cultivated areas.
Harvesting & Storage
Leaves, aerial material, roots, and the whole plant appear in traditional records. Whole-plant drug material is harvested, cleaned, and dried before preparation as powder. Fresh leaves are used for expressed juice and paste preparations. Dried plant material is stored protected from moisture and labeled by plant part and harvest source.
Topical Traditions
Traditional topical preparations include fresh leaf paste, crushed leaves with salt or turmeric, leaf juice in oil, leaf powders, washes, and poultices. These have been recorded for scabies, sores, swelling, joint complaints, ulcers, bites, wounds, and other skin conditions.
History & Folklore
Acalypha indica entered British pharmacy as an expectorant and emetic herb while retaining a much older place in South Asian Ayurveda and Siddha practice. Tamil herbal tradition knows it widely as Kuppaimeni, while Sanskrit materia medica records Haritamanjari.
Indonesian folklore gives the root a distinctive association with cats. Traditional accounts describe cats seeking or consuming the roots, contributing to regional names and a folk reputation as a cat herb.
Materia Medica Summary
Acalypha / Indian Copperleaf (Acalypha indica) is a bitter, pungent, heating herb used in Ayurveda, Siddha, regional folk medicine, and historical British pharmacy. The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia records 3–5 g whole-plant powder and 5–10 mL fresh juice. Historical pharmacy records give 3.75–15 mL for Succus Acalyphae and 0.3–1.8 mL for the liquid extract. A 2024 pilot study used 2 g whole-plant powder twice daily for 48 days. Published human toxicology reports document acute hemolysis and methemoglobinemia after ingestion, with G6PD deficiency repeatedly represented among reported cases.