FERONIA ELEPHANTUM, or Anisiphalins Rumphii or Crataeva Vallangai-

Sunday, 02 July 2006

Ayuervedic herbs for Hiccup, Dyspepsia Sans.----Kapitha; Kapi-priya; Dadhi-phala. Fr.----Feronia geant. Ger.----Elephantenapfel. Eng.----Elephant or Wood-apple. Hind.----Kavat. Guz.----Kotha; Kavit. Duk----Katbel; Kh‘t. Ben.----Kathbel. Burm.----Mahan Mah.----Kavitpana. Santal.----Kavatha. Tel.----Velaga. Tam.----Vilakpittam; Vilaphalam; Vellil. Can.----B‘lada-phala; Bilva-phala-Arab. & Pers.----Kabita. Mal.----Vilav. Kon.----Belpatri-phal. Cing.----Diwal. Habitat.----Met with throughout India, cultivated for its fruit. Parts Used.----The fruit, gum, leaves, bark and pulp. Constituents.----The pulp contains a large quantity of citric acid, mucilage and ash containing potash, lime and iron. The leaves yield an essential oil similar to that obtained from Bael leaves. Action.----The fruit is aromatic, antiscorbutic, astring-ent (when unripe), and refrigerant. The gum from the stem is demulcent. The leaves are aromatic carminative and astringent. Uses.----The pulp of the ripe fruits, tastes like coagu-lated milk and is edible; it is useful in salivation, sore-throat and other affections of the gums and throat; in the form of sherbat or chutney made with the add ition of salt, tamarind and spices like sunth, black pepper etc., it is useful in hiccup, dyspepsia, biliousness, throat affections etc. The pulp with honey and pipli is given for hiccup and difficulty of breathing. A jelly much resemb-ling black-current jelly but with a more astringent) taste is made from it. The pulp is also useful externally as an application to bites of venomous insects; the powdered rind may be also used. The unripe fruit is employed alone or in combination with bela and other medicines in diarrhea and dysentery. The transparent gummy subs-tance exuding from the stem when cat or broken resemb-les gum arabic and may be used in bowel affections and to relieve tenesmus reduced to powder and mixed with honey it is given in dysentery and diarrhea. The young leaves have a fragrant smell like anisi and their juice mixed with milk or with curds and sugar-candy is given in biliousness and the juice is externally applied to the skin eruptions caused by biliousness. The bark is prescribed in powder or decoction for biliousness. Under the name of Pancha Kapitha i.e. the five products of Faronia a medicine is prepared which contains the flowers, roots, leaves, bark and fruit. A medicated oil is also made of the five parts of the plant which is used for applying to the whole body. A compound powder known as Kapithaashtaka churna is recommended in SARANGADHARA, which is used in doses of one drachm in chronic diarrhea,, dysentery with loss of appetite and in affections of the throat. It is given in sweetened milk or mixed with honey. It is pre-pared thus:----Take of the pulp of unripe wood-apples eight parts, sugar six parts, pomegranate juice, tamarind pulp, bela fruit, flowers of Woodfordia floribunda (dhataki), ajmoda and long-pepper each three parts, black-pepper, cumin seeds, coriander, long.pepper root, root of Pavonia odorata (bala), sonchal salt, ajowan, cardamoms, cinnamon, tejapatra, flowers of Mesua ferrea (nagakesara), ginger and plumbago root, each one part; powder the ingredi-ents finely and mix. Other preparations are fluid ext-ract, dose;----« to 1 drachm and syrup of the fruit, dose;---- ¬ to« ounce, useful in dyspepsia, in quenching the thirst of fevers and in scorbutic conditions.

Last Updated ( Sunday, 02 July 2006 )

 

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