Cassia fistula

Indian Laburnum, Purging Cassia, Cassia Solutiva
Amaltas (Unani)
Amaltas (Hindi)
Arag-vadha (Sanskrit)
Carakkonrai Puli (Siddha)
Dong ga དོང་ག (Tibetan)
Picture Ortus Sanitatis, Meydenbach, 1491

Picture Picture
New Kreuterbuch, Matthiolus, 1563 Krauterbuch, Lonitzer, 1578
Picture Icones Plantarum Medcio-oeconomico, Vietz, 1800

Picture CASSIA FISTULA
1, 2. Grooves and ridges on one side of the fruit.
3, Short stout pedicle. 3 (lower), Shows the cross partitions
and several seeds. 4, Round disk (portion) covered with pulp.
5, Shiny seed. Squibb’s Atlas of the Official Drugs, Mansfield, 1919

Picture Cassia Fistula (Adam, 2019)

Botanical name:


Cassia fistula (syn. C. rhombifolia)

Parts used:


Fruit Pulp; also root-bark, seed, leaf

Temperature & Taste:


Fruit Pulp: Neutral/slightly Warm, moist. Sweet
“I! is moderate in Hotness and Coldness but it is also Moist”. (Avicenna)
Root-Bark: Warm, dry

Classifications:


2B ATTENUATERS.   2E LENITIVE.   2G. CLEANSING
TCM:
B. Clears Heat

Uses:


1. Purges Bile:
-gentle and safe laxative; safe for children and during pregnancy
-purges Bile primarily, also “evacuates the burnt Bile and Phlegm”. (Avicenna)
-very good to cleanse the Bowels and Blood after Fever or Heat disease
-clear Heat and Bile from the skin; Hot, inflamed and itchy skin conditions
-used where Bile and Heat causes Bleeding
-used to help promote Menstruation, and promote Labor
-“It cleanses the Liver and is useful in Jaundice and Hepatalgia”. (Avicenna)

2. Externally:
-Arthritis, Gout, Rheumatism (india)
-“Purging cassia is painted on gout and painful joints”. (Avicenna)
-“When it is painted on the Hard swellings, it proves to be quite useful”. (Avicenna)
-Snake bite


NOTE:
The Bark is used for Worms


Dose:


25–50 grams

Correctives:


1. Mastic
2. Aniseed
3. Almond or Linseed oil (Unani)
4. Tamarind

Substitutes:


1. Manna
2. Raisin pulp with a little Turbith (for Phlegm) or Rhubarb (for Bile) added
3. “Manna in Half of its quantity, the pulp of Raisin in Triple of its quantity and 1/8 quantity of Turpeth act as its substitutes. The Raisin can be substituted by the rob of Licorice.”. (Avicenna)
4. Turbith (Unani)
5. Pterospermum acerifolium has been given as a source for the Dong ga of Tibetan Medicine. It has mildly purgative fruit and is probably a substitute.

Main Combinations:


1. To purge Bile:
i. Cassia pulp with Syrup of Violet
ii. Cassia pulp with Rhubarb and Tamarind
iii. Cassia pulp (1 oz.), Rhubarb powder (1 scruple), Cream of Tartar (½ dram). Make a Bolus. (A Treatise on Foreign Drugs, Geoffroy and Thicknesse, 1749)
2. To Purge Phlegm:
i. Cassia pulp with Pectoral Decoction
ii. Cassia pulp with Turbith and Agaric
3. To purge Melancholy
i. Cassia pulp with Black Myrobalan
ii. Cassia pulp with Dodder and Polypody.
4. As a purgative in Ayurveda:
i. Cassia pulp with Chebula
ii. Cassia pulp with Chebulic Myrobalan, Cyperus rotundus, Picrorhiza
5. For the Liver: “The scrapings of Cassia Fistula may be soaked in the juice of squeezed endive, leaves of black nightshade, and juice of fennel for ailments of the liver”. (The Medical Formulary of al Samarqandi)
6. Heat and Inflammation of the Skin:
i. Cassia pulp with Madder, Neem, Picrorhiza (Ayurveda)
ii. “It is soaked in the juice of fumitory, juice of cuscuta, juice of ivy,282 and juice of endive for eruptions in hot humors. On it is thrown scammony, violet, and yellow myrobalan to give it strength when necessary”. (The Medical Formulary of al Samarqandi)
7. Abdominal obstructions, take Cassia pulp with Almond oil.
8. Swelling of the Throat, “It is specially beneficial in the swellings of throat when gargled with the juice of Garden Nightshade”. (Avicenna)

Major Formulas


Infusion to Purge Bile and Phlegm (Mesue)
Powder to Facilitate Birth (Renodeus)
Antidotus Acharistos Altera

1. Confection of Cassia / Electuary of Cassia:
i. Cassia pulp (2 oz), Manna, Tamarind pulp (1 oz. each). Mix. (Pharmacopee Usuelle, Louvain, 1821)
ii. Cassia pulp (half pound), Manna (2 oz.), Tamarind pulp (1 oz.), Syrup of Roses (half pound). Dissolve Manna in the syrup with gentle heat of a water bath; then add the pulps, and evaporate to the proper consistency. (London)
iii. Cassia pulp (half pound), Manna (2 oz.), Tamarind pulp (1 oz.), Syrup of Orange (half pound). Dissolve Manna in the syrup with gentle heat of a water bath; then add the pulps, and evaporate to the proper consistency. (Dublin)
iv. Cassia pulp (4 parts), Tamarind pulp, Manna (1 part each), Syrup of Damask Roses (4 parts). Dissolve Manna in the Syrup, add the pulps and evaporate. (Edinborough)
v. Extract of Cassia (160 parts), Syrup of Violets (120 parts), White Sugar (30 parts); evaporate in a water bath to the proper consistency. When cold add Essential Oil of Orange flowers (one hundredth part). Mix. (Pharmacopoeia Gallica, 1818)

Cautions:


Generally very safe
“I! is a convenient purgative and proves to be suitable even for pregnant women and relaxes their bowels”. (Avicenna)

Main Preparations used:


Infusion, Extract, Conserve, Confection

1. Infusion of Cassia pulp:
i. Pulp of Cassia (2 oz.), Boiling Water (2 pounds). Infuse 10 minutes, strain without expression. (Formulaire Magistral et Memorial Pharmaceutique, 1823)

2. Extract of Cassia:
i. Pulp of Cassia (1 pound), Cold Water (4 pounds). Mix, strain through flannel and evaporate with moderate heat to the consistency of an extract. (Pharmacopoeia Gallica, 1818)

3. Conserve of Cassia pulp:
i. Pulp of Cassia (1 part), White Sugar (2 parts). Mix.
  • Extra Info
  • History
From Vegetable Materia Medica of Western India, Dymock, 1885:
‘The pulp contained in the legumes has long been used medicinally by the Hindus. The Sanskrit names for the tree are Aragbadha, Suvarnaka, and Rajataru, or king of trees, on account of the beauty of the long racemes of yellow flowers, which resemble those of the Laburnum, but are much larger. In Hindu medicine the pulp is used as a cathartic, and the root is also sometimes given as a laxative. A compound decoction (Aragbadhadi) is directed to be used by Chakradatta; it contains Cassia pulp, Picrorrhiza Kurroa, Chebulic myrobalans, long pepper root and Cyperus rotundus (Datt’s Hindu Mat. Med., p. 155.) In Mahometan works the drug is called Khiyar-shambar, an Arabic corruption of the Persian Khiyar-chambar, and the pulp Asal-i-Khiyar-chambar (honey of Khiyar-chambar). Chambar means a necklace in Persian, and is probably an allusion to the structure of the pod. Persian dictionaries give Katha-el-Hind (Indian cucumber) as the Arabic name. Through the Arabians the drug became known to the later Greek physicians. Nicolaus Myrepsicus calls it [?]. Joannes Actuarius who practised at Constantinople towards the close of the 13th century, describes it minutely. In the Makhzan-el-Adwiya the pods are directed to be slightly warmed, and the pulp extracted and rubbed up with a little almond oil for use. It is described as lenitive, useful for relieving thoracic obstructions, and
 heat of blood, a safe aperient for children, and women even when pregnant, but slow in its action. With tamarinds it is said to be a good purge for adust bile; with turbith or polypodium for cold humours and melancholy; with linseed or almond oil and combined with other suitable remedies such as Dulcamara it is recommended for the removal of obstructions of tho abdominal viscera. Externally it is said to be a good application in gout, rheumatism, &c. The flowers and leaves are said to have lenitive properties, and a conserve of the former is mentioned. From 5 to 7 of the powdered seeds are prescribed as an emetic, and the shell of tho pod rubbed down with saffron, sugar, and rose water, in difficult parturition. In the Pharrnaco-graphia (p. 195), it is shown that the Cassia fistula of the Greeks and Romans was a kind of cinnamon. Ainslie notices the use of the pulp and flowers by the natives of India, and says that it is mentioned by Avicenna under the name of Khiyar-charabar, also by Serapion, and Prosper Alpinus in his work, “De plantis Aegypti.” Dr. Irvine (Top. of Ajraeer) states that he found the root act as a strong purgative. In the Concan the juice of the young leaves is used to cure ringworm, and to allay the irritation caused by the application of the marking-nut juice’.
From Pharmacographia Indica, Dymock, 1890
‘The Sanskrit names for the tree are Aragbadha, Suvarnaka (golden), and Rajataru, or Nripadrama (royal tree), on account of the beauty of the long racemes, of yellow flowers, which resemble those of the Laburnum, but are much larger. It is sacred to Ganeshwar, the St. Januarius of India; in Mysore stakes cut from the tree are fixed in the ground and worshipped.

In Hindu medicine the pulp is used as a cathartic, and the root is also sometimes given as a laxative. A compound decoction (Aragbadliadi) is directed to be used by Chakradatta; it contains Cassia pulp, Picrorrhiza Kurroa, Chebulic myrobalans, long pepper root and Cyperus rotundus. (Dutt’s Hindu Mat. Med., p. 155.)

In Mahometan works the drug is called Khiyar-shambar, an Arabic corruption of the Persian Khiyar-chambar, and the pulp Asal-i- Khiyar-chambar (honey of Khiyar-chambar). Chambar means a necklace in Persian, and is probably an allusion to the structure of the pod. Persian dictionaries give Katha-el-Hind (Indian cucumber) as the Arabic name. Through the Arabians the drug became known to the later Greek physicians. Nicolaus Myrepsicus calls it [?]. Joannes Actuarius, who practised at Constantinople towards the close of the 13th century, describes it minutely. In the Makhzan-el-adwiya the pods are directed to be slightly warmed, and the pulp extracted and rubbed up with a little almond oil for use. It is described as lenitive, useful for relieving thoracic obstructions, and heat of blood, a safe aperient for children, and
women even when pregnant, but slow in its action.

With tamarinds it is said to be a good purge for adust [burnt] bile; with turbith or polypodiuin for cold humours and melancholy; with linseed or almond oil and combined with other suitable remedies, such as Dulcamara, it is recommended for the removal of obstructions of the abdominal viscera. Externally it is said to be a good application in gout, rheumatism, &c.

The flowers and leaves are said to have lenitive properties, and a conserve of the former is mentioned. From 5 to 7 of the powdered seeds are prescribed as an emetic, and the shell of the pod rubbed down with saffron, sugar, and rose water, in difficult parturition.

Ainslie notices the use of the pulp and flowers by the natives of India. Dr. Irvine (Topogr. of Ajmeer) states that he found the root act as a strong purgative. It is also reported to be in use as a purgative in Guzerat. In the Concan the juice of the young leaves is used to cure ringworm, and to allay the irritation caused by the application of the marking-nut juice. Rumphius remarks that the Portuguese make a confection of the young pods and also of the flowers. A peculiar gum swelling up in water like tragacanth issues from the tree when bruised. C. brasiliana and C. moschata, the Cana fistola de purgar of Panama, Petite Casse d’Amerique of the French (cf. Hanbury Science Papers, p. 318), have been introduced into India, and have properties similar to those of C. Fistula.