Crotalaria, SanaSunn HempSana (Seed, Ayurveda) Sanal (Siddha) Tukhm Sun (Unani) |
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Crotalaria juncea(Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, 1800)
Crotalaria juncea(Photo by A16898) (Wikimedia)
Botanical name:
Crotalaria juncea
Parts used:
Primarily Seed; also the leaf and Root (TCM)
Temperature & Taste:
Warm, dry. Sour, Pungent, Bitter. Toxic
Uses:
1. Warms the Stomach:
-Indigestion, Loss of appetite
2. Clears Toxin from the Blood:
-Fevers
-Skin diseases
-Blood diseases; diseases due to Blood toxin
3. Moves the Blood, Promotes Menstruation:
-Amenorrhea, Dysmenorrhea (Unani)
-used traditionally as a contraceptive; anti-ovulatory, anti-implantation, abortifacient (Unani, Ayurveda)
-Heart diseases
4. Benefits Vision:
-defects of vision; clarifies sight
5. Externally:
-Impetigo, Psoriasis (seed paste, poultice)
ROOT (TCM):
-promotes urine; turbid urine; dribbling and painful urine
-scabs, lichen
-bruising and trauma
Dose:
Seed in Powder: 1–3 grams
Best only used externally due to the toxicity.
Substitute:
1. Rue seed could be a possible substitute.
Main Combinations:
Major Formulas:
Cautions:
1. Toxic due to Pyrrolizidine alkaloids; Hepatotoxic and toxic to other organs. Avoid overdose and long-term use. Best only used externally.
2. Full doses are emetic
3. Demonstrated anti-fertility effects. Ethanol extract showed anti-implantation effect when given for 7 days post coitus in rats; abortifacient when given 3 days post coitus.
Toxicity:
Ethanolic extract was toxic to Liver and other organs in doses of 200mg/kg in rats.