Malabar Nut (Adusa)
Also known as
Latin : Adhatoda Vasika
English : Malabar Nut tree
Sanskrit : Vasa
Hindi : Adusa
Marathi : Adulasa
Tamil : Adutota
Telugu : Addasaramu
Malayalam : Atalotakam
Kannada : Sanna
Adhatoda got its name from the south, "Aduthoda" meaning, "that which a goat does not touch" owing to its bitter taste.
How it looks�It is a large, glabrous shrub, with opposite, short-petioled leaves and short flower heads. The fruits are capsules.
What we use�Whole plant
What it does�It is bitter, astringent, refrigerant, expectorant, diuretic, antispasmodic, febrifuge, styptic depurative and tonic.
How we use it�
Bleeding disorders�It is the drug of choice in bleeding of any kind - dysentery, menorrhagia, metrorrhagia, bleeding piles, or bleeding from wounds.
Squeeze the juice out of steamed fresh leaves and drink an ounce of the juice, sweetened with honey, twice a day.
In
chronic coughs�In all kinds of cough, eating a tsp of a confectionery made of the whole vasa plant, pepper, sugar, ghee and honey is highly relieving. Being anti spasmodic it
soothes bronchial spasms and is widely used in asthmatic conditions.
In
tuberculosis�The juice of the leaves is used to liquify sputum. "Gulkand" is a preparation made out of vasa flowers, used to treat tuberculosis.
The readymade market preparation vasarishta, a liquid is also beneficial in doses of 20ml twice a day after meals.
Painful joints�Apply a poultice of the slightly warmed leaves on fresh wounds, rheumatic joints and swellings.
In
skin disorders�Especially in itching skin conditions like scabies, eczema, the decoction of the leaves is used internally and to sprinkle on the lesions.
In
worm infestations�Take a quarter cup of the juice expressed from the fresh leaves twice a day to dislodge and expel intestinal worms.
Modern Study
Vascine, an alkaloid extracted from vasaka was shown to exhibit antispasmodic activity in experimental studies on rats.
