Pankaj Oudhia’s Notes on Terminalia arjuna (Roxb. ex DC.) Wight & Arn. [Kirtikar, Kanhoba Ranchoddas, and Baman Das Basu. "Indian Medicinal Plants." Indian Medicinal Plants. (1918)].
Pankaj Oudhia’s Notes on Terminalia arjuna
(Roxb. ex DC.) Wight & Arn. [Kirtikar,
Kanhoba Ranchoddas, and Baman Das Basu. "Indian Medicinal Plants." Indian Medicinal Plants. (1918)].
Pankaj Oudhia
Introduction
Based on Ethnobotanical
surveys since year 1990 in different parts of India Pankaj Oudhia has
documented vital information about Medicinal Plants mentioned in the famous
publication by Kirtikar and Basu (1918). Through this research document Pankaj
Oudhia has tried to present original document with additional notes. For
complete paper with pictures, Interactive Tables, Video and Audio clips please
visit pankajoudhia.com
For original publication by Kirtikar and Basu (1918) please visit https://archive.org/details/indianmedicinalp01kirt
494. T. Arjuna,
Bedd. h.f.b.i., ii. 447.
Syn. : —
Pentaptera Arjuna, Roxb. 382.
Sans. : — Arjuna
; Kukubha.
Vern. : — Anjan,
arjun, kahu (H.) ; Vella marda, Vellai-
maruda-maram
(Tarn.) , Ver maddi (Tel.) ; Sanmadat, arjun,
N. 0.
C0MBRETACE2E, 545
anjan, jamla
(Mar.); Sadado, arjun sadado (Guz.) ; Maddi,
tormatti,
holematti, billi matti (Kan.).
Habitat:— Very
common in the Sub-Himalayan tracts of
the North- West
Provinces and Deccan.
A large
deciduous tree, with huge, often buttressed, trunk,
attaining 60-80
ft. Bark Jin. thick, smooth, pinkish grey, the
old layers
peeling off in thin flakes. Sapwood reddish-white ;
heartwood brown,
variegated, with darker, coloured streaks,
very hard.
Glabrous ; only the inflorescence is slightly
pubescent.
Leaves generally sub-opposite, hard coriaceous,
oblong,
sometimes spathulate-oblong, often campanulate blade
3-6, petiole
Jin. long. Petiole rarely more than Jin., with
. two glands
near its apex often very short. Flowers bisexual,
dull, yellow, in
erect terminal panicles. Bracteoles very small.
Calyx-teeth
nearly glabrous, both within and without. Young
ovary very
short, covered with crisped brown or rufous hair.
Fruit lin. long,
with 5-7 narrow angles, Jin. broad, irregularly
marked with
ascending lines.
Use : — The
Sanskrit writers consider the bark to be tonic,
astringent and
cooling, and use it in heart diseases, contusions,
fractures,
ulcers, &c. In fractures and contusions, with excessive
ecchymosis,
powdered arjun bark is recommended to be taken
internally with
milk. A decoction of the bark is used as a wash
in ulcers and
chancres (Dutt).
The bark is
astringent and febrifuge, the fruit tonic and de-
obstruent, the
juice of the fresh leaves is a remedy for ear-ache.
The bark useful
in bilious affections, and as an antidote to
poisons
(Baden-Powell's Punj. Prods.) In Kangra, the bark
is used to
sores, &c. (Stewart).
[Pankaj Oudhia’s Comment: Arjun
is used as medicine throughout India. I have documented information about over
600,000 Traditional Herbal Formulations (so far) in which Arjun plant parts are
added as important ingredient. In over 100,000 Traditional Herbal Formulations
used for Hearst diseases Arjun is added as primary ingredient. Arjun is added
as secondary ingredient in over 150,000 Formulations used for respiratory
diseases. Every year millions of patients suffering from respiratory diseases
are given Arjun in form of Kheer on the occasion of Sharad Poornima. As senary ingredient
Arjun in added in thousands of Herbal Formulations used for treatment of ulcer.
The Traditional Cancer Experts are using Allelopathically enriched Arjun plant
parts in treatment of different types of cancer. Thousands of Arjun based
Traditional Herbal Formulations are waiting for validation through clinical
trials under frame of modern science. Please see Table Arjun-1 to Arjun-150 for
exhaustive list of Arjun based Herbal Formulations.]
Regarding the
physiological action of this drug, Dr. Lai
Mohan Ghoshal
writes : —
(1) The drug
(Terminalia Arjuna) acts as a cardiac stimulant and tonic,
increasing the
force of the beats of the heart, but slowing their number, but
never completely
stopping it. The diastole is more or less prolonged.
(2) The blood
pressure is increased due to the contraction of the peri-
pheral
arterioles caused by the action of the drug on the vasomotor nerve
possibly.
(3) It acts as a
powerful haemostatic ; only drawback for this action is
the rise of
blood pressure.
546 INDIAN
MEDICINAL PLANTS.
(4) It helps
diapedesis of red blood corpuscles.
(5) It slightly
increases the excretion in the amount of phosphates and
uric acid, but
the increase is not very material to be taken into practical
account.
Regarding its
Therapeutic action, he says : —
The drug is a
very valuable remedy in heart diseases, specially where a
combined tonic
and stimulant action is necessary. Thus in mitral disease,
specially in
later stages when the heart is feeble and flaccid, blood pressure
low and the
heart dilated, the drug may be administered with admirable effect.
In aortic
diseases the drug has one defect, namely, it increases the blood
pressure, and
the diastole is rather prolonged, but the force of contraction
and the manner
is which the aortic valves meet together may be utilised in
these forms of
aortic regurgitation that are caused merely by dilatation of the
aorta, or in
which the valves, although healthy, do not come in firm opposition,
or in which the
regurgitation is caused by weakness of the heart.
In exhausting
diseases weakening the heart and increasing the frequency
of the pulse the
drug is invaluable, for, it does not exert the poisonous
action of
digitalis if long continued. [Pankaj Oudhia’s Comment: Very true.]
The drug may be
used as a good local haemostatic, but generally its use
as a haemostatic
is doubtful on account of the rise of the blood pressure. In
inflammations
locally and generally it may be used by causing the contraction
of the
peripheral arterioles, and increasing the diapedesis, and at the same
time improving
the general circulation, the drug will relieve the inflammatory
condition of the
part. For this reason Chukradutta recommended it for all
sorts of
inflammatory conditions, and he goes so far as to say that it heals
fractures, etc.
For this reason it may be commended in pneumonic inflamma-
tions of lung,
but directly it has no action on respiratory organs.
We have seen
that for local inflammations the drug is very efficacious as
in the
experiments performed on inflamed eyes. There the inflammation
soothed in one
day although the eases were mild ones. The drug has been
suggested to be
lethontryptic, but except increasing slight amount of phos-
phatic and uric
acid excretion this action of the drug is doubtful.
Chemical
composition : —
An extract from
the bark was prepared by heating 500 grms. of pulverised
bark with 2
litres of water until only 500 c. c. of the fluid remained ; the
whole thing was
then pressed through a fine muslin and the fluid part was
again filtered
through filter when a clear dark-reddish extract was obtained.
The extract is
sweetish to the taste, reduces Fehling's solution and assumes
a dark black
colour on treatment with ferric chloride and is acid to litmus.
Part of it was
treated with benzene in equal parts (being acidulated first
with H 2 S0 4 )
and a deposit separated out in the immiscible layer; the im-
miscible layer
was then separated by means of separating funnel and benzene
was allowed to
evaporate. The residue left after evaporation was reddish-
brown in colour
and amorphous powder ; it was insolube in dilute HC1. but
partly soluble
in alcohol and ether. It does not give any reaction with Iodine,
nor does it
reduce Fehling's solution, but when heated with dilute HC1, it
reduced
Fehling's solution also gave ppt, with Phosphotungstic acid.
N. 0. COMBRETAOE.E.
547
Thus we see that
the extract when treated with benzene yielded a subs-
tance which is
partially soluble in alcohol, and does not give any Iodine re-
action, reduces
Fehling's solution when heated with dilute HC1 and is pptd. by
phosphotungstic
acid. From these facts we may conclude that the substance
yielded from the
treatment of the extract with benzene is glucosidal in nature,
the glucosidal
body was first made soluble in absolute alcohol, which was then
evaporated, and
a dry brown powdery residue was left ; it also gave no reac-
tion with
Iodine, reduced Fehling's solution when heated with dilute HC1.
The extract was
then treated with chloroform in the same way, and a gum-
my substance was
obtained which either gave Orcin reaction nor reduced
Fehling's
solution even when heated with dilute hydrochloric acid.
The extract was
then further treated with absolute alcohol when a reddish-
brown-colouring
matter was separated out.
It gave no
reaction with petroleum either. Tannic acid was estimated
by Allen and
Pleteker 4 s method and total tannin (including glucotannic acid,
etc.) obtained
was 12 per cent.
The bark was
then burnt and the ash yielded was 30 per cent., most of
which was
calcium carbonate, but traces of sodium carbonate and chlorides
of the alkali
metals was also obtained. Sugar estimated from the original
solution was 17
per cent.
Thus we see that
the extract from the bark yields—
1. Sugar.
2. Tannin.
3. A colouring
matter.
4. A body
glucosidal in nature.
5. Carbonates of
calcium and sodium and traces of chlorides of alkali
metals. (Food
and Drugs No. 1 pp. 22 et seq.)
E-documents on
Terminalia arjuna
Citation
Oudhia, Pankaj (2013). Pankaj
Oudhia’s Notes on Terminalia
arjuna (Roxb. ex DC.) Wight & Arn. [Kirtikar,
Kanhoba Ranchoddas, and Baman Das Basu. "Indian Medicinal Plants." Indian Medicinal Plants. (1918)]. www.pankajoudhia.com
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