PLANTS/ LEAF

MEHNDI/HENNA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: LAWSONIA INERMIS LINN

UNIQUINESS:  It is a middle-sized shrub with many branches with a height of 1.8-7.6m. The flowers have fragrance and are small in white or pinkish colour. This plant is a gift of nature for fashion in the eastern and western countries to colour their bodies and hair as well. The mehndi plant adds nutrition to the hair and clears dandruff.Lawsonia inermis is useful against heat stroke and used against a headache.Henna bark and root are used for the treatment of liver enlargement and jaundice.Mehndi leaves are soaked in water and drunken to cure cracking of nails and adds nutrition to the body.Lawsonia inermis powder with butter cures scabies, mange and swelling.It acts against hair loss and strengthens hair. Hence, henna is used as a natural agent for baldness.Because of the astringent nature of mehndi leaves, it is used to cure sunburn and other rashes in the body.

People suffering from fever or high-temperature use as a home remedy for the treatment.

APPLICATION: Widely used worldwide for tattoos, paintings and on different occasions. Used as hairdye. Leaf juice with water in sugar is given for cold or hot fits.

TASTE AND ODOR: Bitter taste and pleasant aromatic odour.

TEJPATTA/ BAY LEAVES

SCINEITIFIC NAME: Cinnamomum tamala

UNIQUINESS: Are larger, olive green in colour and have 3 veins running the length of the leaf as opposed to the single vein that is usually present on a Laurel Bay leaf. They are used in fresh, dried or powdered form. The oil extracted from bay leaves, called bay leaf oil has medicinal properties and is used to treat several ailments. Due to their bitter taste, bay leaves cannot be eaten directly but are often used to impart flavor to a variety of dishes, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Bay leaf is extensively used in Indian, Nepalese and Bhutanese cuisines.

APPLICATION: Component of essential oils extracted from bay leaves, is used in perfumery. They also have the property of repelling flies, moths, mice etc. Apart from their culinary uses, they have medicinal properties and are known for their anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, diuretic and astringent qualities.

TASTE AND ODOR: Bitter

AMALTAS/PURGING CASSIA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Cassia fistula

UNIQUINESS: Cassia fistula is widely grown as an ornamental plant in tropical and subtropical areas. It blooms in late spring. Flowering is profuse, with trees being covered with yellow flowers, many times with almost no leaf being seen. It will grow well in dry climates. Growth for this tree is best in full sun on well-drained soil; it is relatively drought-tolerant and slightly salt-tolerant

APPLICATION: the golden shower tree is known as aragvadha, meaning “disease killer”. The fruit pulp is considered a purgative, and self-medication or any use without medical supervision is strongly advised against in Ayurvedic texts. Though it has been used in herbalism for millennia, little research has been conducted in modern times although it is an ingredient in some mass-produced herbal laxatives.

TASTE AND ODOR: BITTER