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Senna occidentalis (L.) Link (Fabaceae/Leguminosae)

(Syns.: Cassia caroliniana; C. falcata L.; C. foetida Pers.; C. occidentalis (L.) Rose; C. torosa Cav.; Ditrimexa occidentalis (L.) Britton & Rose)

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Handbook of 200 Medicinal Plants

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Abstract

An annual or perennial half-woody herb or shrub found in India. Muslim physicians in India called it alexipharmic, useful in the expulsion of corrupt humours and to relieve cough, especially whooping cough. Seeds are pounded and heated with 10 ml of woman’s or cow’s milk, strained and given once a day as a cure for convulsions in children. Whole plant is purgative, alterative, and expectorant, and used in the treatment of skin diseases, such as ringworm, scabies, pityriasis, and psoriasis. Bark of the root or whole root and seeds are useful in snake and scorpion poisons and dropsy. Roasted and ground seeds have been used as a substitute for coffee; medicinal properties are destroyed during roasting process. In Ayurveda, all parts of the plant are regarded to possess similar properties, such as purgative, tonic, febrifuge, expectorant and diuretic, and therapeutically used in kasa, hikka, svasa, kustha, sidhma, jvara, sotha and vicarcika. Native Americans also used infusion of the root as antidote against various poisons, and a decoction of the whole plant to treat hysteria. In Brazil’s rainforests and tropical regions, it is used as laxative, analgesic, antipyretic, diuretic, hepatoprotective, and vermifuge, for snakebite, fungal infections and as a potent abortifacient, and thus its use is not recommended during pregnancy. A poultice of leaves to cheek is used for toothache in the Dutch Indies and for headache in Malaya, and to combat irritation and eczema and other skin diseases. It is claimed that any type of severe stomachache can be treated using this herb. Aqueous leaf extract is used for the treatment of hypertension and associated cardiovascular diseases in African traditional medicine, and in the Lubumbashi region of Democratic Republic of Congo, the plant is used for the treatment of diabetes. In Hawaii, it is mainly used to treat skin diseases, such as ringworm, and white blotches of the skin. Chemical constituents present in roots, seeds and aerial parts include achrosin, aloe-emodin, emodin, anthraquinones, anthrones, apigenin, aurantiobtusin, campesterol, cassiollin, chrysoobtusin, chrysophanic acid, chrysarobin, chrysophanol, chrysoeriol, polysaccharides and galactomannan.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Tayyab M: Personal Communication.

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    Shahid Akbar

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Akbar, S. (2020). Senna occidentalis (L.) Link (Fabaceae/Leguminosae). In: Handbook of 200 Medicinal Plants. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16807-0_169

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