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Senna occidentalis-தகரைச்செடி
Senna occidentalis is a pantropical plant species.
Vernacular names include : ʻauʻaukoʻi in Hawaii, coffee senna, coffeeweed, Mogdad coffee, negro-coffee, senna coffee,Stephanie coffee, stinkingweed or styptic weed.[citation needed]
The species was formerly placed in the genus Cassia.The species was formerly placed in the genus Cassia.
The plant is reported to be poisonous to cattle. The plant contains anthraquinones. The roots contain emodin and the seeds contain chrysarobin (1,8-dihydroxy-3-methyl-9-anthrone) and N-methylmorpholine.
Mogdad coffee seeds can be roasted and used as a substitute for coffee. They have also been used as an adulterant for coffee. There is apparently no caffeine in mogdad coffee.
Mogdad coffee seeds can be roasted and used as a substitute for coffee. They have also been used as an adulterant for coffee. There is apparently no caffeine in mogdad coffee.
Despite the claims of being poisonous, the leaves of this plant, Dhiguthiyara in Dhivehi, have been used in the diet of the Maldives for centuries in dishes such as mas huni and also as a medicinal plant.
The herb is reported to be used as condiment and in perfumery. The young leaves are eaten aloned as potherb or cooked along with unripe pods and eaten with rice ; the leaf when eaten is reported to act as a prophylactic against leucorrhoea.
The herb can be utilized as cattle-feed and can from maintenance ration for bullocks although suspected poisoning of stock in Northern Queensland and scouring in heifers have been reported. The herb can be used for reclamation of land and also as green manure to restore fertility in exhausted fields. It is often cultivated as a shade plant.
All parts of the plant have almost similar properties. They possess purgative, tonic, febrifugal, expectorant and diuretic properties. The plant is used to cure sore eyes, haematuria, rheumatism, typhoid, asthama and disorders of haemoglobin, is also reported to cure leprosy. A decoction of the plant is used in hysteria, in dysentery and other stomach troubles, and also as an application to sores, itch and inflammation of the rectum. The plant is employed in dropsy, and as a vermifuge. Along with other plant as, it is made into an ointment used for skin diseases. The herb forms an ingredient of the patented indigenous herbal drug “Liv-52”, which shows marked effect in the early cases of hepatic cirrhosis having steatorrhoea ; Liv-52 reduced the toxicity of cadmium and beryllium in experimentally infected rats with SFV (Semiliki forest encephalitis virus). As an ingredient effect in rats ; excellent response was recorded in senile pruritus cases. An infusion of the bark is given in diabetes. The volatile oil obtained from the leaves, roots and seeds showed anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activity.The leaves have purgative, febrifugal, tonic, sudorific, diuretic and stomachic properties. They are given in cough and hysteria. A lotion of the leaves is used as an eye-wash in tetanus. The leaves are used internally and externally in skin-diseases, such as itches, yaws, scabies and ring-worm. A decoction of the leaves is given to children as a mild vermifuge ; the hot decoction is given as an antiperiodic and is reported to be preferred to quinine for its tonic properties. The fresh leaves, pounded with salt and onions, are applied as a poultice to guineaworm sores to extruse the worms. They are used in the inflammatory swelling, rheumatism, wounds, sprains and wrenches and also given in jaundice, pleurisy, headache and toothache. A paste of the leaves with calcium hydroxide is applied on abscesses for quick opening and pus clearance. The leaf paste is also applied externally for bone fracture. The leaves are used in foot and mouth disease of cattle. Their extract exhibits activity against earthworms.
The seed is bitter and has tonic, febrifugal and purgative properties. It is considered to be a blood tonic and excellent diuretic. Seeds are useful in cough and whooping cough, convulsions and in heart diseases. Their powder is externally applied in cutaneous diseases and eruptions. The extracts showed positive response on guinea pig-ileum, rat-uterus, rabbit-heart, and depressor-effect on blood-pressure of dogs, and also activity against earthworms.
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