www.malaysianherbals.com-SAW PALMETTO-(87)Serenoa repens

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Serenoa repens

 saw palmetto plant



saw palmetto plant contains a compound that may reduce the symptoms of Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which is a noncancerous enlargement of the prostate gland.

 Symptoms of an enlarged prostate include dribbling after urination and getting up many times during the night to urinate.

SAW PALMETTO
A very small type of fan palm, protected in the wild, now famous for extracts from its fruits which are used in treatments of prostate and urinary problems.
Description:
A very slow growing and very short palm, growing to 10-12ft, but often not exceeding 2-4ft. Part of the fan palm group, it has fan-shaped leaves composed of up to 20 leaflets. The common saw palmetto has green leaves but there are some silvery-green leaved types as well. Saw Palmetto's are also long-lived with many wild specimens believed to be well over 500 years old.

Serenoa repens.
 commonly known as saw palmetto, is the sole species currently classified in the genus Serenoa. It has been known by a number of synonyms, including Sabal serrulatum, under which name it still often appears in alternative medicine. It is a small palm, normally reaching a height of around 2–4 m (3–6 ft). Its trunk is sprawling, and it grows in clumps or dense thickets in sandy coastal lands or as undergrowth in pine woods or hardwood hammocks. Erect stems or trunks are rarely produced but are found in some populations. It is endemic to the southeastern United States, most commonly along the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal plains, but also as far inland as southern Arkansas. It is a hearty plant; extremely slow growing, and long lived, with some plants, especially in Florida where it is known as simply the palmetto, possibly being as old as 500–700 years.]

Saw palmetto is a fan palm, with the leaves that have a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of about 20 leaflets. The petiole is armed with fine, sharp teeth or spines that give the species its common name. The teeth or spines are easily capable of breaking the skin, and protection should be worn when working around a Saw Palmetto. The leaves are light green inland, and silvery-white in coastal regions. The leaves are 1–2 m in length, the leaflets 50–100 cm long. They are similar to the leaves of the palmettos of genus Sabal. The flowers are yellowish-white, about 5 mm across, produced in dense compound panicles up to 60 cm long. The fruit is a large reddish-black drupeand is an important food source for wildlife and historically for humans. The plant is used as a food plant by the larvae of someLepidoptera species such as Batrachedra decoctor, which feeds exclusively on the plant. This plant is also edible to human beings, but the more green it is the more bitter tasting it would be.

The generic name honors American botanist Sereno Watson.

 GERMINATION
 By seeds, which should be soaked in warm water for 24 hours prior to planting. Seeds germinate slowly and may take several weeks or months to sprout.

Uses: Grown as an ornamental for its fan-shaped leaves. The fruits were once an important food source for local inhabitants.

 Today the fruits are used to prepare extracts which reportedly help in the treatment of some prostate and urinary problems. There are also a variety of other medicinal applications for the fruits which are under investigation, such as anabolic use, anti-impotence as an oestrogenic agent.

Native Range: Native to the southeastern United States, from Florida north to South Carolina and parts of Southern Arkansas.

Herbs contain many powerful antioxidants that act to clear free radicals and toxins from the body.

Historically, saw palmetto has been used as a tea to treat benign enlargement of the prostate. It was commonly used to treat frequent urinary tract infections and it was also believed it could increase sex drive in men and sperm production. Frequent urination and excessive night urination, due to inflammation of the bladder or prostate, was a common condition treated by saw palmetto in the past.

  

 This Medicinal Plant helps :

To help build and strengthen tissue and increase metabolism.

As a diuretic which improves urinary flow.

As an expectorant to relieve chronic bronchitis, asthma and chest congestion.

In thyroid disorders.

To stimulate appetite, digestion and absorption of nutrients.

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www.malaysianherbals.com cashew nut tree- (86) Anacardium occidentale,முந்திரிப்பழம்

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Cashew Apple-முந்திரிப்பழம்

Have you ever seen  this tree? It’s amazing! You have eaten these nuts hundreds of times but never thought about how they actually “come” to our world. The cashew apple is rich in nutrients and contains five times more vitamin C than an orange. It is eaten fresh, cooked in curries, or fermented into vinegar as well as an alcoholic drink.

Nigeria was the world's largest producer of cashew nuts with shell in 2010. Cashew nut production trends have varied over the decades. African countries used to be the major producers before 1980s, India became the largest producer in 1990s, followed by Vietnam which became the largest producer in mid 2000s. Since 2008, Nigeria has become the largest producer. Cashew nuts are produced in tropical countries because the tree is very frost sensitive; they have been adapted to various climatic regions around the world between the latitudes of 25°N and 25°S.


The tree is large and evergreen, growing to 10-12m (~32 ft) tall, with a short, often irregularly shaped trunk. The leaves are spirally arranged, leathery textured, elliptic to ob ovate, 4 to 22 cm long and 2 to 15 cm broad, with smooth margins. The flowers are produced in a panicle or corymb up to 26 cm long, each flower is small, pale green at first, then turning reddish, with five slender, acute petals 7 to 15 mm long.The largest cashew tree in the world covers an area of about 7,500 square metres (81,000 sq ft), it's located in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.

The cashew nutshell liquid (CNSL) or cashew shell oil (CAS registry number 8007-24-7) is a natural resin found in the honeycomb structure of the cashewnut shell and is a byproduct of processing cashew nuts. It is a raw material of multiple uses in developing drugs, antioxidants, fungicides, etc. It is used in tropical folk medicine and for anti-termite treatment of timber. Its composition varies depending on how it is processed.

இம்மரமானது தென்னமெரிக்காவின் வடக்குப் பகுதியை பூர்வீகமாகக் கொண்டிருப்பினும், பின்னர் 1560- 1565 ஆண்டளவில்போர்த்துக்கீசரால் இந்தியாவில் உள்ள கோவாவுக்கு எடுத்து வரப்பட்டு, பின்னர் தென்கிழக்கு ஆசியா, மற்றும் ஆப்பிரிக்காவுக்கு பரம்பல் அடைந்தது

இம்மரம் பிரேசிலின் வடகிழக்குப் பகுதியை பூர்வீகமாகக் கொண்டிருந்தாலும், இன்று வெப்பமண்டலநாடுகள் பலவற்றில் இது வளர்க்கப்படுகிறது. வியட்நாம், நைஜீரியா, இந்தியா, பிரேசில்,இந்தோனீசியா ஆகிய நாடுகளில் இது அதிகம் பயிரிடப்படுகிறது. தமிழ்நாட்டில் புதுக்கோட்டை,விழுப்புரம் மற்றும் கடலூர் மாவட்டங்களில் அதிக அளவில் முந்திரி பயிரிடப்படுகிறது.

முந்திரிக்கொட்டை[தொகு]

இதை கப்பல் வித்தான் கொட்டை என்றும் கூறுவர்.வணிகத்திற்காக வந்த பிற நாட்டினர் இதன் சுவையால் ஈர்க்கப் பட்டு கப்பலை விற்று இதை உண்டதாக கூறுவர்.போலிப் பழத்திற்கு வெளியே, சிறுநீரக வடிவில் காணப்படும் உண்மைப்பழமானது கடினமான ஒரு வெளி உறையையும், உள்ளே ஒரு விதையையும் கொண்டிருக்கும். அந்த விதையே பொது வழக்கில் முந்திரிக்கொட்டை என அழைக்கப்படுகின்றது. இது ஒரு தாவரவியலாளர்களின் பார்வையில் உண்மையான கொட்டை இல்லாவிட்டாலும் கூட, சமையல்சார் நிலையில் கொட்டை எனவே அறியப்படுகின்றது. இந்த முந்திர்க்கொட்டையைச் சூழவுள்ள கடினமான இரட்டை ஓட்டில் ஒவ்வாமையைஉருவாக்கக் கூடிய, தோலில் நமைச்சலைத் தரக்கூடிய சில பதார்த்தங்களைக் கொண்டுள்ளது. சரியான முறையில் வறுத்து பதப்படுத்தப்படும்போது, இந்தப் பதார்த்தங்கள் சில அழிவடைந்துவிடும். ஆனாலும் பதப்படுத்தலின்போது மூடிய அறைக்குள் அதன் புகை வெளியேறுமாயின் நுரையீரலுக்கு பாதிப்பை ஏற்படுத்தலாம்.  

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