COLLECTING AYURVEDIC PLANTS

The focus of Ayurveda is to integrate and balance the body, mind, and spirit, rather than focusing on individual symptoms. Ayurveda is mainly based on herbs, plants, flowers, fruits, vegetables and all vegetation that grows around us in plenty. It is our native system based on the peculiar Indian conditions.

I was inspired by reading the instructlbe "Identifying Edible And Medicinal Plants" by bjones7325.So I thought to write this instructable on ayurvedic plants which is very popular in India.

To write this instructable I collected few Ayurvedic plants.I described about the plants so that any one can identify it easily.At last I mentioned few important benefits of the plants.All the plants which I collected are found in our locality and ShimlipalSanctuary,INDIA.

You can easily find all these plants in Asian countries and mount Himalaya .

I have taken reference from the different websites and Wikipedia regarding the plants.

Why Ayurveda ?

Our modern age lifestyle where work, communication, business and travel has been made extremely easy for man, with various gadgets and machines equipped with previously unheard-of electronic technology. Still, in spite of these comforts, life has become more complex and competitive. Man finds himself more under stress than ever before because with the modern technology and lifestyle, more is demanded of him. Several diseases have sprung up and are increasing due to the basic factor of stress and aggressiveness, and are now frequenting at an early age.

Ayurveda is a branch of medicine which originated and is practiced in India for more than 5000 years. It is as fresh and useful to humans today as it was in the ancient times yet more relevant and applicable in these modern times. Its use provides a holistic approach to our daily lives .

Benefits of Ayurvedic Products :

The main benefit of the Ayurvedic treatment is that it has no side effects because the Ayurvedic products are prepared by using the essence of fruits, spices, vegetables and natural herbs.

The treatment of Ayurvedic treatment may not be fast but it is very effective.

The Ayurvedic products are environment friendly as they are prepared from organic products unlike the allopathic medicines. The allopathic medicines are manufactured by using chemicals and hence cause damage to the environment.

About :

Aloe Vera plants are commonly found in the African regions. It is found almost every place of India.Aloe vera is a stem less or very short-stemmed succulent plant. The leaves are thick and fleshy, green to grey-green, with some varieties showing white flecks on their upper and lower stem surfaces.

Medicinal uses :

1. Aloe Vera is the herbal plant, used to heal the burn marks.
2. Aloe Vera cures the skin diseases.
3. It can also be used to remove dandruff from the hair.
4. Aloe Vera is taken internally for the stomach disorders.
5. The leaves of Aloe Vera is used for the treatment of facial edema or swelling.
6. Its fluid is beneficial in reducing the inflammation and pain.
7. Aloe Vera is used in cosmetics and even in the food industry.
8. The fresh juice of its leaf blades can be applied directly to the ulcers, burns, sunburns, and fungal infection.
9. Aloe Vera juice reduces acidity.
10. It prevents from fungus, influenza virus, measles, and high fever

Brahmi is the small creeping herb with the numerous branchesLeaves are formed in pairs along the stems. Small- tubular, five petaled flowers are white- purple in colour. Its stem is soft, succulent, and hairy with the glands. Its ability to grow in water makes it a popular aquarium plant. It can even grow in slightly brackish conditions.

Medicinal uses :

1. It is used for curing problems on study, poor memory and concentration, work-related mental fatigue.
2. For the treatment of bronchitis, chronic cough, asthma, hoarseness, arthritis, rheumatism, backache, fluid retention, blood cleanser, chronic skin conditions, constipation, hair loss, fevers, digestive problems, depression, mental and physical fatigue and many more.
3. It is used to treat all sorts of skin problems like eczema, psoriasis, abscess and ulceration.
4. It stimulates the growth of skin, hair and nails. Brahmi posses anticancer activity.
5. It is taken to get relief from stress and anxiety.

According to the Ayurveda Brahmi has antioxidant properties. It has been reported to reduce oxidation of fats in the blood stream, which is the risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Brahmi is considered as the main rejuvenating herb for the nerve and brain cells.

Mint is a perennial with very fragrant, toothed leaves and tiny purple, pink, or white flowers. It has a fruity, aromatic taste.Native to Europe, Asia, and Australia, North America and are widely distributed throughout the temperate and subtropical areas of the world.

Medicinal uses :

It is well known for its properties related to indigestion, stomach cramps, menstrual cramps, flatulence, upset stomach, nausea, vomiting, and colic in children. You can try by making a tea out of fresh or dried leaves.Mint also can be used as an appetite stimulant.

Other Uses :

Room Refresher :

Keep your home smelling fresh by adding a few drops of mint essential oil to your favorite homemade or unscented store-bought cleaner. Try this simple floor cleaning solution, good for wood, concrete or tile floors: Dilute a cup of white vinegar in a gallon of water and add 3 to 5 drops of mint essential oil.
Breath Saver: Mints are used to remove bad breath.It is widely used in chew gum.

Centella grows in tropical swampy areas.The stems are slender, creeping stolons, green to reddish-green in color, connecting plants to each other.

Medicinal uses :

1. It cures fever.
2. Develops memory power.
3. It cures bowel disorders.Good remedy for Eczema, Elephantiasis, Epilepsy, Varicose veins, venereal diseases.
4. Prevents Hair loss, Hypochondria.
5. It cleanses and rejuvenates immune system and cures blood diseases.
6. Balances high blood pressure.
7. It heals minor burns.It is treated as a good remedy for nervous disorders and Psoriasis.

It is known as Holy Basil in English and Tulsi in Sanskrit.The Tulsi plant ( basil )is an important symbol in the Hindu religious tradition.Tulsi is a venerated plant and Hindus worship it in the morning and evening. Tulsi is a heavy branched having hair all over. It has round oval shaped leaves. Its seeds are flat. Its flowers are purple – creamish in colour.

Medicinal uses :

1. Juice of Tulsi leaves gives relief in cold, fever, bronchitis and cough.
2. Keeps your skin and hair healthy and glowing
3. Tulsi oil is also used as the ear drop.
4. Tulsi helps in curing malaria.
5. It si very effective against indigestion, headache, hysteria, insomnia and cholera.

Margosa is popularly known as Neem in India.It is a tall evergreen tree with the small bright green leaves.It blossoms in spring with the small white flowers. It has a straight trunk. Its bark is hard rough and scaly, fissured even in small trees. The colour of the bark is brown grayish. The leaves are alternate and consists of several leaflets with serrated edges.The loive like edible fruit is oval, round and thin skinned.

Medicinal uses :

Each part of neem is used in the medicines. It has been used in Ayurvedic medicines for more than 4000 years.

1. Neem oil extracted from its seeds is used in medicines, pest control and cosmetics etc.
2. Its leaves are used in the treat Chickenpox.
3. Neem tea is usually taken to reduce the headache and fever.
4. Its flowers are used to cure intestinal problems.
5. Neem bark acts as an analgesic and can cure high fever as of malaria.
6. Skin diseases can be cured from the Neem leaves.

The plant of Turmeric is a herbaceous perennial. It has a short stem. It has large leaves oblong and up to one meter long. Flowers of the turmeric appear on a spike like the stalk. Its flowers are yellow white in color. Its pant looks like the ginger pant.It is the widely cultivated in part of South India and Southeast Asia.

Medicinal uses :

1. It is taken as the blood purifier and is very useful in the common cold, leprosy, intermittent, affections of the liver, dropsy, inflammation and wound healing.
2. The rhizome of the turmeric plant is highly aromatic and antiseptic.
3. It is even used for contraception, swelling, insect stings, wounds, whooping cough, inflammation, internal injuries, pimples, injuries, as a skin tonic.
4. Sweetened milk boiled with the turmeric is the popular remedy for cold and cough.
5. It is given in liver ailments and jaundice

Sensitive Plant grows well in moist areas.It can be easily identified by the rosette of sensitive compound leaves on the terminal part of the plant. The leaflets are positioned each other and normally there are 6-12 pairs arranged centripetally with the larger leaves on top and the shorter leaves below. The pink flowers are on many peduncles. The fruits are ellipsoid capsules containing transversely striated ovoid seeds

Medicinal uses :
1. Promoting the flow of urine.
2. Relieves slow and painful discharge of urine.
3. Urinary calculi or stone in the urinary tract.
4. Can be used for curing Asthma, Tuberculosis and Wounds.

The decoction of the thoroughly cleaned plant is administered for the ailments listed above.

It produces several branches which are loaded with straight,yellow spines .The spiny leaves which are 5 to 10 cm long are ovate or elliptic in shape.The mid ribs and the nerves on the leaves are full of yellow sharp prickles.The flowers are purple in colour and the petals are about 2 cm long.The fruit or berry containing numerous seeds are bright yellow or white in color .

Medicinal uses :

1. An appetizer and laxative;strengthens and gives tone to the stomach;expels worm from the body;
2. Useful in bronchitis,asthma,fever,painful or difficult urination;as an expectorant for the control of cough;relieves muscular pains;for stone in the bladder;and against sterility in women.

Jatropha can be easily identified by the reddish brown leaves and the yellow viscid glands found on the leaf margins, petioles and stipules.The shrub grows to a height of 0.9-1.8meters and has palmate 3-5 lobed leaves. Small red flowers are seen in glandular corymbose cymes. The capsules are ovoid, 3 lobed and the seeds are small, greenish brown and mildly dotted.

Medicinal uses :

1. Boils, eczema and itches.
2. As an emetic, to induce vomiting.
3. Good laxative.Fever.
4. Sores on the tongue.

It is a large shrub growing to 4 to 5m tall. It has clusters of waxy flowers that are either white or lavender in colour. Each flower consists of five pointed petalsand a small, elegant "crown" rising from the center, which holds the stamens. The plant has oval, light green leaves and milky stem.In India, the shrubs are very common and grow widely in compounds of temples and other waste lands.

Medicinal Uses :

1. Remedy for poisonous snake bites
2. Intestinal Worms
3. Stomach ulcers
4. Asthma
5. Skin Disorders

If bitten by poisonous snakes, few leaves of the plant are plucked and chewed. Alternatively, the roots of the plant are crushed and the juice is applied over the bitten area.

This plant is a course, erect, branched, woody bush, growing up to four meters high. This plant is common in most parts of India and other countries in tropics. The fruit is a spiny capsule, split into three one-seeded parts when dry. The seeds, that are crushed by the pressure technique to obtain the oil, are smooth and glossy with grey and brown patches.

Medicinal uses :

1. Ulcers and sores
2. Skin diseases and boils.
3. Rheumatism and headache.
4. Prevents dry wax in ear.

This is an large ornamental flowering shrub with beautiful sweet-smelling yellow flowers and glossy deep green leaves which have a waxy coating that reduces water loss. It is found in different variety like pink variety (Nerium oleander) and the related Yellow Oleander (sweet-smelling yellow, peach and white flowers and bright green clusters of thin long leaves) .Oleander is an easy growing plant in most conditions, especially in dry warm climates.It is very popular in India.

Medicinal uses :

Oleander has been used in the treatment of cardiac illness, asthma, diabetes, corns, scabies, cancer, and epilepsy.

Caution : All parts of the plant are toxic if eaten, particularly the fruit and seeds. In fact, oleander is reportedly a favorite suicide agent in Sri Lanka, where oleander poisonings exceed 150 per 100,000 each year.

There is no clinical evidence to support specific doses of oleander. Extreme caution should be used because of its acute cardiotoxicity.

Bael, also known as the “Wood Apple”, is a species native to India.It is found throughout Southeast Asia.It is a tree that grows up to a height of 3 to 6 metres. The leaves of this tree are oval in shape and the flowers have a pleasant fragrance. The large, round or oval shaped fruit is greenish-white in color with a hard but smooth outer surface. The inner contents of the fruit is mucilaginous and faintly aromatic.The bael fruit can be eaten either fresh or dried.

Medicinal uses :

1. It is used for indigestion, discomfort or pain in the stomach.
2. Promotes the removal of mucous secretions from the bronchial tubes.
3. For the abnormal accumulation of liquid in the cellular tissue accompanied with constipation and jaundice.
4. For strengthening and giving tone to the stomach, to prevent scurvy and aiding in digestion.
5. For chronic diarrhea or dysentery and irritation of the alimentary tract.
6. It cure asthma.
7. Reduces or eliminates fever.

The size of the lemon tree is from 5 meters to as short as1.5 meters.It has irregular branches armed with thick spines, stiff and sharp.The leaves are oblong with a narrow base and barely winged. The flowers are white, solitary or in pairs, in the leaf axils. The fruit is ovoid and yellow when mature and the juice is rich in Vitamin C.

Medicinal uses :

1. To lower the body heat.
2. To give tone and vitality to the body.
3. For colds, coughs, throat diseases, headache, stomach ache, indigestion and rheumatism.
4. For corns, warts, burns, dandruff and as a disinfectant.

The above problem can be taken care of by simply drinking 4 glasses of lemon juice per day.Corns, warts, burns, dandruff can be taken care of by applying the juice externally on the site of the ailment

The Indian curry leaf tree is a very popular tree which is found in almost every Indian home as the strong smelling leaves are used regularly to flavor curries. The bark of this tree is dark grey in color The aromatic leaflets are ovate, mildly serrate and shiny. The white flowers are found in clusters and from these arise the round or oval and pointed berries which are initially green, but turn dark red or purplish-black when fully mature.

Medicinal uses :

1. As a tonic, carminative, for strengthening and giving tone to the stomach, for purifying the blood, for tuberculosis, worms, burning pains, hemorrhoids or a mass of dilated veins in the swollen tissue near the anal sphincter, acute abdominal pain and swellings in various parts of the body.
2. Cure of cancer and dysentery and to control diabetes.
3. Checks vomiting.
4. To reduce or eliminate fever.

Pomegranate is a shrub which grows to about 5 meters high, having pale brownish bark. The leaves are shiny green and the orange-red flowers . The fruit is as attractive as the flowers as it changes its color from green to a sun-kissed orange-red shade. The fruit contains a large number of edible seeds and around each seed is a rose colored pulp which is sweet.

Medicinal uses :

1. For expelling tapeworms and other worms from the body.
2. Conjunctivitis or inflammation of the eye.
3. Fevers, malaria, sore throat and general debility.
4. To lower the body heat.
5. Gastric and asthmatic fever, inflammation of the urinary tract and hemorrhage.
6. Kidney stones.

Mango is a large spreading tree, which is well known in all tropical countries. The different varieties of the tree vary in height.The leaves, 12.5-25 cm. long are simple, green and stiff when fully grown.Mature leaves are leathery, glossy, and deep green in color.The unripe fruits are sometimes eaten plain or with a sprinkle of sugar/ sugar and chili powder.

Medicinal uses :

1. Purifies the blood, removes mucous from the bronchial tubes, prevents or cures scurvy, expels worms from the body, is a digestive and a good laxative.
2. Respiratory problems, inflammation of the mucous membrane, cough, and bronchitis.
3. Tuberculosis, general debility, anemia and indigestion.
4. Asthma and other respiratory problems.
5. Itches and skin diseases.