Find Me A Cure

Botanical Name: : Acacia decurrens, Acacia arabica,Acacia catechu
Family: Leguminosae (legume)
Other common names: Indian Gum Arabic, Wattle Bark, Black Wattle, Babul, Babool
Synonym: Wattle Bark

Habitat :Acacia Bark, known as Wattle Bark, is obtained from the chief of the Australian Wattles, A. decurrens (Willd.), the Black Wattle, and, more recently, A. arabica has been similarly used in East Africa for its astringency.

The bark is collected from wild or cultivated trees, seven years old or more, and must be allowed to mature for a year before being used medicinally.

History:
A native of Australia, Acacia is one of more than seven hundred species of Australian Wattles, and it has been prized for its significant pharmacological, nutritive and toxicological associations in herbal medicine since before recorded history, an interplay that continues to the present day. Acacia is also highly valued commercially, in addition to its medicinal applications. Also known as Wattle Bark, Black Catechu and Black Wattle, it is collected from wild or cultivated trees that are seven years or older. It thrives in well-drained, neutral-to-acid soil in full sun at a minimum 45 degrees Fahrenheit. For medicinal purposes, the bark must be allowed to mature for a year, and it is often substituted in its medical applications for Oak Bark. Although they are different in appearance, both have an astringent taste. When boiled, the foliage and bark of the tree produces a dark brown, sticky substance known as gum or “catchou” or” cutch.” Acacia Bark is hard and woody with a rusty, brown color, and because it contained large amounts of tannin and gallic acid, its powerful astringency made it the backbone of the Australian and New Zealand tanning industry. The outer surface of older pieces is covered with thick blackish periderm, rugged and fissured. The inner surface is red, longitudinally striated and fibrous. The timber itself was highly valued commercially as a fuel wood, and the bark, also known as Babul, became a mainstay in the area’s tanning and dyeing industries (source for khaki dye). That same astringency has special use when employed medicinally.

Description: The bark of A. decurrens is usually in curved pieces, externally greyish brown, darkening with age, often with irregular longitudinal ridges and sometimes transverse cracks. Inner surface longitudinally striated, fracture irregular and coarsely fibrous. It has a slight tan-like odour and astringent taste.

...
The bark of A. arabica is hard and woody, rusty brown and tending to divide into several layers. The outer surface of older pieces is covered with thick blackish periderm, rugged and fissured. The inner surface is red, longitudinally striated and fibrous. Taste, astringent and mucilaginous.

Constituents: Acacia Bark contains from 24 to 42 per cent. of tannin and also gallic acid.

Its powerful astringency causes it to be extensively employed in tanning.

Medicinal Action and Uses: Acacia Bark is an ancient treatment used mainly for digestive disorders and diarrhea. It is an astringent that is rich in tannic acid that checks bleeding, discharges and excess mucus. Recent research has discovered that an extract from this highly astringent herb may block the body’s pain triggers.

Medicinally it is employed as a substitute for Oak Bark. It has special use in diarrhoea, mainly in the form of a decoction, the British Pharmacopoeia preparation being 6 parts in 100 administered in doses of 1/2 to 2 fluid ounces. The decoction also is used as an astringent gargle, lotion, or injection.

A liquid extract is prepared from the bark of A. arabica, administered in India for its astringent properties in doses of 1/2 to 1 fluid drachm, but the use of both gum and bark for industrial purposes is much larger than their use in medicine. The bark, under the name of Babul, is used in Scinde for tanning, and also for dyeing various shades of brown.

Beneficial Uses:
When used mainly in the form of a decoction, Acacia Bark is well known for its treatment of diarrhea and digestive ailments, and the decoction is also used as an astringent, mouthwash and lotion. Acacia Bark has also been used in the treatment of dysentery.

Acacia is commonly used in maintaining dental hygiene. The fresh twigs have long been employed for the protection of gums and teeth, and recent studies indicated that Acacia’s antiseptic qualities was found to inhibit the growth of germs in the oral cavity. The herb is useful as an external application for mouth ulcers. Further, extract of Indian gum Arabic tree has been found to reduce gingival (gum) inflammation occurring as a consequence of plaque reduction.

In India, Acacia Bark has long been administered for its astringent properties, and there are current reports that, in combination with other herbs and barks, traditional Indian healers use it in the treatment of leprosy in rural areas. The healers also claim that it aids in the treatment of stomachache and is used as an aid to digestion.

There are current reports claiming that Acacia Bark extract appears to block the body’s pain trigger mechanisms. It is highly regarded by Australian Aborigines for the treatment of headaches.

Used externally, Acacia Bark’s astringency checks bleeding, nose bleeds, hemorrhoids, skin eruptions, bed sores, mouth ulcers, sore throats and dental infection.

Recommended Dosage:
Take two (2) capsules, one (1) to two (2) times each day with water at mealtimes.

As per Ayurveda:
It is tiktarasa, sheela (sheetaveerya); subdues pitta, and kapha; digestive; useful in the treatment of skin disease, cough, dyscrasia, oedema, pruritus andulcer.

Parts used: Bark and heartwood.

Therapeutic Uses:

Bark: astringent; useful in passive diarrhoea either alone or with combination with cinnamon or opium; decoction given internally in leprosy, heartwood: the concentrated aqueous extract known as khayer gum or cuteh is cooling and digestive; beneficial in cough and diarrhoea;applied externally to ulcers, boils and eruptions of the skin; used extensively in formulations.

Bark is bitter and acrid; cooling, astringent to the bowels, antihelmintic, antidysenteric, antipyretic; cures itching, sore throat, bronchitis, indigestion, heaviness, ulcers, boils, psoriasis, inflammations,leprosy, anaemia, leucoderma; given in elephantiasis, urinary discharges; strengthens the teeth.-

Catechu is acrid and bitter; hot, astringent to the bowels, anthelmintic. tonic, aphrodisiac; cures .. kapha” and;; vat a “, ulcers, diseases of the throat, urinary and vaginal discharges, leucorrhoea, leucoderma, piles, erysepelas; cures troubles of the mouth; gives taste; increases appetite; strengthens the teeth, the juice of the fresh bark is given with assafretid, in haemoptysis, and the flowering tops with cumin, milk and sugar, in gonorrhoea

Mixed with aromatics it is used in melancholia; powdered and mixed with water it is used in conjunctivitis.

It is valued in native practice as a remedy in chest affections. It is thought to promote expectoration.

Kathbol is a mixture of catechu and myrrh, given to women after confinement as a tonic, and to promote the secretion of milk.

The extract known as Catechu or Catch is used medicinally as an astringent in fevers and other maladies. It is peculiarly useful in diarrhoea, with pyrosis, depending upon a relaxed state of the intestinal mucous membrane.

Locally, it has also been used with much advantage in sponginess of the gums, relaxation of the uvula, hypertrophy of the tonsil, as an astringent injection in the treatment of leucorrhoea and a tonic in menorrhagia.

Contraindications:
Currently, there are no known warnings or contraindications with the use of Acacia Bark.

You may click to learn more about Acacia Bark:->-(1)…....(2)

Disclaimer:The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/a/acaci003.html

http://www.herbalextractsplus.com/acacia-bark.cfm

http://www.ayurvedakalamandiram.com/herbs.htm#kanchanara

If you liked the post, please subscribe to my RSS feed.
If we could help you, please spread the word.