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Herbs & Plants

Fenugreek

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B0tanical Name :Trigonella foenum-graecum
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Trigonella
Species: T. foenum-graecum
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Fabales

Synonyms : Foenum-graecum officinale var. tibetanum. Trigonella tibetana.

Common Names:Fenugreek, Sicklefruit fenugreek

It is known as methi in Marathi  Punjabi, Hindi, Urudu, Bengali and Nepali  as menthiyam, and venthayam  in Tamil, “uluhaal”  in Sinhala, Helba  in Arabic, menthya  in Kannada, uluwa in Malayalam, moshoseitaro  in Greek and menthulu  in Telugu.

Alholva, Bird’s Foot, Boyotu, Chinagreye, Foenum Graecum, Greek Hay-seed, Halva, Helba, Hu Lu Pa, K’U Tou, Kelabat, Koroha, Methi, Shimli, Sickle-fruit Fenugreek, Sicklefruit Fenugreek, Trigonella foenum-graecum

(The name comes from Foenum-graecum, meaning Greek Hay, the plant being used to scent inferior hay.)

Habitat ;Fenugreek is natve to India and northern Europe.Now It grows  in Austria; Belgium; Chile; China; Egypt; S. France; Hungary; India; Iraq; Java; Malaya; Mediterranean; Spain; Sudan; Turkey.

It can grow in Field verges, uncultivated ground, dry grasslands and hillsides

Description:
Fenugreek is an annual, leguminous plant. It has tri-foliate, obovate and toothed, light green leaves. Its stems are erect, long and tender. Blooming period occurs during summer. Flowers are yellow-white, occurring singly or in pairs at the leaf axils. Fruit is a curved seed-pod, with ten to twenty flat and hard, yellowish-brown seeds. They are angular- rhomboid, oblong or even cubic, and have a deep furrow dividing them into two unequal lobes.It is cultivated worldwide as a semi-arid crop.

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Edible Uses:
Funugreek is a common ingredient in dishes from the Indian Subcontinent.An essential oil is obtained from the seed – used as a food flavoring.The dried plant has a strong aroma of hay.

Fenugreek is also used as a vegetable. Fresh fenugreek leaves are an ingredient in some Indian curries. The sprouted seeds and microgreens are used in salads. When harvested as microgreens, fenugreek is known as Samudra Methi in Maharashtra, especially in and around Mumbai, where it is often grown near the sea in the sandy tracts, hence the name (Samudra, which means “ocean” in Sanskrit). Samudra Methi is also grown in dry river beds in the Gangetic plains. When sold as a vegetable in India, the young plants are harvested with their roots still attached. Any remaining soil is washed off to extend their shelf life. They are then sold in small bundles in the markets and bazaars.
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Medicinal use:
Fenugreek is one of the oldest medicinal plants. It has been used for centuries for different female conditions, brain and nervous system ailments, skin, liver and metabolic disorders. It is also considered highly beneficial for respiratory and gastrointestinal problems.  It is a highly potent female herb, since it helps relaxing the uterus and relieving menstrual pains, and is an excellent stimulator of milk production in nursing mothers. As for the gastrointestinal tract, Fenugreek is usually suggested in treatments of poor digestion, gastric inflammations, enteritis, especially for convalescents. It can also be used in cases of weight loss, poor appetite and even in treatment of anorexia nervosa. Different blood conditions, such as anemia, and nervous system disorders (neurasthenia) can also be successfully treated with Fenugreek. As for the respiratory conditions, Fenugreek is excellent in treatment of bronchitis, mucous congestions, different infections, tuberculosis. Used externally, it can help curing abscesses, boils, carbuncles, fistulas, sciatica, various skin irritations,sores & wounds.

Lactation: Fenugreek seeds are thought to be a galactagogue that is often used to increase milk supply in lactating women.

Known Hazards: The seed contains 1% saponins. Although poisonous, saponins are poorly absorbed by the human body and so most pass through without harm. Saponins are quite bitter and can be found in many common foods such as some beans. They can be removed by carefully leaching the seed or flour in running water. Thorough cooking, and perhaps changing the cooking water once, will also remove most of them. However, it is not advisible to eat large quantities of food that contain saponins. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish.

News: In February 2009, the International Frutarom Corporation factory in North Bergen, New Jersey, was found to be the source of a mysterious maple syrup aroma which had been reported as occasionally drifting over New York City since 2005. The odor was found to be from sotolon, an ester in fenugreek seeds. No health risks have been found.

Fenugreek seeds imported from Egypt in 2009 and 2010 have been linked to outbreaks of Escherichia coli O104:H4 in Germany and France, causing 50 deaths in 2011

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://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenugreek
http://www.diet-and-health.net/Naturopathy/Fenugreek.html
http://health-from-nature.net/Fenugreek.html

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Herbs & Plants

Coffee senna

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Botanical Name :Senna occidentalis
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Tribe: Cassieae
Genus: Senna
Species: S. occidentalis
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Fabales

Synonyms: Cassia occidentalis L.,Ditremexa occidentalis (L.) Britt. & Rose

Common Names:auaukoi in Hawaii, coffee senna, coffeeweed, Mogdad coffee, negro-coffee, senna coffee, Stephanie coffee, stinkingweed or styptic weed.

Habitat :Coffee senna grows throughout the tropics and subtropics (Liogier 1988, Stevens and others 2001) including the United States from Texas to Iowa eastward, Hawaii, the Pacific Island Territories, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (Natural Resources Conservation Service 2002). It appears to be of South American or New World origin (Haselwood and Motter 1966, Henty and Pritchard 1975, Raintree 2002).

Description:
Senna occidentalis varies from a semi-woody annual herb in warm temperate areas to a woody annual shrub or sometimes a short-lived perennial shrub in frostfree areas (Haselwood and Motter 1966, Henty and Pritchard 1975, Holm and others 1997). It usually’ matures at from 0.5 to 2.0 m in height. In Brazil it is reported to reach 5 to 8 m in height (Raintree 2002). Coffee senna produces a hard, woody tap root with relatively few laterals. It usually has a single purplish stem and sparse branching. Young stems are four-angled, becoming rounded with age. The crushed foliage has an unpleasant odor. Compound alternate leaves have four to six pairs of glabrous leaflets and a gland near the base of the petiole. Leaflets are ovate to ovate-lanceolate, pointed at the tip and rounded at the base.

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Senna occidentalis are few-flowered axillary racemes with yellow-petaled flowers about 2 cm across. The legumes (pods) are brown, flat, slightly curved and 5 to 12 cm long. They contain 40 or more brown to dark-olive, ovoid seeds about 4 mm long. The species has 2n = 26, 28 chromosomes (Henty and Pritchard 1975, Liogier 1988, Long and Lakela 1976, Stevens and others 2001).

Edible Uses:
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.

Active Ingredients
Anthroquinones- dianthrone; Anthracene derivatives (2.5-3.5%): chief components sennosides A, A1, B, C and D. Naphthacene derivatives: including 6-hydroxymusizin glucoside, tinnevellin-6-glucosides. Laxative effect is due to the action of sennosides and their active metabolite, rhein anthrone in the colon. Effect occurs 8-12 hours after administration.

Medicinal Uses:
Laxative use, antifungal, decreases fever, cutaneous anti-infective, antispasmodic, antirheumatic, anti-inflammatory, Used for treatment of urinary infections and hemorroids. Purgative and cleansing. In Africa and Asia the leaves and seed pod were used to treat anemia, bronchitis, constipation, jaundice and skin problems.

Known Hazards: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.

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:

Click to access Senna%20occidentalis.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassia_occidentalis
http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Clinical/cross-cultural/herbal_index/herbs/Senna%20Occidentalis.html

 

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Herbs & Plants

Asthma weed

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Botanical Name :Lobelia inflata (LINN.)/Parietaria judaica
Family: Urticaceae /Campanulaceae
Subfamily: Lobelioideae
Genus: Parietaria/Lobelia
Species: P. judaica/ L. inflata
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Rosales/Asterales

Common Names: Rapuntium inflatum, Indian-Tobacco, Pukeweed, Asthma Weed, Gagroot, Vomitwort, Bladderpod

Parts Used: The herb and its seeds

Habitat: Asthma Weed is found in the northern United States and Canada

Description:
Perennial herb with spreading to erect stems to 80 (rarely to 100) cm long. Stems reddish to green.It  possesses stalked leaves 1.5–9 cm long, lanceolate, ovate or rhombic, hairy on both surfaces, strongly veined; leaf stalk 1–1.5 cm long.Its flowers are pale violet-blue in colour. Single seeded dry fruit (achene) maturing dark brown to black, hard, 1–1.2 mm long and 0.6–0.9 mm wide
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Roots are pink or red, and woody on older plants. Flowers are very small, light green in colour, and clustered along the stems. Leaves, flowers and stems are covered with sticky hairs that will stick to skin, clothing and animal fur.

The weed spreads mainly by movement of seed, particularly when attached to animals, machinery and people. Some local spread via root pieces.

Medicinal Uses:
Asthma Weed is used as an expectorant, diaphoretic and anti-asthmatic substance. It is used also in epilepsy, tetanus, diphtheria and tonsilitis. Its infusion is used to treat ophthalmia and its tincture cures skin diseases.

Asthma weed (Euphorbia hirta) has been used traditionally in Asia to treat bronchitic asthma and laryngeal spasm. It is used in the Philippines for dengue fever.
Native Americans used lobelia to treat respiratory and muscle disorders, and as a purgative..The species used most commonly in modern herbalism is Lobelia inflata (Indian tobacco). However, there are adverse effects that limit the use of lobelia.

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.herbsguide.net/asthma-weed.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medicinal_herbs
http://www.weeds.org.au/cgi-bin/weedident.cgi?tpl=plant.tpl&state=&s=&card=H68
http://www.pittwater.nsw.gov.au/environment/noxious_weeds/herbs/asthma_weed

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parietaria_judaica

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobelia_inflata

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Herbs & Plants

Solanum centrale

Botanical Name :Solanum centrale
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Solanum
Species: S. centrale
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Solanales

Common Name:Kutjera, or Australian desert raisin.
Some other names:In english it is called English Bush raisin, bush tomato, bush sultana. In Alyawarr  it is called Akatjurra. In
Arrernte it is called  Merne akatyerre and in Pitjantjatjara it is called  Kampurarpa.

Habitat :Solanum centrale is  native to the more arid parts of Australia. Like other “bush tomatoes“, it has been used as a food source by Central Australian Aboriginal groups for millennia.

Description:
Like many plants of the Solanum genus, desert raisin is a small bush and has a thorny aspect. It is a fast growing shrub that fruits prolifically the year after fire or good rains. It can also grow back after being dormant as root stock for years after drought years. The vitamin C-rich fruit are 1–3 cm in diameter and yellow in color when fully ripe. They dry on the bush and look like raisins. These fruits have a strong, pungent taste of tamarillo and caramel that makes them popular for use in sauces and condiments. They can be obtained either whole or ground, with the ground product (sold as “kutjera powder”) easily added to bread mixes, salads, sauces, cheese dishes, chutneys, stews or mixed into butter.

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Mardu people would skewer bush tomatoes and dry them so the food was readily transportable.

Cultivation:
Traditionally, the dried fruit are collected from the small bushes in late autumn and early winter. In the wild, they fruit for only two months. These days they are grown commercially by Aboriginal communities in the deserts of central Australia. Using irrigation, they have extended the fruiting season to eight months. The fruit are grown by Amata and Mimili communities in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands, by the Dinahline community near Ceduna, by the Nepabunna community in the northern Flinders Ranges, and on the Tangglun Piltengi Yunti farm in Murray Bridge, and are marketed by Outback Pride.

Desert Garden Produce is the only fully commercial Solanum centrale producer in the Northern Territory. It is the major commercial supplier to Robins Foods Pty Ltd under the Outback Spirit label

Edible Uses:
The ripe fruit has a delicious sun-dried tomato flavour and can be used in any dishes where tomatoes are used. Also called Desert Raisin or Desert Tomato.

Medicinal Uses:
Not found

Known Hazards:Green unripe fruits contain the toxin solanine (the same as that present in green potatoes) and must be fully ripened before consumption. There are many other Solanum species that resemble Solanum centrale, only some of which produce edible fruit.

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://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanum_centrale
http://herbalistics.com.au/shop/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=485
http://inglewoodbushtuckergardens.webs.com/plantprofiles.htm

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Herbs & Plants

Impatiens capensis

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Botanical Name :Impatiens capensis
Family: Balsaminaceae
Genus: Impatiens
Species: I. capensis
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Ericales

Synonyms: Impatiens biflora – Walter, Impatiens fulva – Nutt

Common Names: Orange Jewelweed, Common Jewelweed, Spotted Jewelweed, Spotted Touch-me-not, or Orange Balsam  Jewelweed, Wild Balsam. Balsam-weed. Impatiens, Spotted Touch-me-not, Lady’s Eardrops, Lady’s Slipper.

Habitat :Impatiens capensis is native to  N. America – Newfoundland to Saskatchewan. Naturalized in Britain.
It grows  along the banks of rivers and canals, also in low-lying moist woodlands, avoiding acid soils.

Description:
Impatiens capensis is an Annual plant  growing to 1.2m at a fast rate.It is hardy to zone 2. It is in flower from July to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. The plant is self-fertile.
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The flowers are orange with a three-lobed corolla; one of the calyx lobes is colored similarly to the corolla and forms a hooked conical spur at the back of the flower. Plants may also produce non-showy cleistogamous flowers, which do not require cross-pollination. The stems are somewhat translucent, succulent, and have swollen or darkened nodes. The seed pods are pendant and have projectile seeds that explode out of the pods when they are lightly touched, if ripe, which is where the name ‘touch-me-not’ comes from. The leaves appear to be silver or ‘jeweled’ when held underwater, which is possibly where the jewelweed name comes from. .

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in heavy clay soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Cultivation:
Succeeds in any reasonably good soil. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Prefers a moist well-drained humus rich soil in a cool shady site. Plants self-sow in areas where minimum winter temperatures go no lower than -15°c. This plant has seed capsules that spring open forcibly as the seed ripens to eject the seed a considerable distance. The capsules are sensitive to touch even before the seed is ripe, making seed collection difficult but fun.

Propagation:
Seed – sow spring in a greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer.

 

Edible Uses:
Edible Parts: Leaves; Seed; Stem.

The succulent stems, whilst still young and tender, can be cut up and cooked like green beans. Young leaves and shoots – cooked. They contain calcium oxalate crystals. Calcium oxalate is usually destroyed by thorough cooking. Large quantities of the leaves are purgative. See also the notes above on toxicity.

Medicinal Uses:

Antidote; Poultice; Stings; Warts.
The juice from the broken stem is a well-known folk remedy for poison ivy rash. It also works on poison oak. Can be frozen into small ice cubes and used. Also relieves the pain of insect bites, nettle stings, burns, sprains, ringworm and various skin diseases. The juice is also made into an ointment for hemorrhoids, warts and corns. It used to be taken for jaundice and asthma.

Jewelweed was commonly used as a medicinal herb by a number of native North American Indian tribes, and has been widely used in domestic medicine.Along with other species of jewelweed it is a traditional remedy for skin rashes, although controlled studies have not shown efficacy for this purpose  Its main value lies in its external application for wounds and a range of skin complaints. However, it is little used in modern herbalism and is considered to be dangerous and ‘wholly questionable’ when used internally. The herb is antidote, cathartic, diuretic and emetic. An infusion has been used in the treatment of fevers, difficult urination, measles, stomach cramps, jaundice etc. The juice of the leaves is used externally in the treatment of piles, fungal dermatitis, nettle stings, poison ivy rash, burns etc. The sap is used to remove warts. A poultice of the leaves is applied to bruises, burns, cuts etc.

Herbal Baths are a great way to treat widespread rashes, and heat rashes in those hard to reach places that flare up in summer time. A soothing bath of chamomile and oatmeal is a luxurious way to start the healing process. A simple home remedy that most everyone has on hand is baking soda and vinegar. Just add about 2 cups of vinegar and a tablespoon of baking soda to a tepid bath to and relax away the hurt. This simple bath also works well on sunburns. Baths with  tea bags of full of green or black tea will help dry the rashes and stop itching, all for pennies an a bath. For an especially bad rash you may want to use comfrey leaf in your bath or as a skin wash.

Other Uses:

Dye; Fungicide.

The fresh juice obtained from the plant is a fungicide. This juice can be concentrated by boiling it. A yellow dye has been made from the flowers. It can be made from the whole plant.

Known Hazards:Regular ingestion of large quantities of these plants can be dangerous due to their high mineral content. This report, which seems nonsensical, might refer to calcium oxalate. This mineral is found in I. capensis and so is probably also in other members of the genus. It can be harmful raw but is destroyed by thoroughly cooking or drying the plant. People with a tendency to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones and hyperacidity should take especial caution if including this plant in their diet.

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://digedibles.com/database/plants.php?Impatiens+capensis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impatiens_capensis
http://www.anniesremedy.com/chart_remedy.php?tag=rashes

http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_IJK.htm

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