Tamil Name: மயிர் மாணிக்கம் Sida cordifolia is a plant. The seeds and root are used to make medicine. Sida cordifolia contains ephedrine, which is an amphetamine-like stimulant that can cause harmful side effects. Since April 2004 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned ephedra, Sida cordifolia, and other products that contain ephedrine. Despite serious safety concerns, Sida cordifolia is used to treat bronchial asthma, tuberculosis, colds, flu, swine flu, chills, lack of perspiration, headaches, nasal congestion, cough and wheezing, urinary infections, sore mouth, and fluid retention. It is also used for heart disease, stroke, facial paralysis, tissue pain and swelling (inflammation), sciatic nerve pain, insanity, nerve pain, nerve inflammation, ongoing achy joints (chronic rheumatism), and unwanted weight loss. Some people use Sida cordifolia as a stimulant, painkiller, and tonic; and to increase urine production and raise sexual arousal. It is also used before and after cancerchemotherapy to speed recovery from the treatment. In herbal combinations, Sida cordifolia is used for weight loss, erectile dysfunction (ED), sinus problems, allergy, throat diseases, asthma, and bronchitis. These combinations are also used to burn fat, increase energy, and promote strong bones. In combination with ginger, Sida cordifolia root is used for the type of fever that comes and goes. In combination with milk and sugar, Sida cordifolia root is used for urinary urgency and vaginal discharges. Sida cordifolia is applied directly to the skin for numbness, nerve pain, muscle cramps, skin disorders, tumors, joint diseases, wounds, ulcers, scorpion sting, snakebite, and as a massage oil.
Tamil Name: தூதுவள Solanum Trilobatum commonly called "Thoothuvalai" in Tamil, "Purple fruited pea egg plant" in English is a very important herb in traditional home remedies and has amazing health benefits and medicinal uses. Almost everyone in Tamil Nadu would have heard or used it for treating cough and cold. Thoothuvalai is a creeper with plenty of thorns, purple flowers, red colored fruits and it grows easily every where. After the rains last month, many thoothuvalai plants have propped up all over the farm. My husband's grandmother who was an authority in traditional home remedies used to make a rasam (soup) out of it by grinding the leaves along with other ingredients, whenever a family member got a cold. But there is an even more simple and delicious way of consuming thoothuvalai. It is a decoction made out of boiling thoothuvalai, peppercorns, garlic pods and turmeric. This decoction is very effective for chest congestion, cough, blocked nose and even for people who suffer from sinus infection. When you are trying to pluck the leaves from the plant, be careful not to get hurt, as the whole plant including the leaves have thorns in them. To make the decoction, first remove the thorns completely from the leaves and wash them. Pound the pepper corns, garlic, cumin seeds in a mortar and pestle and then add the leaves and pound everything together well. Boil water in a pan along with little bit organic turmeric powder. Add the pounded mixture and boil till the leaves are cooked. Strain and your effective home remedy for cough and cold is ready! Usually we don't add salt and this decoction tastes really nice and is very comforting, especially when we have a cold or cough and gives very good relief.
Tamil Name: யானை சுண்டைக்காய் Kantkari, botanically known as Solanum Xanthocarpum, is a very spiny diffused herb, with a height of up to 1.2 meters. The young branches are densely covered with minute star-shaped hair, while the mature branches are zigzag, covered with yellow, sharp shining prickles and spread close to the ground. The midribs and other nerves of the leaves have sharp yellow prickles and grow up to 10 cm in length. The purple flowers, that are 2 cm long with five petals, can be seen in small bunches, sometimes opposite to the leaves. Kantkari plant bears glabrous, globular drooping berries as fruits, yellow or pale in color, with green veins. The plant is cultivated throughout India. Kantkari is useful in treating worms, cold, hoarseness of voice, fever, dysuria, enlargement of the liver, muscular pain, spleen and stone in the urinary bladder. Nasal administration of kantkari is beneficial in migraine, asthma and headache. Its dried fruit is used in making cigarettes. The smoke from these cigarettes is held in the mouth cavity, to treat dental infections. The juice of the berries is used in curing sore throat. The fumigation of kantakari is helpful in piles. The herb is made to a paste and applied on swollen and painful joints to reduce the pain and swelling in arthritis. Roots and seeds are used as an expectorant in asthma, cough and pain in chest. The decoction of the root is given with honey, to treat cough. The root is ground to a paste and mixed with lemon to cure snake and scorpion bites. Its stem, flowers and fruits, being bitter and carminative, are used for relieving burning sensation in the feet. Kantakari fruits also facilitate seminal ejaculation, alleviate worms, itching, and fever and reduce fats. The fruit works as an aphrodisiac in males. Its seeds are helpful for treating irregular menstruation and dysmenorrheal in females. The herb is beneficial in the treatment of cardiac diseases associated with edema, since it is a stimulant to the heart and a blood purifier. Kantkari should not be taken during pregnancy.
Tamil Name: அகத்தி Sesbania grandiflora L.is an Indian medicinal plant which belongs to familyLeguminosae. It is cultivated in south or west India in the ganga valley and in Bengal. The plantcontains rich in tanins, flavonoides, coumarins, steroids and triterpens. The plant used in colicdisorder, jaundice, poisoning condition, small-pox, eruptive fever, epilepsy etc.
Tamil Name: தேத்தான் Clearing-Nut Tree is a deciduous tree which has height up to 40 feet (12 meters). The seeds of the tree are commonly used in traditional medicine as well as purifying water in India and Myanmar. The seed of Clearing-Nut Tree is content of tablet in toxicology. Seeds contain no strychnine; but brucine is present. Seeds are alterative, tonic stomachic and demulcent. They are non poisonous. Seeds are used to clarify foul and muddy water. They are sliced and rubbed round the sides of unglazed earthern vessels in which drinking water is stored, which acts as a mechanical precipitant of suspended matter present in the water. The action is clearly due to albumen, present in the seed. Half to one full seed rubbed up into a fine paste with some butter-milk and given internally for one week is useful in long-standing and chronic diarrhoea. Powder of the seed is given internally with milk in irritation for one week is useful in long-standing and chronic diarrhoea. Powder of the seed is given internally with milk in irritation of the urinary organs and gonorrhoea. It is also used as a remedy in diabetes.
Tamil Name: தன்றிகாய் Terminalia is a tree. Three species of terminalia are used for medicine. These species are Terminalia arjuna, Terminalia bellerica, and Terminalia chebula. In traditional Ayurvedic medicine, Terminalia arjuna has been used to balance the three “humors”: kapha, pitta, and vata. It has also been used for asthma, bile duct disorders, scorpion stings, and poisonings. The bark of Terminalia arjuna has been used in India for more than 3000 years, primarily as a heart remedy. An Indian physician named Vagbhata has been credited as the first to use this product for heart conditions in the seventh century A.D. Research on terminalia has been going on since the 1930s, but studies have provided mixed results. Its role, if any, in heart disease still remains uncertain. Nevertheless, people today use Terminalia arjuna for disorders of the heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular disease), including heart disease and related chest pain, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. It is also used as “a water pill,” and for earaches, dysentery, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), diseases of the urinary tract, and to increase sexual desire. Terminalia bellerica and Terminalia chebula are both used for high cholesterol and digestive disorders, including both diarrhea and constipation, and indigestion. They have also been used for HIV infection. Terminalia bellerica is used to protect the liver and to treat respiratory conditions, including respiratory tract infections, cough, and sore throat. Terminalia chebula is used for dysentery. Terminalia bellerica and Terminalia chebula are used as a lotion for sore eyes. Terminalia chebula is also used topically as a mouthwash and gargle. Intravaginally, Terminalia chebula is used as a douche for treating vaginal infections. In traditional Ayurvedic medicine, Terminalia bellerica has been used as a "health-harmonizer" in combination with Terminalia chebula and Emblica officinalis. This combination is also used to lower cholesterol and to prevent death of heart tissue.
