GUNJA (Root)
Gunja consists of dried root of Abrus precatorius Linn. (Fam. Fabacem); a climber, all along Himalayas ascending to 900 m, spreading throughout the plains; flowering in August-September, fruits ripen during winter.
SYNONYMS
Sanskrit : Raktika, Kakananti
Assamese : Rati
Bengali : Kunch, Shonkainh
English : Jequirity
Gujrati : Rati, Chanothee, Chonotee
Hindi : Ratti, Ghungchi
Kannada : Guluganji, gulagunja
Kashmiri : —
Malayalam : Kunni, Cuvanna Kunni
Marathi : Gunja
Oriya : Kainch
Punjabi : Ratti
Tamil : Kunrimani, Kundumani
Telugu : Guriginga, Gurivinda
Urdu : Ghongchi, Ratti
DESCRIPTION
a) Macroscopic
Root, simple or branched, cylindrical, most often irregularly curved, light brown, surface profusely warty and somewhat rough on account of eruptive development of numerous small lenticels; bark thin, slightly corky, soft, exfoliating in small flakes, exposing internally both cream or yellowish-white; internal bark yellow with a leathery fibrous texture; wood hard light-yellowish or cream coloured; odourless; taste, feebly sweetish, becoming mildly bitter.
b) Microscopic
Root – Shows thin cork of 3-5 layers of narrow, tangentially elongated cells, some with brownish content; cork cambium, when distinct, composed of 1-2 cells wide, thinwalled, comparatively larger and slightly tangentially elongated cells, followed by 2-4 rows of spherical ovoid or slightly elongated stone cells with thick, pitted walls, small groups of 4-10 sclerenchymatous cells, smaller than stone cells, present at short intervals; secondary phloem consists of usual elements traversed by medullary rays diverging towards periphery; parenchyma thin-walled, mostly tangentially elongated with occasional patches of sieve elements in somewhat collapsed form; small groups of sclerenchyma, similar to those occurring in cortex are also present; cells in inner phloem region appear circular to polyhedral; in older samples phloem elements usually found in compressed condition forming obliquely and tangentially arranged irregular patches; medullary rays distinct and 1-6 cells wide, thin-walled and rectangular, tangentially elongated towards distal end of ray and radially elongated in xylem parts and bast region, mostly containing starch grains of various sizes; cambium forms a complete ring of 1-2 rows of very narrow cells outside the wood; wood composed of narrow concentric, annular bands of very thick-walled wood fibres alternating with similar but wider zone of thick-walled parenchyma; vessels of varying sizes with thick, pitted walls; medullary rays usually uni or biseriate but a few broader rays, 5-10 or more rows of cells occasionally present; parenchyma cells of wood and bast filled with simple, rounded to oval starch grains measuring 5.5-13.75 n in diameter.
Powder – Greyish-brown; shows fragments of cork, stone cells, groups of sclerenchymatous cells, numerous xylem fibres, xylem vessels with pitted walls, rounded to oval simple starch grains measuring 5.5 -13.75 n in diameter.
IDENTITY, PURITY AND STRENGTH
Foreign matter Not more than 2 per cent, Appendix 2.2.2.
Total Ash Not more than 9 per cent, Appendix 2.2.3.
Acid-insoluble ash Not more than 2.5 per cent, Appendix 2.2.4.
Alcohol-soluble extractive Not less than 4 per cent, Appendix 2.2.6.
Water-soluble extractive Not less than 10 per cent, Appendix 2.2.7.
CONSTITUENTS – Glucoside (Glycyrrhizin).
PROPERTIES AND ACTION
Rasa : Madhura, Tikta
Guna : Sita, Ruksa
Virya : Sita
Vipaka : Madhura
Karma : Kesya, Pittahara, Vatahara
IMPORTANT FORMULATIONS – Nili Bhrngadi Taila.
THERAPEUTIC USES – Indralupta, Mukhasosa, Sula.
DOSE – 1 – 3 g. of the drug in powder form.
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