KADARAH (Heart Wood)
Kadarah consist of dried pieces of heart wood of Acacia suma Buch.-Ham. (Fam. Mimosacem), a medium sized tree with white bark exfoliating in papery flakes with horizontal patches of darker colour, found in W. Bengal, Bihar and Southern Western Ghat.
SYNONYMS
Sanskrit : Somavalkh, Svetakhadirah
Assamese : —
Bengali : Shvet Khadir
English : White Cutch tree, White Catechu
Gujrati : Gorada, Gordio baaval
Hindi : Safed Khair
Kannada : Kandarah
Kashmiri : —
Malayalam : Venkarinnali, Somarayattoli
Marathi : Paandharaa Khair
Oriya : —
Punjabi : —
Tamil : Kovil, Shilaiyunchai
Telugu : Tellatumma, Tellasundra, Tellachandra
Urdu : —
DESCRIPTION
a) Macroscopic
Heart wood in cut rectangular pieces showing knots; pale yellow, rough; fracture, hard, emits faint odour of wood, almost tasteless.
b) Microscopic
Heart wood – Transverse section shows diffuse porous wood, indistinct growth rings; vessels occasionally occur in pairs or in group of 3; paratracheal parenchyma abundant, vasicentric, filled with starch granules and prismatic calcium oxalate crystals, medullary rays wide, straight, multiseriate. A tangential section shows heterocellular, multiseriate; medullary rays 5 to 7 times higher than the breadth; that is upto or over 50 cells vertically and about 10 to 12 cells across at their widest level; medullary rays are surrounded by crystal sheath with prismatic crystals; fibres are aseptate pitted; compactly arranged narrow squarish lignified tracheids; vessels with simple bordered pits; xylem parenchyma contain prismatic crystal of calcium oxalate; gums and tannins.
Powder – Yellow coloured, coarse, not free flowing; under microscope shows a number of fibres, vessels, thick walled cells of medullary rays, occasional crystals of calcium oxalate and thick lignified tissues and starch grains, fluorescence test negative, when an extract in alcohol / water is examined under 366 nm and 254 nm.
IDENTITY, PURITY AND STRENGTH
Foreign matter Not more than 2 per cent, Appendix 2.2.2.
Total Ash Not more than 4 per cent, Appendix 2.2.3.
Acid-insoluble ash Not more than 2 per cent, Appendix 2.2.4.
Alcohol-soluble extractive Not less than 2 per cent, Appendix 2.2.6.
Water-soluble extractive Not less than 8 per cent, Appendix 2.2.7.
T.L.C.
T.L.C. of the alcoholic extract on silica gel ‘G’ (0.2 mm thick ness) plate using toluene : methanol (7:3) shows ten bands at Rf. 0.13, 0.26, 0.34, 0.38 (all yellow), 0.43 (purple), 0.47 (light brown), 0.51 (sky blue), 0.61 (pinkish brown), 0.69 (pink with blue border) 0.78 (grey). On spraying with 5% Ethanolic-sulphuric acid reagent and on heating the plate for ten minutes at 105oC, ten bands appear at Rf. 0.11, 0.21, 0.29, 0.53 (all purple), 0.66, 0.71 (both brown), 0.78 (purple core with blue border), 0.83, 0.90, 0.99 (all grey).
CONSTITUENTS – An alkaloid diaboline, β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, oleanolic acid and its 3β-acetate, a saponin containing oleanolic acid, galactose, mannose.
PROPERTIES AND ACTION
Rasa : Tikta
Guna : Vasada
Virya : Sita
Vipaka : Katu
Karma : Kaphahara, Pittahara, Varnya, Raktasodhaka
IMPORTANT FORMULATIONS – Ayaskrti
THERAPEUTIC USES – Kandu, Kustha, Mukharoga, Pandu, Raktadosa, Vrana, Madhumeha, Udarda, Medodosa, Svitra
DOSE – 2-6 g.
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