MAHANIMBA (Stem Bark)
Mahanimba consists of dried stem bark of Melia azedarachta Linn. (Fam. Meliacem), a moderate sized deciduous tree, 9 to 12 m high with a cylindrical bole, naturalized throughout the country and occurring wild in the sub-Himalayan tracts upto 1800 m.
SYNONYMS
Sanskrit : Ramyaka, Dreka
Assamese : Khammaga
Bengali : Ghoranim
English : Persian Lilac
Gujrati : Bakan Limado, Bakai Nimbu
Hindi : Bakain, Drek
Kannada : Kadu bevu
Kashmiri : —
Malayalam : Malaveppu
Marathi : Bakana Nimb
Oriya : —
Punjabi : Dharek, Bakain, Drek
Tamil : Malaivembu
Telugu : Turakavepa
Urdu : Neem
DESCRIPTION
a) Macroscopic
Bark comparatively thin, about 0.2 to 0.6 cm thick; outer surface black and rough being slightly fissured and exfoliating in small slightly woody pieces light and dark-grey to greyish-black in colour; inner bark made up of creamy layer alternating with whitish ones; fracture, fibrous; taste, extremely bitter.
b) Microscopic
Mature bark shows outer zone of rhytidoma, formed of alternating strips of dark brown cork cells and dead secondary phloem; cork cells compressed, almost rectangular and many layered; secondary phloem multilayered and compressed; cork cambium and secondary cortex almost absent; beneath rhytidoma a wide zone of secondary phloem present, with sieve tubes with compound sieve plates, and with groups of fibres; phloem parenchyma oval to irregular, thin-walled, colourless with intercellular spaces; phloem rays 2 to 5 cells wide; rosette and prismatic crystals of calcium oxalate present in phloem parenchyma and ray cells; a few very small, simple, round to oval, starch grains measuring 5 to 11 n in dia., having 2 or 3 components.
Powder – Greyish-yellow; shows fragment of cork cells, phloem fibres, rosette and prismatic crystals of calcium oxalate and small, simple round to oval, starch grains measuring 5 to 11 n in dia.
IDENTITY, PURITY AND STRENGTH
Foreign matter Not more than 1 per cent, Appendix 2.2.2.
Total Ash Not more than 11 per cent, Appendix 2.2.3.
Acid-insoluble ash Not more than 1 per cent, Appendix 2.2.4.
Alcohol-soluble extractive Not less than 6 per cent, Appendix 2.2.6.
Water-soluble extractive Not less than 7 per cent, Appendix 2.2.7.
T.L.C.
T.L.C. of alcoholic extract on Silica gel ‘G’ plate using Chloroform: Methanol (9: 1) under U.V. (366 nm) shows eight fluorescent zones at Rf. 0.10, 0.26, 0.34, 0.50, 0.68, 0.76, 0.86 (all blue) and 0.95 (bluish green). On exposure to Iodine vapour nine spots appear at Rf. 0.10, 0.18, 0.26, 0.34, 0.50, 0.64, 0.76, 0.86 and 0.95 (all yellow). On spraying with Dragendorff reagent followed by 5% Methanolic-Sulphuric acid reagent two spots appear at Rf. 0.26 and 0.95 (both orange).
CONSTITUENTS – Tannins and Alkaloids.
PROPERTIES AND ACTION
Rasa : Katu, Tikta, Kasaya
Guna : Ruksa
Virya : Sita
Vipaka : Katu
Karma : Grahi, Kaphajita, Pittajita, Rakta Vikarajita, Dahanasaka, Pittakaphahara, Raktadahahara
IMPORTANT FORMULATIONS – Brhanmanjisadi Kvatha Curna, Maha Visagarbha Taila.
THERAPEUTIC USES – Arsa, Bhrama, Chardi, Gulma, Kustha, Prameha, Svasa, Hrllasa, Musika Visa, Visuci, Visamajvara.
DOSE – 5-10 gm.
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