MULAKA (Whole Plant)
Mulaka consists of fresh whole plant of Raphanus sativus Linn. (Fam. Brassicacem); an annual or biennial bristly herb, cultivated throughout the country upto an altitude of 3,000 m in the Himalayas and other hilly regions.
SYNONYMS
Sanskrit : —
Assamese : —
Bengali : Mula
English : Radish
Gujrati : Mulo
Hindi : Muli
Kannada : Moolangi
Kashmiri : —
Malayalam : Mullanki
Marathi : Mula
Oriya : Mula, Rakhyasmula
Punjabi : Mulaka, Muli, Mula
Tamil : Mullangi
Telugu : Mullangi
Urdu : Muli
DESCRIPTION
a) Macroscopic
Root – Root cylindrical, variable size and thickness, having a few longitudinal striations; light greyish-brown externally and faint yellowish internally; odour, not distinct; taste, slightly pungent.
Stem – Slender, hollow, cylindrical, compressed, smooth with branches arising at node and show longitudinal striations on drying; 0.1-1.0 cm in dia., yellowish-green.
Leaf – Lower leaves hairy, petiole 5-5.3 cm long, lyrate, coarsely toothed; upper most leaves simple, sub-linear but narrowed at the base; bright green.
Flower – Flower in long terminal raceme, bisexual, regular, complete 1-2 cm long, pedicel with scattered hairs; seplas 6.5-10 cm long, oblong, sometimes brown red; petals 1.7-2.2 cm long, blade obovate, sub-marginate at the apex, white or lilac with yellow or purple vein; stamen 6 in two whorls, two outer smaller and four inner longer; ovary superior, green or brown-purple, 10-12 ovuled; style about 4 mm long, 1-2 chambered.
Fruit – Siliqua, erect, cylindrical, 3-9 cm long and 0.8- 1.4 cm thick, continuous or more or less constricted, longitudinally sulcatus, greenish-yellow, occasionally pale purple.
Seed – Reddish-brown; irregularly globose, sometimes flattened, 2-4 mm long, 2 mm wide; surface generally smooth and sometimes wrinkled and grooved at micropylar end; taste, oily.
b) Microscopic
Root – shows 3-10 layered tangentially elongated, radially arranged, cork cells; secondary cortex composed of wide zone of oval to polygonal, elliptical, thin-walled, parenchymatous cells; secondary phloem mostly composed of sieve elements and parenchyma, traversed by phloem rays; secondary xylem mostly consisting of vessels and parenchyma, traversed by xylem rays; vessels mostly solitary or 2-3 in group; medullary rays four to many cells wide; starch grains simple and compound having 2-4 components, solitary or ingroups, round to oval,measuring 6-14 n in dia. present in cortex, phloem, xylem parenchyma and ray cells.
Stem – Shows single layered epidermis with thick cuticle; cortex consists of 5-12 layers with intercellular spaces; endodermis at some places, single layered; pericycle occurs as crescent shaped groups of peri cyclic fibres; vessels solitary or 2-4 in groups, in macerated preparation show borderd pits and spiral thickening; tracheids and fibres aseptate with pointed ends; medullary rays 1-3 cells wide; pith a wide zone of polygonal, parenchymatous cells; starch grains simple, round to oval, measuring 3-6 n in dia. present in cortex and phloem.
Leaf–
Petiole – appears nearly circular in outline with two lateral wings; epidermis single layered, covered with thick cuticle; hairs unicellular, present only on upper side; cortex 6-12 layers of oval to polygonal, thin-walled, parenchymatous cells; collateral vascular bundles arranged in a ring.
Midrib – appears biconvex in outline; epidermis on both side covered with thin cuticle; epidermis followed by 6- 12 layers of parenchymatous cortex on both sides; vascular bundle three in number, one central and two lateral.
Lamina – dorsiventral; epidermis on either surface with thin-cuticle; palisade 2-3 layers; spongy parenchyma 4-5 layers; anisocytic stomata present on both surfaces.
Fruit – Shows a single layered epidermis, covered with a thin-cuticle; epidermis followed by a wide zone of oval to polygonal, tangentially elongated, parenchymatous cells in which a few vascular bundles are embedded.
Seed – Seed coat consists of single layered epidermis of nearly rectanglular cells, covered with thin, straight cuticle; epidermis followed by integument of radially elongated, reddish-brown, of columnar cells; beneath integument 2-3 layers of compressed, thinwalled, parenchymatous cells present; endosperm and embryo consists of oval to polygonal, thin-walled, parenchymatous cells, containing aleurone grains and oil globules.
Powder – Yellowish-green; shows aseptate fibres, spiral vessels, oil globules and round to oval starch grains, measuring 3-14 n diameter.
IDENTITY, PURITY AND STRENGTH
Foreign matter Not more than 2 per cent, Appendix 2.2.2.
Total Ash Not more than 18 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 30 per cent, Appendix 2.2.6.
Water-soluble extractive Not less than 22 per cent, Appendix 2.2.7.
CONSTITUENTS – Glucoside, Volatile oil (containing butyl crotonyl isothiocyanate sulphide) with a typical radish odour
PROPERTIES AND ACTION
Rasa : Katu, Tikta
Guna : Laghu, Tiksna
Virya : Usna
Vipaka : Katu
Karma : Dipana, Hrdya, Kaphahara, Pacana, Pittahara, Rucya, Svarya, Vatahara
IMPORTANT FORMULATIONS – Mulakaksara, Gandhaka Vati, Hajarulayahuda Bhasma
THERAPEUTIC USES – Agnimandya, Arsa, Gulma, Pinasa, Udavarta.
DOSE – 20 – 40 ml. of the drug in juice form.
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