NILI (Leaf)
Nili (leaf) consists of dried leaf of Indigofera tinctoria Linn. (Fam. Fabacem); a shrub, 1.2- 1.8 m high, found throughout and widely cultivated in many parts of the country.
SYNONYMS
Sanskrit : Nilika, Nilini, Rangapatri
Assamese : Nilbam
Bengali : Nil
English : Indigo
Gujrati : Gali, Galiparna
Hindi : Nili
Kannada : Karunili
Kashmiri : —
Malayalam : Neelamar
Marathi : Neel
Oriya : Nili, Nila
Punjabi : Neel
Tamil : Avuri
Telugu : Nili Chettu, Nili
Urdu : Neel
DESCRIPTION
a) Macroscopic
Drug occurs mostly in the form of leaflets and broken pieces of rachis; leaflet 1– 2.5 cm long and 0.3-1.2 cm wide, oblong or oblanceolate with very short mucronate tip; pale green to greenish-black; no characteristic odour and taste.
b) Microscopic
Leaf–
Petiole – appears nearly circular in outline having two lateral wings; epidermis single layered covered externally with thin cuticle and followed internally by single layered collcnchymatous cells; pericycle present in the form of continuous or discontinuous ring, vascular bundles collateral and three in number, large one present in central and two smaller in lateral wings; pith composed of round to oval, thin-walled parenchymatous cells, a few prismatic crystals of calcium oxalate present in phloem and pith region.
Midrib – shows epidermis, cuticle and hair, similar as in petiole; beneath epidermis on lower side single or 2-3 layers of colienchyma on upper side present, both followed by 2- 3 layers of thin-walled parenchyma; vascular bundle single, collateral and crescent shaped.
Lamina – shows dorsiventral structure; epidermis, cuticle and hair, similar as in petiole and midrib; palisade 2-3 layers; spongy parenchyma 2-4 layered, a few patches of veins scattered between palisade and spongy parenchyma, prismatic crystals of calcium oxalate rarely present in me sophyll cells; paracytic stomata and hair present on both surfaces but abundant in lower surface
Powder – Greenish-grey; shows groups of mesophyll cells, aseptate fibres, pitted vessels, unicellular hairs and rarely prismatic crystals of calcium oxalate.
IDENTITY, PURITY AND STRENGTH
Foreign matter Not more than 2 per cent, Appendix 2.2.2.
Total Ash Not more than 10 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 7.5 per cent, Appendix 2.2.6.
Water-soluble extractive Not less than 25 per cent, Appendix 2.2.7.
CONSTITUENTS – Glycoside (Indican).
PROPERTIES AND ACTION
Rasa : Katu, Tikta
Guna : Sara
Virya : Usna
Vipaka : Katu
Karma : Kaphahara, Kesya, Vatahara, Recani
IMPORTANT FORMULATIONS – Nili Bhrngadi Taila, Mahapancagavya Ghrta
THERAPEUTIC USES – Amavata, Gulma, Jvara, Kasa, Krimiroga., Pliharoga, Udavarta., Udararoga, Vatarakta., Visavikara
DOSE – 50-100 g. of decoction.
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