Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Hiptage benghalensis (Madhavi lata) Did you know that Hiptage benghalensis, a herbal plant native to India, which in Hindu religious beliefs popularly known as Madhavi lata, clung to her lover and master Lord Krishna who symbolized the mango tree?  The Hiptage benghalensis, often simply called Hiptage, native to India (also native to South East Asia and the Philippines) as 'Madhavi lata' bearing attractive and fragrant flowers, has religious connotation in Hinduism linked to Lord Krishna's stories, is herbal plant with many uses in folk medicine.  Hiptage, a herbal plant, widely cultivated in the tropics, is stout, a woody high climber liana (vine) or large shrub,with fragrant yellow-white flowers and 3-winged wind dispersed seeds. Its leaves are lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate and approximately 20 cm (8 in) long,and 9 cm broad, ; petioles are up to 1 cm long. It has scandent branches upto 5 m high. Its flowers intermittently during the...

Moringa oleifera or Drumstick tree or Nuggekayee Did you know that Moringa oleifera is a name derived from the Tamil word Murungai Maram, drumstick tree whose ubiquitous leaves and young fruits (pods) are used as vegetables, particularly its long, slender, triangular seed-pods in sambar curry; and the seeds, bark, flowers, and roots as traditional herbal medicine? Moringa oleifera, drumstick tree in English, derives its name from the Tamil language word Murungai Maram, Nuggekayee in Kannada language, Sahjan in Hindi, Shobhanjana or Sigru in Sanskrit, also known as horseradish tree, ben tree, is a small tree from Indian subcontinent whose pods, roots, bark, flowers, seeds, and fruits are all edible, and has also become a popular natural leaf powder supplement. It is a fast-growing, deciduous tree, drought-resistant, the most widely cultivated species in the Indian subcontinent of the genus Moringa, which is the only genus in the family Moringaceae. In pa...

Boswellia serrata - Shallaki Did you know that Boswellia serrata or Shallaki is a decidous plant that is native to India which produces the fragrant resin commonly known as Indian olibanum, Indian frankincense? Boswellia serrata or Shallaki with Latin name Olibanum Indicum is a tropical dry deciduous forest plant that is native to India, and its fragrant resin is commonly known as: Indian olibanum, Indian frankincense. Frankincense is also known as the Biblical incense, an extract from the resin of the tree Boswellia sacra, and is now produced also from B. frereana. The medicinal uses of the gum-resin extracts of Boswellia serrata have been traditionally used in herbal folk medicine for centuries to treat various chronic inflammatory diseases. The Indian version of this herbal medicine popularly cited as the indigenous herb, is 'Salai Guggal', the herbal Artiritic pain reliever, that is said to be, besides being natural and safer, also more effective.  ...

Ginger (Zingiber officinale)  Did you know that India is the largest producer of Ginger (Zingiber officinale) in the world though not its largest exporter, and it is the underground perennial stem (rhizome) of a medicinal herb and spice? Ginger, also Shunti in many Indian languages, consists of dried rhizome of Zingiber officinale Roxb, widely cultivated in India as its largest producer in the world but not its largest exporter. It is a flowering plant in the family Zingiberaceae whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger as it is known in English language, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. Ginger is known as an ancient Tamil root, ‘ingiver’, meaning ginger rizome, also known in Prakrit (Middle Indic) 'singabera', from Sanskrit 'srngaveram'. It was spread through Arab traders from Medieval Latin gingiber, from Greek zingiberis, Old French gingibre, and from Old English gingifer, and said to be a pre-Dravidian word known in 20 languages, a...

Green Cardamomum (Elettaria cardamomum) Did you know that Green Cardamomum, a herbal plant native to southern India is known by three varieties such as Malabar (Allappey) , Mysore (Coorg), and a hybrid of the first two called Vazhuka true cardamom, with 80 % produce exported to Middle East countries? Green Cardamomum, with botanical name Elettaria Cardamomum, considered as True Cardamom or when bleached, white cardamom, a herbaceous perennial plant in the ginger family, native to Southern India, is cultivated widely in tropical regions and reportedly naturalized in Bhutan, Pakistan, Nepal, Réunion, Indochina and Costa Rica. Since World War I its cultivation has spread to Guatemala, Malaysia, and Tanzania. It belongs to the ‘Zingiberaceae’ or ginger family. It has small seed pods with triangular cross-section and spindled with a thin green outer shell and small black seeds inside. The seed is widely used as flavourings, cooking spices in both food and drink, as a medici...