A Review on Therapeutic Utilities and Purificatory Procedure of Gunja (Abrus precatorius Linn.) as Described in Ayurveda

Authors

  • Rabinarayan Acharya
  • Sudipta Roy Gujarat Ayurved University

Keywords:

Gunja, Abrus precatorius Linn., Ayurveda, upavisha, shodhana

Abstract

Gunja (Abrus precatorius Linn.), belonging to the family Fabaceae, has been used by the Ayurvedic physicians, for management of different disease conditions. It comes under the upavisha (semi-poisonous) group in Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia. It is a slender, perennial climber with long, pinnate leaves that twines around trees, shrubs and hedges. In this review, an endeavour has been made to explore the therapeutic utilities of Gunja, its formulations and its different methods of shodhana (purificatory measures) by collecting the information from different samhitas (treatises), nighantus (lexicons) as well as samgraha granthas (compendia of Ayurveda) and other related texts. It is observed that the Gunja, after passing through various shodhana procedures, is used in 52 formulations, which are effective in more than 41 disease conditions such as kustha (skin disease), kandu (itching), kasa (cough), vrana (wound), indralupta (alopecia), etc., in various dosage forms like churna (powder), taila (oil), ghruta (ghee), dhuma varti (suppositories), lepa (paste), rasa, and vati (tablet).   

 

Author Biography

  • Sudipta Roy, Gujarat Ayurved University
    M. Pharm scholar, Dept. of Dravyaguna, Institute for Post Graduate Teaching and Research in Ayurveda, Gujarat Ayurved Universit y, Jamnagar, India.

Downloads

Published

2013-04-12

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2013)

Section

Research/Review Articles

License

Declaration and Copyright Transfer Form

(to be completed by authors)

I/ We, the undersigned author(s) of the submitted manuscript, hereby declare, that the above manuscript which is submitted for publication in the STM Journals(s), is notpublished already in part or whole (except in the form of abstract) in any journal or magazine for private or public circulation, and, is not under consideration of publication elsewhere.

  • I/We will not withdraw the manuscript after 1 week of submission as I have read the Author Guidelines and will adhere to the guidelines.
  • I/We Author(s ) have niether given nor will give this manuscript elsewhere for publishing after submitting in STM Journal(s).
  • I/ We have read the original version of the manuscript and am/ are responsible for the thought contents embodied in it. The work dealt in the manuscript is my/ our own, and my/ our individual contribution to this work is significant enough to qualify for authorship.
  • I/We also agree to the authorship of the article in the following order:

Author’s name

 

1. ________________

2. ________________

3. ________________

_______________

We  Author(s) tick this box and would request you to consider it as our signature as we agree to the terms of this Copyright Notice, which will apply to this submission if and when it is published by this journal.