Erand Mool

Biological Source

Eranda consists of dried, mature roots of Ricinus communis Linn. (Family - Euphorbiaceae), a tall glabrous shrub or almost small tree 2-4 m high, found throughout India, mostly growing wild on waste land and also cultivated for its oil seeds.

Synonyms

Sanskrit :- Gandharvahasta, Vatari, Pancangula, Citra, Urubu, Rubu

Assam :- Eda, Era

Bengali :- Bherenda

English :- Castor oil plant

Gujrati :- Erandio, Erando

Hindi :- Arand, Erand, Andi, Rend

Kannada :- Haralu, Oudala gida

Kashmiri :- Aran, Banangir

Malayalam :- Avanakku

Marathi :- Erand

Oriya :- Jada, Gaba

Punjabi :- Arind

Tamil :- Amanakku

Telugu :- Amudapu veru

Urdu :- Bedanjir, Arand

Description

A) Macroscopic

Root light in weight almost straight with few rootlets, outer surface dull yellowish brown, nearly smooth but marked with longitudinal wrinkles, some places whitish-yellow and soft, odourless, taste, acrid.

B) Microscopic

Transverse section of root shows thin layer of cork of squarish to tangentially elongated, thin-walled cells, beneath cork, secondary cortex of thin-walled, tangentially elongated cells, narrow cortex of rounded to tangentially elongated thin-walled parenchymatous cells, some containing large oil globules, rosettes of calcium oxalate crystals and round simple or compound starch grains, phloem a broad zone, consisting of sieve tubes, phloem parenchyma and phloem fibres, fibres long, mostly septate, highly thickened, having narrow lumen, some fibres surrounded by concentric rows of cells containing crystals of calcium oxalate, sieve tubes, thin-walled with companion cells and phloem parenchyma in the inner region of phloem more prominent , some phloem parenchyma cells contain crystals of calcium oxalate , cambium 3-5 layered, cells rectangular in shape, xylem occupies major part of root, pentarch, five groups of primary xylem distinct in the centre of the wood, xylem consists of vessels, parenchyma and fibres , vessels uniformly scattered throughout the xylem region, either solitary or in groups, larger in size towards phloem, with bordered pits , xylem parenchyma less ia number around vessels containing starch grains, xylem fibres long and thick-walled, medullary rays uni-to-biseriate, more or less straight, 4-5 seriate rays, sometimes found near protoxylem groups, ray cells, thin-walled, slightly radially elongated in phloem region, thick-walled in xylem region, all ray cells contain starch grains.

Identity, Purity and Strength

Foreign matter :- Not more than 2 per cent,

Total Ash :- Not more than 8 per cent,

Acid-insoluble ash :- Not more than 1 per cent,

Alcohol-soluble extractive :- Not less than 3 per cent,

Water-soluble extractive :- Not less than 9 per cent,

Active Constituents

Alkaloid (ricinine).

Properties and Action

Rasa : Madhura

Guna : Guru, Snigdha

Virya : Usna

Vipaka : Madhura

Karma : Vatahara, Vrsya, Amapacana

Important Formulations

Grandharvahastadi Kvatha Churna , Vatari Guggulu, Gandharvahasta taila

Therapeutic Uses

Sotha, Jvara, Udararoga, Amavata, Vastisula, Kaisula

Dose

20-30 g of the drug for decoction.