Gossypium herbaceum

Karpasa (Sd.)
KARPASA
Kirpisa consists of seeds (devoid of lint) of Gossypium herbaceum Linn. (Fam. Malvaceae) , an annual or perennial shrub, 0.6-2.4m high.

SYNONYMS
Sanskrit : Tundakesi
Assamese : Karpasa, Tula
Bengali : Bona, Kapasia
English : Cotton plant seed
Gujrati : —
Hindi : Kapasa, Binaula
Kannada : Hati, Arale
Kashmiri : Kath
Malayalam : Karpasi, Panji Karpasam
Marathi : Sarki
Oriya : —
Punjabi : Lodhar
Tamil : Parutti kkoottam
Telugu : Patti ginga
Urdu : Pambadana, Habb-ul-Qutn

DESCRIPTION

a) Macroscopic
Seed, dark brown, ovoid, 0.3-0.6 cm diameter, minute, shallow longitudinal grooves arise from funicular region of seed, taste, slightly bitter.

b) Microscopic
Transverse section of mature seed shows, two integuments forming seed coat, outer integument differentiated into epidermis, a wide zone of parenchyma and a hyaline layer, epidermis single layered, some trichomes arise from epidermis and form lint and fuzz hairs, lint hairs elongated with thin wall and wide lumen, fuzz hairs thick-walled with narrow lumen, parenchymetous zone consists of 4-8 layers of reddish-brown cells, a few vascular bundles embedded in this zone, hyaline layer consisting of 2-3 layers of tangentially elongated, cubical, thick-walled cells, inner integument composed of palisade and parenchyma, palisade cells compactly arranged and colourless, parenchyma many layered of tangentially elongated cells with deep reddish-brown contents,cotyledons thin, large and folded, upper epidermis of cotyledon, single layered, externally covered with cuticle followed by 1 or 2 layered palisade like cells of mesophyll, beneath this zone, mesophyll cells show elongated to rounded structure without inter-cellular spaces, lower epidermis single layered, cubical or oval, covered with cuticle, some lysigenous glands filled with yellowish-brown contents also found scattered in mesophyll region, starch and calcium oxalate crystals absent.
Powder– Brown under microscope shows palisade cells, thin-walled mesophyll ells, deep brown contents and hairs, pieces of testa and fuzz intact.

CONSTITUENTS – Fixed oil, resin and sterols.

PROPERTIES AND ACTION
Rasa : Madhura
Guna : Guru, Snigdha
Virya : Shita(Cold)
Vipaka : Madhura
Karma : Hridya, Vrishya, Stanyajanana, Kaphakara

IMPORTANT FORMULATIONS – Kirpisishhvidi Taila

THERAPEUTIC USES – Diha, srama, Bhrinti, Mhurcchi, Stanyakshya

DOSE – 3-6 g of he drug in powder form.