lower hills of West Bengal and ever green forests of Western ghats as wild, and also cultivated in North East and many parts of the South.
SYNONYMS
Sanskrit : Kana, Magadhi, Magadha, Krishna, saundi
Assamese : Pippali
Bengali : Pipul
English : Long Pepper
Gujrati : Lindi Peeper, Pipali
Hindi : Pipar
Kannada : Hippali
Kashmiri : —
Malayalam : Pippali
Marathi : Pimpali, Lendi Pimpali
Oriya : Pipali, Pippali
Punjabi : Magh, Magh Pipali
Tamil : Arisi Tippali, Thippili
Telugu : Pippalu
Urdu : Filfil Daraz
DESCRIPTION
a) Macroscopic
Fruit greenish-black to black, cylindrical, 2.5 to 5 cm long and 0.4 to 1 cm thick, consisting of minute sessile fruits, arranged around an axis; surface rough and composite; broken surface shows a central axis and 6 to 12 fruitlets arranged around an axis; taste, pungent producing numbness on the tongue; odour, aromatic.
b) Microscopic
Catkin shows 6 to 12 fruits, arranged in circle on a central axis, each having an outer epidermal layer of irregular cells filled with deep brown content and covered externally with a thick cuticle; mesocarp consists of larger cells, usually collapsed, irregular in shape and thin-walled; a number of stone cells in singles or in groups present; endocarp and seed coat fused to form a deep zone, outer layer of this zone
composed of thin-walled cells and colourless, inner layer composed of tangentially elongated cells, having reddish-brown content; most of endocarp filled with starch grains, round to oval measuring 3 to 8 µ in dia.
Powder – Deep moss green, shows fragments of parenchyma, oval to elongated stone cells, oil globules and round to oval, starch grains, measuring 3 to 8 µ in dia.
CONSTITUENTS – Essential Oil and Alkaloids
PROPERTIES AND ACTION
Rasa : Madhura, Katu, Tikta
Guna : Laghu, Snigdha
Virya : Anusna
Vipaka : Madhura
Karma : Dipana, Hridya, Kaphahara, Rucya, Tridoshahara, Vatahara, Vrishya, Rasayana, Recana
IMPORTANT FORMULATIONS – Amritarishta, Ayaskriti, Cyavanaprasa Avaleha, Gudapippali, Asvagandhadyarishta, Kumaryasava, Candanasava, siva Gutika, Kaisora Guggulu
THERAPEUTIC USES – shula, Arsha, Gulma, Hikka, Kasa, Krimi, Kshaya, Kushtha, Pliha Roga, Prameha, Swasha, Trisna, Udara Roga, Ama Vata, Amadosha, Jvara
DOSE – 1-3 gm.
