SWETACANDANA (Heart Wood)
Swetacandana consists of dried heart wood of Santalum album Linn. (Fam.Santalaceae), an evergreen, semi parasitic tree, 8 to 18 m in height and 2 to 4 m in girth,widely distributed in the country, commonly found in the dry regions of peninsular Indiafrom Vindhya mountains southwards, especially in Karnataka and Tamilnadu; it iscultivated for its aromatic wood and oil.
SYNONYMS –
Sansk : srikhanda, swetacandana
Assam : Sandale Avyaj
Beng : Chandan
Eng : Sandal Wood
Guj : Sukhad
Hindi : Chandan, Safed Chandan
Kan : Shrigandhamara, Shrigandha, Chand
Kash : —
Mal : Chandanam
Mar : Chandan
Ori : —
Punj : Chandan
Tam : Chandana maram, Sandanam, Ingam
Tel : Gandhapu Chekka, Manchi Gandham, Tella Chandanam, Sriga
Urdu : Sandal Safed
DESCRIPTION –
a) Macroscopic:
Yellowish-brown to pale-reddish orange, heavy, dense, hard but split easily; transversely smooth surface shows alternating light and dark concentric zones with numerous pores, traversed by very fine medullary rays; odour, persistently aromatic;taste, slightly bitter.
b) Microscopic:
Wood consists of tracheids, vessels, fibres, xylem parenchyma and traversed by medullary rays; vessels numerous scattered singly throughout the region, rarely two together, barrel-shaped, pitted and with transverse to oblique pen oration with tail-like projections, at one or both ends; a few tracheids elongated with tapering ends and possess bordered pits on their walls; fibres many, lignified with pointed tips; xylem parenchyma mostly rectangular, a few of them contain prismatic crystals of calcium oxalate; xylem rays numerous, run straight, uni to triseriate, mostly biseriate, thickwalled,
radially elongated having golden yellow to brownish contents and contain a few prismatic crystals of calcium oxalate.
Powder – Light-brown and aromatic; shows pitted vessels with tails, isolated or associated with fibres, fragments of fibres, square to rectangular-shaped parenchyma, prismatic crystals of calcium oxalate, and numerous oil globules.
CONSTITUENTS – Volatile oil (s- and s- Santalol)
PROPERTIES AND ACTION –
Rasa : Madhura, Tikta
Guna : Laghu, Ruksha
Virya : sita
Vipaka : Katu
Karma : Hridya, Krimighna, Kaphahara, Pittahara, Vrishya, Varnya, Vishghna, Durgandhahara, Dahaprasamana, Trishnahara
IMPORTANT FORMULATIONS – Ayaskrti, Asvagandhadyarishta, Sarvivadyasava, Arimedadi Taila, Baladhatryadi Taila, Marma Gutika, Candanasava, Candanadi Churna, Candanadi Taila.
THERAPEUTIC USES – sosha, Daha, Raktapitta, Raktarsa, Hikka, Vamana, Rakta Tisara, Pradara, sukrameha, Netra Roga, Mutraghata, Bhrama, Raktavikara, Krimi Roga.
DOSE – 3-6 g. of the drug in powder form.