HERBAL GARDEN
Vivek college of Ayurvedic Sciences & Hospital Bijnor UP
अश्वगंधा
Classification
चरक- बल्य, बृहणीय, मधुर स्कंध
सुश्रुत-
भावप्रकाश-
Synoyms
गात्रकारी , वाजीगंधा, वराहकर्णी, पीवरी
Habit
It is a small or medium undershrub, up to 30-150cm height.
- Stem/Bark – Smooth, ashy brown, peeling off in fibres.
- Leaves- 5-9cm long, opposite or subopposite, sometimes in whorls of 3. margin entire, apex acute.
- Flowers- Red colour in clusters, petals are tubular & narrowly.
- Fruits- Capsule, 1 cm long.
- Seeds- Brown in colour and smooth.
Habitat
Throughout the dry and subtropical India. It is also cultivated extensively throughout India at present. Ashwagandha plant can easily survive and grow in almost all parts of South India.
Morphology
The stems of Withania are brownish dark colour and erect,
- Leaves- The leaves are in an alternate manner (opposite on flowering shoots), simple, possessing margins are slightly waved, narrowed into the 5–20mm long petioles, normally broadly ovate or oblong, 29–80mm long and 21–50mm broad.
- Flower- Flowers are generally small, greenish, axillary, monoceous or bisexual and solitary or in few-flowered cymes
- Fruit- is usually a round hairless berry, 5– 8mm across, orange-red to red in ripped condition and is enveloped by the enlarged calyx. Most of the seeds are very pale brown, 2.5mm across, sometimes kidney-shaped and squeezed with a rough surface and netted surface.
Chemical Composition
Withaferin-A; Withanone, withanolide, WS-1, withasomnine.
Guna-Karma
Rasa- तिक्त,कषाय, मधुर
Guna- लघु,स्निग्ध
Virya- उष्ण
Vipaka- मधुर
Karma- वृष्य
Doshakarma- वातकफ शामक
Medicinal uses
वातव्याधि
क्लैव्य
कास
कण्डु
श्वास
Useful Part
Root
Doses
मूल चूर्ण (3-6 gm)
Important Formulation
अश्वगंधारिष्ट
मानसमित्रवटक
ब्राम्ही वटी
अश्वगंधावलेह
Hindi Name
असगंध
English Name
Indian ginseng, winter cherry
Botanical Name
Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal
Family
Solanaceae