This is a big sized tree with membranous leaves, that have an acute apex. Fruits are roundish and elongated; they are smooth and slippery like the neem fruits.
Continue reading Neem Therapy: Few More Relatives of Neem – Turraea Villosa (softly hairy) Benn
In English this is called Emetic Nut.
In Telugu and Tamil its name is walursi, walsura.The plant is found in Kerala State, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, mainly.
The bark of the stem contains resin, saponin and tannin.
Continue reading Neem Therapy: Few More Relatives of Neem – Trichillia emetica Roxb
Neem is one of those plants of Indian Medicine that have been highly popular since very ancient times and continue to be so even now. As such several “official” preparations of drugs have been standardised with neem as its principal ingredient along with a varying number of other medicinal plants. These often constitute the official prescriptions of ayurvedic physicians and go by the name of “Yoga” or combinations. A merit of using them is that in general they can be stored over a considerable time and administered in clearly prescribed dosages as well.
Continue reading Neem Therapy: Proprietary Preparations (Yoga) of Neem
Rohitaka means a healer. This is quite a well reputed plant and found in most ayurvedic classics. But its botanical identity is often regarded as controversial. More than three quite different plants have been given this same name in the literature. But its identity is clearly indicated by its rural and descriptive names such as rohera (as Chakrapani, a commentator on Charaka gives), dadima cchada and dadimapushpaka (with leaves and flowers like that of dadima). All of these are undoubtedly applicable to another plant botanically called Tecomella undulata seem (roheda in Hindi).
Continue reading Neem Therapy: Few More Relatives of Neem – Rohitaka
Inspite of the so many utilities of this great plant of India as noted above, can we still find fresh uses from it to suit our modern needs? It seems we can very well do so. A few of these possibilities are listed below:
Using neem to ward off damage specially to stored grains by pests is known in India since long. Mixing dried neem leaves to save grains, and woolen cloth is a regular practice. But a systematic work to exploit neem for insect control is recent. A few results of these activities are mentioned here. Neem has been found to contain several types ofchemicals, many still unknown, that can be used for managing varied types of pests.
Continue reading Neem Therapy: Pesticidal Activities of Neem
The plant of neem beautifully illustrates the need and value of delving deep into the treasures pointed out by our ancient wisdom. There are two aspects on which modern research and studies on neem have been particularly fruitful; they are: the additive role of neem oil and fats in pharmaceutical and other industries and the importance of neem as a source of pest control material. It is impressive to note and reflect on a short summary on both of these aspects as given below:
Continue reading Neem Therapy: Role of Neem in Modern Research