Soap nut acacia
Scientific name of Soap nut acacia: Acacia sinuate
Name of Soap nut acacia in different languages:-
English: Soap Pod Tree, Ritha
Hindi: शिकाकाई Shikakai, रीठा Reetha, Ban Ritha
Sanskrit: Saptala
Malayalam: Cheevakka, Perumkai, Cheekkakka, Shivakai, Cheenikka, Charmanthala, Cheeka
Tamil: Seeyakkaai
Plant description:
It is a climber plant, spiny, branches densely prickly, brown smooth stripes, the leaves are arranged bi-pinnately with 5 to 7 pairs of pinnae, alternate-spiral, leaflets not overlapping, apex sub acute, Elliptic, margin entire, long, tapered, obliquely rounded at the base. Flower are white, born in terminal axillary panicles, flowering is February to April. Fruits are pods, dark-brown, flat, prominently nerved, apex tapered, stalked, about 8 cm long and 1.5 to 1.8 cm broad; seeds up to 12 numbers, fruiting season March to April.
Leaf Arrangement
| Shape-bi-pinnate | Margin-Entire | Venation-pinnate |
 |  |  |
Useful plant parts: Fruits, leaves
Medicinal uses: dandruff, hair growth, malarial fever, relieves biliousness, as a purgative and skin disease.
Chemical contents: Saponin, Tannin , Alkaloids, Triterpentine, ascorbic acid, Rutin, Nicotine and Colycotomine.
Soap nut acacia is used as an ingredient to prepare the Ayurvedic medicines like:
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