The plant extract possesses antineoplastic properties.
Dosage Rootbark—1—2 g powder. (CCRAS.)
Albizia amara (Roxb.) Boivin Family Mimosaceae.
Habitat Throughout southern India in dry forests, up to 900 m, and in some parts of Madhya Pradesh.
Ayurvedic Shirish (bark—grey or greenish).
Siddha/Tamil Thuringil.
Action Leaf and flower—anti- inflammatory, used for boils and
ulcers. Leaf—used for erysipelas. Seeds—astringent, antidiarrhoeal, antibacterial.
The seed extract showed DNA binding activity, which has been found to
30 Albizia lebbeck (Linn.) Wilid.
be due to pithecolibine alkaloids, budmunchiamines. Budmunchiamines are antibacterial, and they inhibit platelet aggregation and human lymphocyte transformation. They also show anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activity.
The leaves contain prodelphinidins, myricitrin, hyperin, quercitrin, transp- coumaric acid, cis-p-coumaric acid and trans-ferulic acid.
The seeds contain echinocystic acid and taxifolin-3-O-beta-D xylopyranosyl-beta-D-arbinopyranoside.
The oil from the seeds is said to cure leprosy and leucoderma.
Albizia lebbeck (Linn.) Willd. Family Mimosaceae.
Habitat All over India, from the
plains up to 900 m in the Himalayas; also in the Andamans.
English Sins tree, East Indian walnut.
Ayurvedic Shirisha, Bhandi, Bhandila, Shitapushpa, Mridupushpa, Kapitana (bark—dusty black).
Unani s Siras.
Siddha/Tamil Vaagei.
Action Antiseptic, antibacterial, antiallergic, antidermatosis, antidysenteric. Bark—used in bronchitis; bark and seeds in piles; root in hemicrania; flowers in cough, bronchitis, tropical pulmonary eosinophilia, and asthma. Pod— antiprotozoal.
Along with other therapeutic applications, The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India indicates the use of stembark in rhinitis, sinusitis and migraine.
Analysis of the plant revealed the presence of flavonoids, triterpenoids and triterpenoid saponins; oleanolic acid, albigenic acid, albigenin and acacic acid. The bark contains 7—11% condensed tannin;
