Habitat Sub-Himalayan tract, Assam and throughout hilly regions of Central and South India.
English Red Cedar, Toon, Indian Mahogany tree.
Ayurvedic Tuunikaa, Nandi Vrksha.
Siddha/Tamil Tunumaram, Santhana Vembu.
Folk Toonaa.
Action Bark—astringent, antidysenteric, antiperiodic. Flowers—emmenagogue. Leaf— spasmolytic, hypoglycaemic, antiprotozoal.
Bark and heartwood yielded tetranortriterpenoids, including toonacilin. Heartwood also gave a coumarin, geranylgernalol and its fatty esters. Toonaciin and its 6-hydroxy derivatives are antifeedant.
Cedrus deodara (Roxb.) Loud.
Synonym C. libani Barrel. var. deodara Hook. f.
Family Pinaceae.
Habitat North-western Himalayas from Kashmir to Garhwal, from 1,000 to 3,500 m.
English Himalayan Cedar, Deodar. Ayurvedic Devadaaru, Suradruma, Suradaaru, Devakaashtha, Devadruma, Saptapatrika, Daaru, Bhadradaaru, Amarataru, Amaradaaru, Daaruka, Devaahvaa, Surataru, Surabhuruha.
Siddha/Tamil Thevathaaram.
Action Bark—decoction is used internally as astringent, antidiarrhoeal and febrifuge.
Essential oil—antiseptic (used in
skin diseases).
The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India indicated the use of the heart- wood in puerperal diseases.
The wood contains sesquiterpenoids; exhibits sapasmolytic activity. Alcoholic extract of the wood showed marked anti-inflammatory activity in mice; alcoholic extract showed antibacterial activity.
The wood possesses diaphoretic, diuretic and carminative properties, and is used in fevers and in pulmonary and urinary disorders.
Himalayan Cedarwood Oil contains two maj or sesquiterp enoids—alphaand beta-himchalenes. Presence of butyric and caproic acids is also reported. The oil shows in vitro antibacterial and antifungal activity. It increases vascular permeability. Needles, on steam distillation, yield a volatile oil, rich in borneol and its esters. An alcoholic extract of the needles shows significant antibacterial activity against diptheria bacteria. The juice shows antiviral activity against tobacco mosaic virus and potato virus.
The bark contains 8-C methyltaxifoline, dihydroquercetin, 8-C methylquercetin, quercetin, sitosterol, and tannins 8.25%, non-tannins 6.95% (varies with the age of the tree). An alcoholic extract of the bark
