Mesua (Nagakesar)
Also known as
Latin : Mesua ferrea
English : Mesua, Iron-wood tree
Sanskrit : Nagakesarah, Punaga
Hindi : Nagakesar
Marathi : Nagakeshar
Tamil : Nagappu
Telugu : Nagakesaramu
Malayalam : Nagappuvu
Kannada : Nagasampige
"Best among trees" is the meaning of the Sanskrit name Punnaga.
How it looks—It is a medium sized to large, evergreen tree with sharp edge simple leaves and brown flaky bark. The flowers are white, fragrant with numerous stamens which are golden
yellow in colour and very short. The fruits are ovoid with 1-4 angular smooth seeds.
What we use—Flowers, oil
What it does—It is astringent, mildly heating, anodyne, sudorific, digestive, carminative, anthelmintic, diuretic, haemostatic, aphrodisiac, cardiotonic and febrifuge.
How we use it—
In
bleeding piles and dysentery—Best known for its haemostatic property, the powder of the flowers is given with butter and sugar twice a day until bleeding stops.
In
leucorhhoea—Pasted flowers of mesua with curd is given in doses of 2 tsp twice a day until white discharge disappears. This treatment should be followed by a diet of rice and
buttermilk.
In
dysuria—A decoction of the flowers of mesua should be taken sweetened with sugar in conditions such as painful or burning urination, difficult urination or blood in urine.
In
excessive menstrual bleeding—A tsp of the powder mixed in buttermilk is a good remedy to arrest excessive bleeding per vagina, or bleeding of any sort.
In
skin disorders—In itching, oozing and black of reddish discolouration of skin, the seed oil of mesua serves as a good external application and normalizes skin. It is therefore a
chief component of many a cosmetic preparation.
In
fevers—Mesua promotes perspiration and thereby brings down temperature. For this purpose, the bark powder is generally used to prepare a decoction.
In
gouty joints—The seed oil makes an excellent soothing external application and also appeases associated pain and burning sensation.
Modern Study
The phenolic constituents of the seed oil have been shown to possess powerful anti- asthmatic effects in experimental studies.
