{"id":1185,"date":"2017-01-15T04:58:53","date_gmt":"2017-01-15T04:58:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tknsiddha.com\/medicine\/?p=1185"},"modified":"2017-01-15T04:58:53","modified_gmt":"2017-01-15T04:58:53","slug":"sweet-flag-acorus-calamus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tknsiddha.com\/medicine\/sweet-flag-acorus-calamus\/","title":{"rendered":"(Vacha) Acorus Calamus in Ayurveda: Medicinal uses, Chemical constituents, Properties."},"content":{"rendered":"

Sweet Flag (\u0935\u091a\u093e):-<\/h2>\n
\"acorus
Acorus calamus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sweet flag is an herb that is commonly used in Ayurveda and Siddha mainly for its direct action on the central nervous system. It is called as \u2018Vacha\u2019 in Sanskrit due to its effectiveness in improving speech. It is a good nervine tonic and also clarifies voice. Ayurvedic textbooks have clearly explained the purification procedures ( Shodhana) of Sweet flag, after which the therapeutic utility of the herb improves. Recent researches regarding the same have proved that these methodologies used for purification of the herb (mentioned in the classical Ayurvedic texts) are powerful enough to suppress the toxicity (due to the presence of asarone) of the herb1<\/p>\n

[su_table]<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Botanical Name<\/td>\nAcorus calamus<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Family<\/td>\nAraceae<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
English Name<\/td>\nSweet Flag<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sanskrit Name<\/td>\nVacha, Go-lomi<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tamil Name<\/td>\n\u0bb5\u0b9a\u0bae\u0bcd\u0baa\u0bc1, Vasambu<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Malayalam Name<\/td>\n\u0d35\u0d2f\u0d2e\u0d4d\u0d2a\u0d4d, Vayambu<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Part Used<\/td>\nRhizome<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

[\/su_table]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Therapeutic attributes or Rasa Panchaka:<\/h3>\n

[su_table]<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Initial taste(Rasa)<\/td>\nPungent( Katu)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Quality(Guna)<\/td>\nLight( Laghu), Sharp( Teekshna)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Heating or cooling effect(veerya)<\/td>\nHeating effect( Ushna)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Post digestive effect(Vipaka)<\/td>\nPungent(Katu)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Special action(Prabhava)<\/td>\nincreases intelligence(Medya)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

[\/su_table]<\/p>\n

\nMedicinal Uses:<\/h3>\n

The powdered rhizome of Sweet Flag is effective in neurological2 diseases like epilepsy, Alzheimer\u2019s disease1,2, and other related conditions like stress, anxiety, increased blood pressure, etc. It can be used as a pain killer3(analgesic) for headaches and in Arthritis. It relieves muscular spasms and related pain (anti-spasmodial) by blocking calcium channel receptors) therefore helpful for sportsmen and athletes.
\nThe herb improves cognitive capacity4 and speech. Sweet flag enhances wound healing5 and prevents infection (anti-microbial action9). In appropriate doses it expels out worms from the intestines (anti-helmenthic property.) It is used as an emetic agent (Vaamaka dravya) in Ayurveda. However the dose has to be fixed only by a Physician having excellence in performing the five Purification procedures (Pancha Karma).The herb is also known to control diarrhea8 and is a famous remedy for respiratory disorders like Asthma , due to the presence of airway relaxant constituents 9. Moreover it can be given for Diabetes and Cholesterol without causing any side effects9.<\/p>\n

\nChemical constituents:<\/h3>\n

Alpha and \u03b2eta-asarone,Calacone,Acorin, Starch and Tannin.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Commonly Used formulations containing Sweet flag:<\/h3>\n

1) Dashanga Agada
\n2) Brahmi Ghrita
\n3) Hinguvachadi choorna
\n4) Chandra prabha Vati<\/p>\n

\nHome remedies:<\/h2>\n

1) In India a combination of processed sweet flag, gold and honey are given to children in very small doses, to increase their immunity and intelligence (called as Lehana in Sanskrit and \u2018Urai marunthu’ in Tamil.
\nMoreover since the herb is administered after being burnt, the carbon in it helps in maintaining the oral hygiene of the infant.
\n2) Powdered rhizome of Sweet flag and honey can be given to bring clarity to the voice.
\n3) In Chronic cold, the fumes of the rhizome can be inhaled.
\n4) Powdered Rhizome of Sweet flag along with honey can be given for epileptic patients.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer<\/strong>:<\/em>
\n We have tried to provide the essence of the Vedas and Ayurveda Scriptures by interpreting meaning of the text in English through research & investigation. We have used the modern terminologies & technical words of the latest science to give the readers a better understanding and assimilation. If found any errors, kindly bear with us & help us rectify.<\/em>
\n Kindly request you not to get into self medication with minimal knowledge, always consult a physician before any medication.<\/em><\/p>\n

\nSources and references:<\/h4>\n

1) A) Exploring the concept of vacha (ACORUS CALAMUS LINN.) Shodhana in Ayurveda.
\nB) Fate of \u03b2-asarone in Ayurvedic Shodhana process of Vacha.<\/p>\n

2) Medicinal plants with a potential to treat Alzheimer and associated symptoms
\nby Anil Kumar Singhal, Vijay Naithani, Om Prakash Bangar
\n3) Analgesic and cytotoxic activity of Acorus calamus L., Kigelia pinnata L., Mangifera indica L. and Tabernaemontana divaricata L.
\nBy Khan MA, Islam MT.
\n4) In vitro acetylcholine esterase inhibitory activity of the essential oil from Acorus calamus and its main constituents by Pulok Kumar Mukherjee,Venketesan Kumar,Mainak Mal,Peter Houghton<\/p>\n

5)Evaluation of wound-healing activity of Acorus calamus Linn.
\nBy Nilesh Jaina*, Ruchi Jaina , Arti Jainb , Deepak Kumar Jainc and H.S. Chande
\n6) Sushrutha Samhita, Charaka Samhita, Ashtanga Hridaya
\n7) Heritage Amruth
\n8) Study of antidiarrhoeal activity of four medicinal plants in castor-oil induced diarrhea
\nBy F.Gricilda Shoba, Molly Thomas
\n9)International Journal of Pharma and Bio Sciences \u2013\u201cA REVIEW ON PHARMACOLOGY OF ACORUS CALAMUS \u2013 AN ENDANGERED MEDICINAL PLANT\u201d By G. Raviraja Shetty and G.M Shruthi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sweet Flag (\u0935\u091a\u093e):- Sweet flag is an herb that is commonly used in Ayurveda and Siddha mainly for its direct action on the central nervous system. It is called as \u2018Vacha\u2019 in Sanskrit due to its effectiveness in improving speech. It is a good nervine tonic and also clarifies voice. Ayurvedic textbooks have clearly explained […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ayurvedic-herbs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tknsiddha.com\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tknsiddha.com\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tknsiddha.com\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tknsiddha.com\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tknsiddha.com\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tknsiddha.com\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tknsiddha.com\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tknsiddha.com\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tknsiddha.com\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tknsiddha.com\/medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}