Ayurveda and Science

Chirchita/चिरचिटा/Achyranthes aspera/Apamarg/Prickly chaff flower

AYURVEDIC & MEDICINAL PLANTS

Chirchita
Hindi Name: Chirchita
Sanskrit Name: Apamarg
English Name: Prickly chaff flower
Latin Name: Achyranthes aspera
Erect or ascending herbs or shrubs; leaves opposite, the blades entire many-flowered; becoming elongate, with only a few flowers open at the same time; flowers hermaphrodite, solitary in axils of acute, membranous, persistent bracts. The petals are white

Achyranthes Aspera Medicinal Uses

Apamarga has been extensively used in Ayurveda as an anti-inflammatory agent besides being useful in Hemorrhoids, indigestion, cough, asthma, anemia, jaundice and snake bite.

Apamarg oil is used locally in earache. The root powder is sprinkled over the lesion in skin diseases. 

Chemical Composition

Plant yields achyranthine. Seeds are rich in proteins and potash

Effect on
Doshas

Pacifies Vata and Kapha.
Read more about various ailments, it's causes, symptoms, ayurvedic treatments, etc.

Explore More

Know the story behind other medicinal Ayurvedic ingredients

Elaichi

A tall herbaceous perennial with subterranean branching rootstock cultivated in warmer regions of India especially in north-eastern and southern states. Fruit is used as condiment and also possess several medicinal properties too.

Kanghi

Country mallow is a perennial herb. Stems, stout, branched, 1-2 m tall, pubescent. Leaves, cordate, dentate. Flowers, yellow in color, peduncle jointed above the middle. Fruits, capsule, densely pubescent, with conspicuous and horizontally spreading beaks

Malkangni

An unarmed climbing shrub with yellowish-green flowers found wild in tropical and subtropical Himalayas. Seeds possess medicinal properties.

Neem

A large branched evergreen tree growing in fallow lands. It is also cultivated as an avenue and roadside tree in almost every corner of the country. The tree is kept in high esteem in Indian mythology. Its generic epithet Azadirachta has been derived from

Onion

An annual herb cultivated extensively for its bulb, which is used as a spice and condiment. Herb possesses various medicinal properties too as recommended by Indian Ayurveda.