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Bamboo Manna

 

 

BOTANICAL NAME:

  • Bambusa arundinacea Willd

FAMILY:

  • Gramineae/ Poaceae                          

SYNONYM(S):

  • Bambusa Bambos Druce
  • Arundo Bambos Linn

URDU NAME:

  • Tabasheer

REGIONAL NAME:                  

  • Bengali: Bansalochan
  • Arabic: Tabasheer
  • Persian: Bansalochan, Tabashir
  • Sindhi: Tabashir
  • Pashto: Tabashir

UNANI/TIBBI NAME:

  • Tabasheer

ENGLISH NAME:

  • Thorny Bamboo
  • Bamboo Manna (The Siliceous Secretions)

HABITAT:

  • Cultivated from the Ravi Eastward

DESCRIPTION:

  • Stem woody pointed stem called clumps. These grow 24-30m high in clumps on a stout root stocks. Nodes are prominent with transverse septa between internodes which is up to 45 cm long. Also have branchlet arranged alternately in dense clusters.
  • Leaves are 18-20 cm by 3 cm, linear or linear lanceolate, glabrous
  • Inflorescence an enormous pedicle often occupying the whole stem
  • Branchlet bearing loose clusters of pale, sub erect, lanceolate, acute, glabrous spike lets
  • Seeds the profusely produced seeds are like grains 5-8 mm long, oblong with groove on one side.
  • Siliceous secretion tabasheer or banslochan is a siliceous secretion present in the clumps of various species of bamboos. It is in the form of fragments or masses, chalky, translucent or transparent, bluish white or of the color of pumice

PART USED:

  • Tabasheer: the siliceous secretions founds in the clumps of bamboos
  • Leaves  

TASTE:

  • Tabasheer: Tasteless
  • Leaves: Sour, Acidic or Bitter

TEMPERAMENT:

  • Cold 2°, Dry 2°

PERIOD OF OCCURRENCE:

  • Flowers gregariously once in nearly 30 years,
    And produce abundant crops of grains.

PROCEDURE & TIME OF COLLECTION:

  • Banslochan is chalky, translucent or transparent; bluish-white siliceous secretions found in bamboos clumps in the form of fragments. It is the dry residue of the sap present in the hollow internodes

CONSTITUENTS:

  • Silicic acid
  • Traces of iron
  • Calcium, Alum And Alkali's
  • Potash
  • Choline
  • Diastatic and Emulsifying Enzymes
  • Cyanogenetic glucoside

SUBSTITUTES:

  • Sumaq/ Sumach (Rhus Coriaria Linn)
  • Khurfah, kulfa/ Purslane (Portulaca Oleracea Linn)
  • Tukhum kasni/Endives (Cichorium Intybus Linn)

ACTIONS AND USES IN UNANI SYSTEM OF MEDICINE:

Pharmacological action:

  • Tabasheer:  Aphrodisiac, Cooling Tonic, Cardiac Tonic, Refrigerant, Astringents
  • Leaves: As Emollient Poultices for Wounds and in Skin Diseases

Therapeutic uses:

  • Tabasheer:  Asthma, Cough, Debilitating Diseases, Diarrhea, Tuberculosis Bronchitis, Leprosy
  • Leaves: As Eye Wash, In Piles, Biliousness, Gonorrhea, Fever

DOSES:

  • 1-3 gm

CORRECTIVES:

  • Honey
  • Mastagi/Mastic (Pistacia lentiscus linn)
  • Zafran/ Saffron (Crocus sativus linn)
  • Unnab/Jajube (Zizyphus vulgaris linn)   

IMPORTANT UNANI FORMULATIONS:

  • Han-e-tabasheer
  • Jawarish tabasheer
  • Safof satfilo
  • Hab-e- taoon
  • Jawahar mahra
  • Tawarish ood mulayyin

ASTROLOGY:

  • Saturn
By Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences