Cassia fistula - The golden shower cassia, കണിക്കൊന്ന , കര്നികാരം , अमलतास , आरग्वध , கொன்றை , ಕಕ್ಕೆ , రేల.

Cassia fistula-Aragwadha

It is with the flowers of the tree, Cassia fistula that keralites clebrate the dawn of a new year, by seeing it. To watch the golden coloured flowers flowering is a splendid sight to watch in Vasantha rtu. Based upon usage it is classified as a kushtagna oushadha.

Family : Cesalpineaceae

Scientific name : Cassia fistula

Vernacular nomenclature in India :

Sanskrit : Aragwadha, Nrupendra, Kruthamala, Rajavruksha, Shyama, Chaturangula, Deerghamala

Hindi : Amalthaas

Gujarathi : Garamala

Bengali : Sondal. Soonsali

English : Indian labernam

Distribution : Seen all throughout India. It is grown as an ornamental tree.

Botanical description :

The golden shower tree is a medium-sized tree, growing to 10–20 m (33–66 ft) tall with fast growth. The leaves are deciduous, 15–60 cm (5.9–23.6 in) long, and pinnate with three to eight pairs of leaflets, each leaflet 7–21 cm (2.8–8.3 in) long and 4–9 cm (1.6–3.5 in) broad. The flowers are produced in pendulous racemes 20–40 cm (7.9–15.7 in) long, each flower 4–7 cm (1.6–2.8 in) diameter with five yellow petals of equal size and shape. The fruit is a legume, 30–60 cm (12–24 in) long and 1.5–2.5 centimetres (0.59–0.98 in) broad, with a pungent odor and containing severalseeds. The tree has strong and very durable wood, and has been used to construct "Ahala Kanuwa", a place at Adams Peak, Sri Lanka, which is made of Cassia fistula (ahala, ehela, oraehaela, ඇහැල in Sinhala heartwood.

Chemical composition :

Action _ Flowers and pods—

purgative, febrifugal, astringent,

antibilious. Seed powder—used in

amoebiasis.

The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of

India indicated the fruit pulp for constipation,

colic, chlorosis and urinary

disorders.

Pulp of the pod contains anthraquinone

glycosides, sennosides A and

B, rhein and its glucoside, barbaloin,

aloin, formic acid, butyric acid, their

ethyl esters and oxalic acid. Presence

of pectin and tannin is also reported.

Seeds gave galactomannan free sugars

and free amino acids; extract laxative,

carminative, cooling and antipyretic

properties.

Flowers gave ceryl alcohol, kaempferol,

rhein and a bianthraquinone

glycoside, fistulin.

Leaves gave free rhein, its glycosides—

sennosides A and B.

Cassia javanica L., a related species

found in West Bengal, Maharashtra

and Tamil Nadu, is used as a substitute

for Cassia fistula.

Vernacular names

Being so conspicuous and widely planted, this tree has a number of common names. In English, it is also known as the golden shower cassia and also as Indian laburnum or golden shower. It is known in Spanish-speaking countries as caña fistula.

Names from its native range and surrounding regions include:^[8]

·         Arabic: khiār shambar (خيار شمبر)

·         Assamese: xonaru (সোণাৰু)

·         Bengali: sonalu, bandar lathi, amaltas

·         Burmese: ngu wah

·         Chinese: ā bó lè (阿勃勒: Taiwan), là cháng shù (sausage tree, 腊肠树)

·         Gujarati: garmalo (ગરમાળો)

·         Hindi: amaltās (अमलतास), bendra lathi (or bandarlauri), dhanbaher (or dhanbohar), girimaloah

·         Japanese: nanban saikachi (ナンバン サイカチ, Kanji: 南蛮皀莢)

·         Khmer: reachapreuk (រាជព្រឹក្ស - rajavriksha / លឿងរាជ្យ / រាជ)

·         Kannada: kakke (ಕಕ್ಕೆ ಮರ)

·         Lao: khoun (ຄູນ)

·         Marathi: bahava (बहावा)

·         Malayalam: kanikkonna (or kani konna കണിക്കൊന്ന: Kerala), Vishu konna(വിഷുക്കൊന്ന) alsoOphirpponnu (ഓഫീർപ്പൊന്ന്) or Karnikaram (കർണ്ണികാരം)

• Meitei (Manipuri): chahui
• Nepali: amaltash, rajbriksya
• Oriya: sunari (ସୁନାରି)
• Sanskrit: aragvadha, chaturangula, kritamala, suvarnaka
• Sinhalese: aehaela, ඇහැල (or ahalla), ehela
• Tamil: konrai (கொன்றை)
• Telugu: raela (రేల)
• Thai: rachapruek (ราชพฤกษ์), khun (คูน), dok khuen (ดอกแคน)

The name was erroneously used by John Patrick Micklethwait Brenan for the Kenyan shower cassia, correctly known as C. afrofistula. Similarly, Francisco Manuel Blanco misapplied Linnaeus's name to the apple-blossom cassia C. javanica ssp. javanica.

Ayurvedic pharmacoepia :

Rasa : tikta, madhura

Guna : guru, mrudu, snigdha

Veerya : sheeta

Vipaka : madhura

Medicinal uses :

It purifies blood. It heals ulcers. It is purgative. It allieviates vata, pitta and kapha.

Useful parts : bark, root, fruit pulp

Therapeutic uses :

-the decoction of bark of cassia fistula 30ml in morning and evening is beneficial in all types of skin diseases, the oil prepared out of it might also be used for external applaication

-for constipation problem in children fruit pulp of cassia fistula processed in milk and added with sugar and drunk cures it

-bark of aragwada, chandana, triphala,draksha decoction prepared out of theses taken in equal quantities is useful in urinary disorders with frothy and foamy urine excretion

-Aragwadhadi kashayam, Katukamalakadi kashayam, Vasishtarasayanam are drugs containing aragwadha as mainn ingredient

Antibacterial and antifungal activities from leaf extracts of Cassia fistula l.: An ethnomedicinal plant

Antibiotics are one of our most important weapons in fighting bacterial infections and have greatly benefited the health-related quality of human life since their introduction. However, over the past few decades, these health benefits are under threat as many commonly used antibiotics have become less and less effective against certain illnesses not, only because many of them produce toxic reactions, but also due to emergence of drug-resistant bacteria. It is essential to investigate newer drugs with lesser resistance. Drugs derived from natural sources play a significant role in the prevention and treatment of human diseases. In many developing countries, traditional medicine is one of the primary healthcare systems. Herbs are widely exploited in the traditional medicine and their curative potentials are well documented. About 61% of new drugs developed between 1981 and 2002 were based on natural products and they have been very successful, especially in the areas of infectious disease and cancer. Recent trends, however, show that the discovery rate of active novel chemical entities is declining.Natural products of higher plants may give a new source of antimicrobial agents with possibly novel mechanisms of action. The effects of plant extracts on bacteria have been studied by a very large number of researchers in different parts of the world. Much work has been done on ethnomedicinal plants in India.

Plants are rich in a wide variety of secondary metabolites such as tannins, terpenoids, alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, etc., which have been found in vitro to have antimicrobial properties. Herbal medicines have been known to man for centuries. Therapeutic efficacy of many indigenous plants for several disorders has been described by practitioners of traditional medicine. Antimicrobial properties of medicinal plants are being increasingly reported from different parts of the world. The World Health Organization estimates that plant extracts or their active constituents are used as folk medicine in traditional therapies of 80% of the world's population. The harmful microorganisms can be controlled with drugs and these results in the emergence of multiple drug-resistant bacteria and it has created alarming clinical situations in the treatment of infections. The pharmacological industries have produced a number of new antibiotics; resistance to these drugs by microorganisms has increased. In general, bacteria have the genetic ability to transmit and acquire resistance to synthetic drugs which are utilized as therapeutic agents.

In an effort to expand the spectrum of antibacterial agents from natural resources, Cassia fistula belonging to Leguminosae family has been selected. In the Indian literature, this plant has been described to be useful against skin diseases, liver troubles, tuberculoses glands and its use into the treatment of hematemesis, pruritus, leucoderma, and diabetes has been suggested.It has been concluded that plant parts could be used as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia partially due to their fiber and mucilage content.Besides its pharmacological uses, the plant extract is also recommended as a pest and disease control agents in India.This plant is widely used by tribal people to treat various ailments including ringworm and other fungal skin infections.The leaves are laxative, antiperiodic, depurative, anti-inflammatory, and are useful in skin diseases, boils, carbuncles, ulcers, intermittent fever, gouty arthritis, and rheumatalgia. Cassia fistula plant organs are known to be an important source of secondary metabolites, Indian people are using the leaves to treat inflammation; Cassia fistula plant organs are known to be an important source of secondary metabolites, notably phenolic compounds.

Cassia fistula exhibited significant antimicrobial activity and showed properties that support folkloric use in the treatment of some diseases as broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents. Thus, Cassia fistula is well anchored in its traditional uses has now found wide-spread acceptance across the world.

In the current investigation carried out, a screening of hydroalcoholic extracts of Cassia fistula leaves against pathogenic bacteria and fungi is done in order to detect new sources of antimicrobial agents.

This study was carried out with an objective to investigate the antibacterial and antifungal potentials of leaves ofCassia fistula Linn. The aim of the study is to assess the antimicrobial activity and to determine the zone of inhibition of extracts on some bacterial and fungal strains. In the present study, the microbial activity of hydroalcohol extracts of leaves of Cassia fistula Linn. (an ethnomedicinal plant) was evaluated for potential antimicrobial activity against medically important bacterial and fungal strains. The antimicrobial activity was determined in the extracts using agar disc diffusion method. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of extracts (5, 25, 50, 100, 250 μg/ml) of Cassia fistula were tested against two Gram-positive—Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes; two Gram-negative—Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa human pathogenic bacteria; and three fungal strains—Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus clavatus, Candida albicans. Zone of inhibition of extracts were compared with that of different standards like ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, and chloramphenicol for antibacterial activity and nystatin and griseofulvin for antifungal activity. The results showed that the remarkable inhibition of the bacterial growth was shown against the tested organisms. The phytochemical analyses of the plants were carried out. The microbial activity of the Cassia fistula was due to the presence of various secondary metabolites. Hence, these plants can be used to discover bioactive natural products that may serve as leads in the development of new pharmaceuticals research activities.

Keywords: Cassia fistula, in vitro antibacterial activity, antifungal activity, secondary metabolites