Kadukkai- Health Benefits, Uses and Important Facts

Kadukkai, also called Haritaki, is a wonderful herb that we should use every day. It is used in a lot of ayurvedic medicines. One of the three parts that make up Triphala. It is a great treatment for digestive problems and is used to make Kayakalpa, which makes you hungry.

If you use kadukkai powder to brush your teeth, your gums won't bleed. It makes the gums stronger and gets rid of all gum diseases. People with tooth pain can just keep it in their mouths for a while.

It is a natural laxative that can help you get rid of a clogged bowel. Kadukkai that has been dipped in honey is a simple and healthy way to eat this herb.

About Kadukkai:

1. Terminalia chebula, which is often called Haritaki in Hindi, Kadukkai in Tamil, and Inknut in English, has many health benefits and medical uses. It is a true medical miracle. It is called the "king of medicine" because it can be used for so many different things. It's been used a lot in homoeopathy, unani, and ayurvedic medicine.
2. It is used to treat a wide range of conditions, such as dark circles under the eyes, acne, tooth problems, grey hair, constipation, dark spots, and even to help hair grow and lose weight. It is the first thing we try at home for most small problems.
3. It's amazing how many diseases haritaki can treat. It is used to treat arthritis, dental problems like cavities and bleeding gums, skin problems like acne and eczema, and to heal wounds. Kadukkai is also a very effective treatment for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, constipation, shrinking haemorrhoids when used topically, and ulcers.
4. Kadukkai is also used to treat and prevent kidney stones, to improve digestion, to treat coughs, sore throats, headaches, and eye inflammation when used as an eye rinse. Last, it is often used to boost the immune system, treat fever, and lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels. It's easy to see why it's called the king of herbs.

Kadukkai plant description:

1. The Terminalia chebula tree grows to be between 50 and 80 feet tall, with branches that spread out and a round crown. The tree's bark is dark brown and has long cracks in it. From May to June, the tree starts to bloom. The flowers range in colour from dull white to dull yellow, and they smell very bad.
2. Terminalia chebula grows in most countries in southeast Asia. It lives in almost all parts of India, especially in deciduous forests and areas with light rainfall. In Tamil Nadu, you can find Terminalia chebula trees in almost all of the forests with leaves that fall off in the fall.

Kadukkai’ fruit:

The most useful part of a tree is its fruit. The fruits are between one and two inches long and have ridges. When they are not ready, they are green, but when they are ready, they are a yellowish grey colour. The fruit is put into groups based on how it grows and how big it gets.

Types of Kadukkai:

Kadukkai is differentiated based on the following types:

1. Based on size: Survari Harade is the name for the biggest and heaviest fruit, which is almost 2 inches long and weighs a lot. These are a brownish yellow colour. The Rangari harade are the next thing. They are about an inch long. They are yellow and have less furrows and wrinkles than Survari harade.

Bala harade are smaller than the first two types, have a lot of wrinkles, and are dark brown to black in colour. The last one is the Java harade, which is the smallest and darkest brown to black in colour.

2. Shape: Vijaya, if it looks like a gourd, it is the most important because it was used to treat many diseases. When Rohini is round, most of the time it is used to treat wounds.

When a putana has a big seed and not much mesocarp, it is mostly used on the outside of the body. Abhaya, it is used to treat eye diseases if it has five ribs. If it is golden, it is called Jivanti, and if it has three ribs, it is called Chetaki.

3. According to Growth: Zira, when haritaki is the size of a cumin seed. If it's the size of a barley grain, call it Javi. If it's the size of a raisin, call it Zangi. If it's green and yellow, call it Chini. If it's almost ready, call it Asfer. If it's ready, call it Kabul.

Kadukkai composition:

Tannins: Kadukkai fruit is very high in tannins, which can range from 32% to 34%, depending on where it grows. These tannins are of the pyrogallol type. Nearly 14 tannins have been found in the fruit. Some of them are gallic acid, chebulagic acid, punicalagin, chebulanin, corilagin, neo chebulinic acid, ellagic acid, chebulic acid, and casuarinin.

1. Kadukkai also has polyphenols like corilagin, galloyl glucose, punicalagin, terflavin A, and maslinic acid.
2. Fatty acids: The most common ones are palmitic acid, linoleic acid, and oleic acid.
3. Triterpenoid Some of the glycosides in Kadukkai are chebulosides I and II, arjunin, and arjun glucoside.
4. Flavonoids: Some flavonoids are rutin, quercetin, luteolin, and isoquercetin.
5. In addition to these, you can also find fructose, amino acid, succinic acid, beta sitosterol, and resin.

Traditional Uses of Kadukkai or Haritaki:

1. Haritaki has been used to treat eye diseases, constipation (it's a great laxative), and almost all dental problems, such as bleeding gums, dental caries, and mouth ulcers.
2. We boil haritaki and use the water to rinse our mouths when we have problems with our teeth. Haritaki paste has been used to treat wounds for a long time because it has great anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties.
3. Since it helps digestion, haritaki is often used to treat upset stomach, vomiting, and loss of appetite. It is also used to treat irregular fevers, coughs, sore throats, and asthma that are caused by colds.
4. People with diabetes often use it to lower their blood sugar levels, and it is also used to treat problems with the urinary tract.
5. Haritaki for Skin Care (Cosmetic Uses): Haritaki is well known for its ability to treat a wide range of skin diseases. Haritaki stops melanin from being made, and it has been shown to be very good at getting rid of pigmentation. Because it has a lot of antioxidants, it keeps cells from getting old and keeps the skin clear of spots.

It is also a great way to clean the blood and tighten the skin. Kadukkai is also well-known for being used to treat dark circles under the eyes, open pores, and pimples. When we have skin problems like acne, it not only helps treat the problem but also reduces the inflammation.

Kadukkai in Ayurveda:

Traditional healers in India have always thought very highly of Kadukkai, and it is used a lot in ayurvedic medicine. It is also one of the three things that make up the well-known triphala, which shows how important it is in ayurvedic medicine.

Kadukkai is an important part of many ayurvedic medicines, like dasamula haritaki lehyam (haritaki jam) and chitrak haritaki, which are used to treat a wide range of diseases.

Health benefits of kadukkai:

One of the most important ways that kadukkai is used in medicine is to treat Alzheimer's disease. This is because kadukkai has properties that help it fight free radicals and reduce inflammation. Chebulagic acid and gallic acid are what give the plant its anti-inflammatory effects.

High levels of phenolic compounds give it antioxidant properties. Antioxidants help reduce oxidative stress, which is one of the main causes of Alzheimer's disease.

Maltase and sucrase inhibitors lower blood sugar levels after a meal by stopping glucose from being released. Kadukkai has these qualities because it contains active compounds like chebulagic acid, chebulinic acid, and chebula in. The methanol extract of haritaki (80%) was found to block maltase very well.

Kadukkai helps restore the metabolism of urea in the liver because it has a lot of antioxidants.

Kadukkai has anti-arthritic properties, which means that people with arthritis pain will benefit greatly from eating it.

Kadukkai extract made cancer cells die, stopped them from multiplying, and cut down on the number of cancer cells. Gallic acid, which is found in kadukkai, also stops esophageal carcinoma cells from growing, as this study shows.

Traditionally, high cholesterol is treated with kadukkai. It has been shown that taking kadukkai extract on a regular basis lowers total cholesterol and triglyceride levels and raises high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (HDL). This is because kadukkai contains a lot of saponins, phytosterols, chebulinic acid, and corilagin.

Kadukkai water extract is very good at killing salivary streptococcus mutans, which is a type of bacteria. Tannins in haritaki are what make it work against S. mutans as an antimicrobial.

 
8. Heals wound

Kadukkai water extract is also used as a wound wash, and it has been shown to help wounds heal much faster. Tannin in kadukkai helps skin wounds heal because it makes new blood vessels and kills bacteria.

Mosquitoes are a big reason why people get sick and die all over the world. It is better to find natural ways to keep mosquitoes away than to use chemical repellents that can cause side effects. Haritaki is one of these natural sources.

All of benzene, hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and methanol extract of haritaki kill mosquito larvae, and they work on Anopheles stephensi, Aedes aegypti, and Culex quinquefasciatus.

The painkilling, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects of haritaki are also very important. In a study with 12 healthy people, taking haritaki increased pain threshold and tolerance much more than taking a placebo. This means that people with painful conditions like arthritis, body aches, and inflammation will benefit greatly from taking this amazing herb.