CASSIA ANGUSTIFOLIA, A VERSATILE MEDICINAL CROP

Abstract

Cassia angustifo/ia (senna), a native plant of Yemen, Somalia and Arabia and now cultivated in other parts of the world, has a variety of medicinal uses in Unani as well as other traditional systems of medicine. The plant is mainly valued for its cathartic properties and is specially useful in habitual constipation. The laxative principles sennoside A and sennoside B, isolated from leaves and pods of senna, constitute important ingredients in purgative medicines. The plant has been investigated for its various chemical constituents and pharmacological properties. Being a hardy species, it can be grown even in saline and rainfed conditions. Cultivation of senna does not require much expense on irrigation, manuring, pesticides, protection and other pre-and postharvesting care. This makes the plant an ideal crop for arid regions where water provision, wasteland development, desertification control, sand dune stabilization are the major challenges. The distribution, medicinal applications, chemical and pharmacological studies and various aspects of senna cultivation are reviewed in this paper.

Amoebicidal activity of Cassia angustifolia extract and its effect on Acanthamoeba triangularis autophagy-related gene expression at the transcriptional level

“…Cassia angustifolia is well known in West Asia, in particular in Yemen, a region in Southern Arabia, and is called Arabia Senna. The medicinal properties of Senna leaf are commonly used to treat constipation, loss of appetite, hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, indigestion, malaria, jaundice and anaemia (Tripathi, 1999), antidiabetic, antioxidant and hepatopreventive activity of leaves of C. angustifolia has recently been reported (Bellassoued et al, 2019;Jani and Goswami, 2020). The anthelmintic activity of C. angustifolia leaves has also been reported against Heterakis gallinarum, Raillietina tetragona and Catatropis sp.…”

The genusCassiaL.: Ethnopharmacological and phytochemical overview

“…The pods are nearly 4–7 cm long, containing 5–7 obovate and dark brown smooth seeds. Based on origin, this plant has been categorized as Alexandrian senna, Arabian senna, and Tinnivelly senna and so on (Nasir et al, 1972; Tripathi, 1999).…”

Morphology and Molecular Study of Cassia angustifolia Vahl. in Saudi Arabia Using RAPD Technique

“…It is used in recent and other folk medicinal systems. Its therapeutic properties help relieve constipation [3]. Medicinal plants have a long history in the Middle East and are important elements in prophetic medicine.…”