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Cassia Tora

Botanical Name(s): Cassia Tora
Family Name: Caesulpinaceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Tribe: Cassieae
Sub-tribe: Cassiinae
Genus: Cassia
Species: S. tora
Popular Name(s): Foetid Cassia, Tora, Sickle Senna, Wild Senna, Sickle Pod, Coffee Pod, Tovara, Chakvad, Ringworm Plant
Parts Used: Leaves, seeds, roots
Habitat: Grows in warm moist soil throughout tropical parts of India.

Description
An annual foetid herb, with a height of 30 to 90 cm, Cassia Tora is mainly found in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, in India. It has pinnate leaves, which are about 10 cm long. Each leaf has three pairs of leaflets that are opposite, ovate, oblong and oblique at the base. The yellow-colored flowers are bearded in the axel of the leaves. The flowers comprises of five petals, each about half inch in diameter.

The seeds of Cassia Tora are rhombohedral and brown in color, about 30 to 50 in number. The plant bears flowers in the rainy season and fruits in the winter. The cassia tora is also known as Charota an Chakvad in Hindi, Chakunda in Bengali & Oriya, Kawaria in Gujarati, Chakramandrakam in Malayalam, Takala in Marathi, Chakramarda & Dadmari in Sanskrit, Tagarai in Tamil and Chinnakasinda in Telugu.

Plant Chemicals
(+)- rhein, aloe-emodin, chrysophanol, 7% resins, cathatrine, calcium, iron, phosphorus, 1,3,5-trihydroxy-6-7-dimethoxy-2-methylanthroquinone, beta-sitosterol, naptho-alpha-pyrone-toralactune, chrysophanol, physcion, emodin, rubrofusarin, cchrysophonic acid-9-anthrone, tricontan-1-0l, stigmasterol, b-sitosteral-b-D-glucoside, freindlen, palmitic, stearic, succinic and d-tartaric acids uridine, quercitrin, isoquercitrin.

Uses & Benefits of Cassia Tora