India marking nut tree

''Semecarpus anacardium'', commonly known as the marking nut tree, phobi nut tree and varnish tree, is a native of India, found in the outer Himalayas to the Coromandel Coast. It is closely related to the cashew.

Etymology

''Semecarpus anacardium'' was called the "marking nut" by Europeans because it was used by washermen to mark cloth and clothing before washing, as it imparted a water insoluble mark to the cloth.

The specific epithet ''anacardium'' ("up-heart") was used by apothecaries in the 16th century to refer to the plant's fruit. It was later used by Linnaeus to refer to the cashew.

Description

It is a deciduous tree. Like the closely related cashew, the fruit is composed of two parts, a reddish-orange accessory fruit and a black drupe that grows at the end. The nut is about long, ovoid and smooth lustrous black. The accessory fruit is edible and sweet when ripe, but the black fruit is toxic and produces a severe allergic reaction if it is consumed or its resin comes in contact with the skin. The seed inside the black fruit, known as godambi (गोडंबी), is edible when properly prepared.

Uses in Ayurvedic medicine

''Semecarpus anacardium'' is used in Ayurvedic medicine for improving sexual power, increasing sperm count, curing diseases related to the digestive system, balancing phlegm (Sanskrit: kapha doṣa, कफ दोष), inducing abortion. The red-orange part is collected and dried in the sun. It is consumed after it is semi-dried. It is also poisonous without any purification and the oil from its seeds can give blisters and painful wounds.

In medieval times, the plant was thought to aid in memory retention, for which cause the following dictum became widespread among Jewish scholars: "Repeat our lessons and repeat our lessons but never stand in need of the marking nut!"Joseph Molcho, ''Shulchan Gavohah'' (''Yoreh De'ah'' 51:6). Quote: "I have heard from those who speak the truth that ''balador'' (= the marking nut) is a certain drug whose nature is very hot and that he who eats it endangers himself due to its excessive heat, but it causes an exceptional retainment of one's memory. Now there was a certain wise disciple f the Sages here in Thessaloniki, in our own generation, who was extremely erudite and sharp of mind, and who had an exceptional memory, besides being a distinguished physician, who went to Jerusalem in the waning years of his life and died there. My father once told me that he had heard people say that all this ability to memorize came to him because he had fed this drug called ''balador'' to one pullet hen, and straightaway he slaughtered it and ate it, and from that moment forward he was a man gifted with an exceptional memory and sharpness, and there was no mystery hidden from him."

References

Further reading

*Puri, H. S. (2003) RASAYAN: Ayurvedic Herbs for Longevity and Rejuvenation. Taylor & Francis, London. pages 74–79.
*Wealth of India, Raw Materials. Vol IX, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, 1972
*Kleinsasser O., Tumors of the Larynx and Hypopharynx, Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart, 1988.
*Robin P.E., Reid A., Powell D.J. and McCnkey C.C., The Incidence of Cancer of the Larynx, Clinotolarygol, 1991, 16, 198–201.
*Marck P.A. and Lupin A.J., Cancer of the Northern Alberta Experience, J otolaryngol, 1989, 18, 344–349.
*Stephenson W.T., Barnes D.E., Holmes F.F. and Norris C.W, Gender Influences Subsite of Origin of Laryngeal Carcinoma, Arch otolaryngol head neck syrg., 1991, 117, 774–778.
*Tuyns A.J., Laryngeal cancer, Cancer surv.,1994, 19–20, 159–173.
*Martensson B., Epidermiological Aspects on Laryngeal Carcinoma in Scandina Via, Laryngoscope, 1975, 85, 1185–1189.
*Yang P.C., Thomas D.B., Darling J.R. and Davis S., Differences in the Sex Ratio Of Laryngeal Cancer Incidence Rates By Anatomic Subsite, J clin epidemiol, 1989, 42, 755–758.
*Kurup P.N., Ramdas V.N., Joshi P., In Handbook of Medicinal Plants, New Delhi, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd, 1979, 32.
*Raghunath S., Mitra R., In: Pharmacognosy of Indigenous Drugs, New Delhi, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd, 1982,185.
*Sharma A., Mathur R., Dixit V.P., Hypocholesterolemic Activity of Nutshell Extract of Semecarpus anacardium (Bhilawa) in Cholesterol Fed Rabbits, Ind J Expt Biol., 1995, 33, 444–8.
*Freshney R.I., Culture of Animal Cells, A Manual of Basic Technique, 5th edition, Wiley-Liss, 200- 201.
*Mohanta T.K., Patra J.K., Rath S.K., Pal D.K. and Thatoi H.N., Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activity and Phytochemical Screening of Oils and Nuts of Semicarpus Anacardium, Scientific Research and Essay, 2007, 11, 486–490.
*Phillips H.J. and Terryberry J.E., Counting Actively Metabolizing Tissue Cultured Cells, Exp. Cell. Res., 1957, 13, 341–347.
*Masters R.W., Animal Cell Culture, Third Edition, Cytotoxicity and Viability Assays.
*Skehan P., Evaluation of Colorimetric Protein and Biomass Stains for Assaying Drug Effects Upon Human Tumor Cell Lines, Proc. Amer. Assoc. Cancer Res., 1989, 30, 2436
*Skehan P., New Colorimetric Cytotoxicity Assay for Anticancer-Drug Screening, Journal National Cancer Institute, 1990, 82, 1107–1112.
*Masters R.W., Animal Cell Culture, Cytotoxicity and Viability Assays, Third Edition, 202–203.

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1741720

anacardium
Medicinal plants
Plants described in 1782
Flora of India (region)
Trees of Nepal
Poisonous plants