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Burdock Details & Specifications |
| Useful
Link |
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| Botanical Name |
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Arctium lappa Linn. |
| English Name |
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Burdock |
| Hindi Name |
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Burdock |
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| CATEGORY |
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Diuretic |
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| SOURCE |
| Part used |
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State of the part used |
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Fruits |
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Root |
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Dried |
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| FAMILY |
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Compositae |
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| GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCE |
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The plant is indigenous to England and is found in following countries:-
? England
? Europe
? Greek
? Turky
It grows freely throughout England on waste ground, nearby old buildings, by roadsides and in fairly damp places.
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| IDENTIFICATION |
| Organoleptic characteristics |
| Colour |
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| Odour |
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Odourless |
| Taste |
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Sweetish and mucilaginous |
| Size |
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The stem is about 3 to 4 feet long and branched, rising from a biennial root. The strong stem is well branched. The small involucral scales are bent inward at the end and loosely linked by a cobweb like layer. |
| Physical
Standards |
| Total Ash |
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N/A |
| Moisture |
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Not more then 15% |
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| CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS |
| Major |
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Major chemical constituents responsible for physicochemical and therapeutic action of the herb are:-
Inulin
Mucilage
Sugar
Crystalline glucoside
Resin
Fixed oil
Volatile oils
Tannic acid
/p>
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| Minor |
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The drug contains various minor chemical constituents however no specific contents have been identified yet.
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| CULTIVATION |
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Burdock root has a sweetish and mucilaginous taste. Burdock leaves, which are less used than the root, are collected in July. They have a somewhat bitter taste. The seeds are collected when ripe. They are brownish-grey, wrinkled, about 0.25 in. long and 0.08 in. in diameter. They are fleshy, wrinkled, crowned with a tuft of whitish, soft, hairy leaf-stalks, grey-brown externally, whitish internally, with a somewhat thick bark, about a quarter of the diameter of the root, and soft wood tissues, with a radiate structure. The seeds germinate readily and may be sown directly in the field, either in autumn or early spring, in drills 18 inches to 3 feet apart, sowing 1 inch deep in autumn, but less in spring. The roots are dug in July, and should be lifted with a beet-lifter or a deep-running plough. As a rule they are 12 in. or more in length and about 1 in thick, sometimes, however, they extend 2 to 3 feet, making it necessary to dig by hand. The young plants when well up are thinned out to 6 inches apart in the row. Yields at the rate of 1,500 to 2,000 lb. of dry roots per acre have been obtained from plantations of Burdock. |
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| STORAGE |
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To maintain physicochemical properties and medicinal values of the herb it is recommended to maintain following storage conditions:-
Air tight containers
Protection from light
Protection from moisture
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