Kantankatri

-by Sheela Rani Chunkath

While walking over the bunds of a paddy field, I came across one of the plants that constitute the group of plants from which the lesser dasamoolam drugs are derived. I decided to take a photograph and share it with my readers. The plant called Kantankatri in Tamil is known in botanical literature as Solanum virginianum, (Solanum xanthocarpum and Solanum surratense are synonyms). In my last article I had written about the five trees from which the greater dasamoolam herbs are derived.

Kantankatri is a thorny, bushy, ground creeper, with beautiful mauve flowers which closely resembles the flowers of the brinjal (Solanum melongena) plant which also belongs to the same family. Its leaves are completely thorny making it difficult to pluck the fruits. In fact some varieties of brinjal have thorns on their leaves and calyx, though not in the profusion that Kantankatri has.

I knew that this herb besides being a constituent of dasamoola arishtam is an important drug in the treatment of colds, coughs, bronchitis and asthma. I called the local medicine lady of the village, Palayam, the one who casually administers herbal treatments for scorpions bites and other ailments and asked her whether she used this herb for colds and coughs. I was a bit disappointed when she said no, but felt better when she described the use of the seeds for treating toothache. She would gather the yellow and green fruits of the plant, smear it with neem oil and boil it in water. As she graphically put it, if you gargled with the water or inhaled the fumes through your mouth the ‘worms’ would fall out. The use of the fruits for treating toothache has been well documented by our scientists like Nadkarni in 1954, Kurup in 1979 and Dey in 1980.

In Ashtangahridayam, Uttarasthana, the use of Kantankatri Churanam for cough and throat problems has been well documented. Kantankatri is used in the preparation of Kantankatri ghritam, Kamalasavam etc. Kantankatri ghritam is a very good preparation for the treatment of respiratory infections.

If we had taught ourselves and our children the use of this herb, we could well have avoided the overuse of antibiotics. Children from schools, especially rural schools could be taken for a stroll and asked to identify and gather the plant carefully. It is a very thorny plant and children need to be careful while handling it. Take it to school, dry it, powder, sieve and store and you have your herbal medicine ready. This preparation that has been documented in the Ashtangahridayam written in the 5th century by Vagbhata can be said to have stood the test of time. For cough and throat problems, half to one gram, twice daily with water or honey or ghee is quite effective. Many school health programmes have hardly any proper treatment or medicines to tackle these day-to-day health issues of young children. Often a simple cold becomes worse and then antibiotics are prescribed and the immune system takes a beating. Herbal medicines such as these would be a wonderful non-toxic remedy for our children.

I find that while in the West, antibiotics are used judiciously, in India, antibiotics are being used with no thought to the consequences. Often mothers will tell me that though their pediatrician is conservative, for a persistent respiratory ailment, he had no option but to prescribe an antibiotic, a steroid and an inhaler! Judicious use of herbal and ayurvedic preparations well in time, i.e. when the symptoms are just beginning can greatly help to avoid the progression of and the resulting use of antibiotics.

--- The writer was earlier Health Secretary, Govt. of Tamil Nadu and is currently, Principal Secretary and Chairman & Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation. She can be reached at Sheelarani.arogyamantra@gmail.com. Earlier articles can be accessed at http://arogyamantra.blogspot.com/