संस्कृत नाम- सिन्दूरी
Botanical name - Bixa orellana
Description - Evergreen small bushy tree; leaves simple, stipules minute, petioles 5.0-7.5 cm long, slender, lamina 10-20 cm by 6.25-12.5 cm, cordate, glabrous, acuminate; panicles terminal; flowers purple or pink or white, 2.5-5.0 cm in diameter, bisexual; capsules scarlet, ovoid or subglobose, 3.7 cm, softly prickly, bivalved, pulp orange-red, many-seeded; seeds albuminous.
Chemical_Constituents- Leaf oil contains sesquiterpene ishwarane. Seeds contain dye bixin, orellin, fatty oil. Seed coat contains wax like substance.
Uses - (North Kerala) : Leaf : in snake bite; RURAL FOLK: (i) Twig: in liver troubles, as emollient; (ii) Leaf-decoction : as a gargle for sore throat; (iii) Leaf-infusion: in dysentery; (iv) Gummy substance obtained from pounded leaf: as diuretic, in gonorrhoea; (v) Seed-pulp: anti-dysenteric, digestive, diuretic, febrifuge, haemostatic, laxative, useful in epilepsy and skin diseases, applied to burns to prevent blisters and scars. Modern use : Root (aqueous extract): anti-spasmodic, hypotensive; EtOH extract of Defatted root-bark: anti-microbial, spasmogenic, weak Central nervous System depressor; Leaf (HCI extract): anti-cancer; Seed-pulp: useful in kidney diseases.