Ikshu

इक्षुदीर्घच्छद :प्रोक्तस्तथा भूमीरसोsपि च l

गुडमुलोs सि पत्रस्च तथा मधु तृण: स्मृत :l l

इक्षवो रक्तपित्तघ्ना बल्या वृष्या :कफप्रदा :l

स्वादुपाक रसा :स्निग्धा गुरवो मुत्रला हिमा :l l भा प्र

Botanical Name :     Saccharum Officinarum Linn.

·        Classification:

§  According To Modern

o   Kingdom – Plantae

o   Order –       Cyperales

o   Family     –  Saccharum

§  According To Ayurveda

• Charak- Kanthya varga
• Sushruta- Trinapancamula
• Bhavprakash- Iksu varga
• Vagbhata-Ikshu varga,Trinapanchamula
• Adarasha Nighantu-Trinadi varga
• Priya Nighantu-Drava Varga
• Chakrapani-Ikshu vikriti varga
• Harita-Ikshu varga
• Raja Nighantu-Paneeyadi varga

§  Other Names :

Common name: Sugarcane

• Hindi: Eekh, Ganna

• Manipuri: Chu

• Marathi: Sherdi

• Tamil: Karumbu, Pundaram

 • Malayalam: Karibpu

• Telugu: Cheruku

• Kannada: Petta patti kabbu, Khabbu

 • Urdu: Ganna

 • Sanskrit: Ikshu, Pundrakah

Trunaraja-King of grasses

Dirghacchada-The plant has long stem

Madhutrina-A grass which is sweet

Guda daru,Gudamoola-Jaggery has its origin from this plant

Maharasa,Bhoori rasa-Plant filled with juice

Asipatra,Trinaraja,Surasa,Poundraka,Venu,Vamsha,Sukumaraka,Sthulosipatraka,Gandiri,Gandaki,Venu,Nisruta,Mrutyupushpa,Karkotaka,Vamsha,Kantara,Venu Nisvana

• General Information :

Stems are tall upto 15 ft. many- noded, glabrous or pubescent below, more or less coated with wax below the nodes. Leaves- leaf sheaths are terete, smooth, glabrous except when yound, blades are  linear, lanceolate upto 1.5 mtr long and more than 5 cm broad, green above glaucous below. Panicles are pyramidal upto 1 mtr long, dense silvery. Racemes are up to 10 cm long. Very  fragile, spiketels are lanceolate and upto 4 mm long. Involucral glumes are subequal, lanceolate . Lower floral glumes are oblong, ciliate and about 3 mm long, upper floral glume are subacute. Grains are oblong , attenuated upwards, subterete and flesh coloured.

• Types Of Plant’s

13 Types of Ikshu

Bh. Pr. Ni. –

1. Paundraka
2. Bhiruka
3. Vamsaka
4. Sataporkha
5. Kantara
6. Tapaseksu
7. Kandeksu
8. Sucipatraka
9. Naipala
10. Dirghapatra
11. Nilapora
12. Kosakrit
13. Manogupta

Kaiyyadeva Nighantu – 5 Types

1. Paundraka
2. Karnkasali
3. Naipala
4. Vamsika
5. Kantara

• Properties (Gunadharma)
  • Rasa- Madhura
  • Vipak- Madhura
  • Virya- Sheet
  • Guna-Snigdha, Guru
• Specific Parts :

Root ( Mula )

Kanda ( Stem )

• Doshaghnata :

Pittasamaka

वृष्य :शीत :सर : स्निग्धो बृहणो मधुरो रस :l

श्लेष्मलो भक्षितस्येक्षोर्यान्त्रिकस्तु विदह्यते  l l

शैत्यात प्रसादान्मा धुर्यात पौन्डकाद्वंशको वर :l च सं सु २७

इक्षुदीर्घच्छद :प्रोक्तस्तथा भूमीरसोsपि च l

गुडमुलोs सि पत्रस्च तथा मधु तृण: स्मृत :l l

इक्षवो रक्तपित्तघ्ना बल्या वृष्या :कफप्रदा :l

स्वादुपाक रसा :स्निग्धा गुरवो मुत्रला हिमा :l l भा प्र

• Benefits :
  • Balya: The sugar cane juice instantly energizes our body and provides strength. Sugar cane is rich in iron and carbohydrates. Hence it boosts energy straight away.
  • Mutrala: It acts as a diuretic and helps in detoxifying kidneys.Ikshu rasa in a dose of 100-200ml will improve the urine output.Hence it is used in conditions like burning micturation,renal calculi and difficulty in micturation.
  • Kaphapradaha: It increases kapha and helps in expectoration of it in cough.
  • Vrishya: It acts as an aphrodisiac and increases libido,increases sperm count . It also helps in rectifying erectile dysfunction.
  • Raktapittaghna:- Sugar cane has the properties of normalizing vitiation of blood and pitta (bile). It rejuvenates liver. Because of this property it is widely used in treating jaundice.
  • Jaundice :- Mix sugarcane juice with yoghurt. Drink a glass twice daily.
  • Leucorrhoea :- Take Ikshu juice to cure
  • Hiccups :- have ikshu juice in Hiccups
  • Its whole plant shows medicinal properties.
  • It is used in many skin diseases like Scrap, warts and corns. Its pulp is applied on the skin to treat Boils, Pimples and Acne. It also treats skin infections like abscesses, psoriasis a wounds.
  • plant extract of this is used to cure  It is best for curing Breast Cancer.
  • It is a natural Blood Purifier. It is used to treat Leukaemia.
  • It is used in Rheumatic Pain and Arthritis.
  • It is a helpful herb for Liver Disorders like Jaundice.
  • To control nausea and vomiting ,sugarcane juice should be consumed in a dose of 100-150ml.
  • Regular intake of Ikshu rasa helps to increase the quantity of breast milk
  • Fresh Ikshu rasa reduces thirst and burning sensation of body.
  • Root decoction of sugarcane is used to remove intesinal worms.Dose-50ml
  • Ikshu rasa provides strength to cardiac muscles and improves the cardiac functioning.

Sugarcane juice benefits as per extraction method-

dantotkrishta-Juice extracted by chewing

shweta-white

Ruchya-Improves taste,relieves anorexia

Kaphaprada-Increases kapha dosha

Yantrika-Sugar cane juice extracted by machine-

Amla-sour

Guru-heavy to digest

Swadu-Sweet

Kshara-alkaline,scraping

Vishtambhakrut-causes constipation

Dahakrut-can cause burning sensation

• Formulation (Kalp) :

Trunapanchmool kwatha

Maharajaprasarani tailam

Parushakadi lehyam

Nalikerasavam

Prasootikamrita rasayana

Balajeerakadi Kashayam

Vasanta kusumakar rasa

Chandanadi tailam

• Dosage :

Juice – 20 to 40 ml

Mula kwatha- 50 to 100 ml

• Chemical Composition :

Stem mainly contains sugars Leaves have 5,7-0-Dimethylapigenin and 4-0-glucopyranoside. Flowers contain Pigenin, Methoxy flavones.

• Home remedies :

Raktapitta ( Bleeding disorder )

Honey water and sugarcane juice if taken internally controls Raktapitta ( Intrinsic haemorrhage).

Panduroga ( Anaemia )

In case of pandu ( Anaemia ) one should take churned lipquid of Amalaki ( emblica officinalis ) juice or iksu ( Saccharum officinarum ) juice with honey.

• Research Corner :

Sugarcane tops were extracted with 50% ethanol and fractionated by petroleum ethier, ethyl acetate ( E+ OAc ) and n-butyl alcohol successively. Eight phenolic compounds in E+OAc extracts were purified through silica gel and sephadex LH-20 column chromatographies. The antioxidant and nitrite-scavening capacities of different solvent extracts correlated positively with  their total phenolic (TP ) contents. Amongst various extracts  E+OAc extracts possessed with highest TP content and presented the strongest  oxygen radical absorbance  capacity (ORAC). Thus sugarcane tops could be promoted as a  source of natural antioxidant.