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Bombax Ceiba Linn: An Ethnopharmacological Update

Anshul Verma, Ashish Jain, Akhlesh Kumar Singhai, Yugantar Sen

Bombax ceiba linn comes from genus bombax also known as cotton tree or red silk cotton tree. More specifically it is also known as silk Malabar tree. It is a flowering tree with a height of up to 40 meters and found in tropical and subtropical Asia as well as northern Asia Australia. It has been chosen as the “city flower” of the cities of Kaohsiung and Guangzhou for its large, showy flowers with thick, waxy, red petals that densely clothe leafless branch tips in late winter and early spring. B. ceiba is a source of food, fodder, fiber, fuel, medicine, and many other valuable goods for natives of many Asian countries. For example, its fruits are good sources of silk-cotton for making mattresses, cushions,and pillows. Bombax ceiba is a famous plant used extensively in traditional medicine for various diseases.They are used in the treatment of cholera, tubercular fistula, coughs, urinary complaints, nocturnal pollution, abdominal pain due to dysentery, and impotency. The gum is astringent, demulcent and tonic. It is used in the treatment of dysentery,haemoptysis in pulmonary tuberculosis, influenza and menorrhagia. The leaves are hypotensive and hypoglycaemic.They are combined with Vitis spp. (part not specified) to treat carbuncle; and with Terminalia alata to treat haematuria.The knots or the stem are used on bleeding gums (cooked in mustard oil with the bark of Zyzyphusrugosa and Ichnocarpusfrutescens and then eaten. The bark is reputedly used against cholera (usually combined with many other plants), pleurisy, and stings and as a diuretic. It is used in bandages for lasting fractures or given in infusion for toothache before visiting the dentist. It is reported to contain important phytoconstituents such as naphthol, naphthoquinones,polysaccharides, anthocyanins, shamimin and lupeol.