Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Unani
Spiny amaranth (Amaranthus spinosus), of the Amaranthaceae family. Erect annual herb with reddish stems and paired axillary spines; native range: tropical America, now a pantropical weed of fields and waste ground. Globally recognized as tanduliya / kantaka-tanduliya in Sanskrit, kanta-chaulai in Hindi, ci xian (刺苋) in Chinese, chaulai in Arabic, and spiny pigweed · thorny amaranth · needle burr in English. The part used is whole plant, root, leaf. The leaf is bland, faintly sweet and cooling, a little mucilaginous when cooked; the stem armed with sharp spines.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
SPINY AMARANTH
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Spiny amaranth
- Scientific name
- Amaranthus spinosus L.
- Family
- Amaranthaceae
Form
- Part used
- whole plant, root, leaf
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet · bland
- Ayurveda
- sweet · astringent (madhura , kashaya)
- Unani
- sweet, bland
Temperature
- TCM
- cool
- Ayurveda
- cooling (shita)
- Unani
- cold & moist (1st–2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Large Intestine · Bladder · Liver
- Unani
- intestines · bladder · liver
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- clears heat and resolves toxicity, cools the blood and stops bleeding, promotes urination
- Ayurveda
- pitta-shamaka (cooling), mutrala (diuretic), raktastambhana (haemostatic), stanyajanana (galactagogue), varnya (for the complexion)
- Unani
- mubarrid (refrigerant), mudirr-e-baul (diuretic), mulaiyin (laxative), mudammil (cicatrisant)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- cold and damp conditions of the digestion; loose stool from cold
- Toxicity
- none of note; the plant accumulates nitrate on rich ground, so not in gross excess
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