Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Unani
Borax, of the borate mineral family. Colourless to white crystalline masses and crusts, effloresing to a chalky powder in dry air; native range: crusts and crystals of the borate playas and dry alkaline lakes — classically the lake beds of Tibet and Ladakh, from which crude tincal was carried into India, China and Persia. Globally recognized as 硼砂 peng sha in Chinese, tankana in Sanskrit, suhaga, tinkar in Arabic/Urdu, and borax, tincal in English. The part used is the purified salt, and its roasted (puffed) form. White, translucent to opaque, light in the hand, sweetish-alkaline and faintly soapy on the tongue; swells into a light white froth when roasted.
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.
BORAX
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- borax
- Scientific name
- Borax (hydrated sodium borate, Na₂B₄O₇·10H₂O)
- Family
- borate mineral
Form
- Part used
- the purified salt, and its roasted (puffed) form
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet · salty
- Ayurveda
- pungent (katu)
- Unani
- salty
Temperature
- TCM
- cool
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
- Unani
- hot & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Lung · Stomach
- Unani
- lungs · uterus
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- clears heat and resolves toxicity, dissolves phlegm; used chiefly externally on the throat, mouth and eyes
- Ayurveda
- kaphahara, bhedana (breaks up accumulations), deepana (kindles digestion), artavajanana (emmenagogue), shothahara
- Unani
- muhallil (resolvent), jali (detergent), mudirr-e-haiz (emmenagogue), munzij-e-balgham (ripens phlegm)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- pregnancy — an emmenagogue and reputed abortifacient; infants and small children; deficiency without heat or phlegm
- Toxicity
- boron accumulates: repeated or excessive dosing causes nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, rash and desquamation, and in the young may be fatal. Not for prolonged internal use, and never applied to broken skin or raw surfaces.
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.