Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Caraway (Carum carvi), of the Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) family. Biennial herb with finely cut leaves and umbels of white flowers; native range: Europe and western Asia; cultivated across the temperate Old World. Globally recognized as krishna-jiraka in Sanskrit, shahi jira / siyah jira in Hindi, karawya (كراويا) in Arabic, and Persian cumin, meridian fennel in English. The part used is ripe fruit (the 'seed'). Slender curved ridged brown fruits with a warm, sweetish, faintly sharp aroma between fennel and cumin.
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.
CARAWAY
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Caraway
- Scientific name
- Carum carvi L.
- Family
- Apiaceae (Umbelliferae)
Form
- Part used
- ripe fruit (the 'seed')
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- pungent (katu)
- Western
- pungent · aromatic
- Unani
- pungent · aromatic
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
- Western
- warm
- Unani
- hot & dry (3rd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- digestion · stomach · bowels · uterus
- Unani
- stomach · liver · uterus
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- dipana-pachana (kindles and completes digestion), vata-anulomana, stanyajanana (galactagogue), krimighna
- Western
- carminative, stomachic, antispasmodic, galactagogue, emmenagogue, aromatic
- Unani
- kaasir-e-riyah (carminative), hazim (digestive), mudirr-e-haiz (emmenagogue), mudirr-e-laban (galactagogue)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- well tolerated; the large medicinal dose is emmenagogic, so caution in pregnancy
- Toxicity
- very low in culinary and medicinal amounts
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