Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Sebesten (Cordia myxa), of the Boraginaceae family. A moderate deciduous tree with a crooked trunk and broad rough leaves; native range: the warm plains and foothills of India, Persia, Arabia and the eastern Mediterranean. Globally recognized as shleshmataka · shelu · bahuvara in Sanskrit, lasora · gonda in Hindi, sapistan · sabestan (سبستان) in Arabic, and Assyrian plum, sebesten plum, Indian cherry in English. The part used is the ripe fruit (and the bark). A small ovoid drupe ripening yellow to pinkish-brown, with a translucent, intensely sticky, sweetish mucilaginous pulp around a hard stone.
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.
SEBESTEN
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- sebesten
- Scientific name
- Cordia myxa L.
- Family
- Boraginaceae
Form
- Part used
- the ripe fruit (and the bark)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- sweet (madhura) · astringent (kashaya)
- Western
- sweet · mucilaginous
- Unani
- sweet · bland
Temperature
Ayurveda: cooling (sheeta)
Western: cool
Unani: temperate (to cold) & moist
convergence: the {witness_count} witnesses agree — a cool, moist, soothing demulcent
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- lungs · mucous membranes · bowels · bladder
- Unani
- lungs · stomach · intestines · kidneys · bladder
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- a mucilaginous demulcent — kasa-shwasa-hara (relieves cough and breathlessness), mrudu-rechana (mild laxative) and dahaprashamana (relieves burning)
- Western
- demulcent, emollient and expectorant, mild laxative and diuretic, and astringent (the unripe fruit)
- Unani
- munzij-e-balgham (ripener and expectorant of phlegm), mulaiyin (laxative), mudirr and muraqqiq (attenuant of thick humours) — a chief pectoral demulcent
Cautions
- Contraindications
- kapha conditions with copious phlegm, sluggish digestion, diabetes (the sweet fruit) and diarrhoea
- Toxicity
- a bland, wholesome fruit, practically non-toxic
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.