Witnessed by: Western · Unani
Quince (Cydonia oblonga), of the Rosaceae family. Small crooked deciduous tree with woolly shoots and solitary pale-pink blossoms; native range: the Caucasus and Persia, cultivated round the Mediterranean and in the East from ancient times. Globally recognized as safarjal in Arabic, bihi (fruit) · bihidana (seed) in Hindi, and golden apple, bihi in English. The part used is fruit and seed. A hard, downy, pear-shaped golden fruit, intensely fragrant yet austere and astringent raw; the small brown seeds swell in water to a clear, cool, slippery mucilage.
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.
QUINCE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Quince
- Scientific name
- Cydonia oblonga Mill.
- Family
- Rosaceae
Form
- Part used
- fruit and seed
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- sour · astringent · aromatic
- Unani
- astringent · sour
Temperature
- Western
- cool
- Unani
- cold & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- stomach · bowels · heart
- Unani
- stomach · heart · liver
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- astringent stomachic and cordial (the fruit), demulcent and emollient (the seed mucilage)
- Unani
- muqawwi-e-meda (stomachic tonic), muqawwi-e-qalb (cardiac tonic), qabiz (astringent); the seed mulattif and mulaiyin (demulcent and soothing)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- constipation and dry cold conditions, where the astringent fruit may bind
- Toxicity
- the seeds contain traces of cyanogenic glycoside and must not be crushed or swallowed whole in quantity
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