Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Unani
Thorn apple (Datura metel), of the Solanaceae family. Coarse annual or short-lived perennial herb with trumpet flowers and spiny capsules; native range: warm regions of Asia, long naturalised across the Old and New World tropics. Globally recognized as dhattura / unmatta in Sanskrit, dhatura in Hindi, yang jin hua (洋金花) in Chinese, jauz masal (جوز ماثل) in Arabic, and thorn apple, downy thorn apple, devil's trumpet in English. The part used is flower (chiefly, tcm) · seed · leaf. Large white or violet trumpets with a heavy narcotic scent, ripening to a prickly globe of pale kidney-shaped seeds; all parts bitter and dangerous.
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.
THORN APPLE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Thorn apple
- Scientific name
- Datura metel L.
- Family
- Solanaceae
Form
- Part used
- flower (chiefly, tcm) · seed · leaf
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- pungent
- Ayurveda
- pungent (katu) · bitter (tikta)
- Unani
- bitter
Temperature
- TCM
- warm
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
- Unani
- cold (& dry, 3rd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Lung · Liver
- Unani
- brain · nerves
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- warms the Lung and stops cough and wheeze, relieves pain, and (classically) induces anaesthesia
- Ayurveda
- shwasahara (anti-asthmatic), vedanasthapana (analgesic), krimighna (antiparasitic external), kaphavata-shamana, madakari (narcotic)
- Unani
- mukhaddir (narcotic/anaesthetic), musakkin (sedative-analgesic), mujaffif (desiccant)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- glaucoma, tachycardia, high fever, pregnancy and lactation, the very young and the old; heat and pitta states
- Toxicity
- highly toxic (upavisha) — anticholinergic delirium, dilated pupils, racing heart, coma and death in overdose; only the purified drug in minute measure
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