Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), of the Zingiberaceae family. Tall rhizomatous perennial herb with reed-like leafy shoots and sprawling flowering racemes; native range: the wet evergreen hills of the Western Ghats of South India and Sri Lanka. Globally recognized as ela / sukshmaila in Sanskrit, chhoti elaichi in Hindi, hal / qaqilah sighar (هيل) in Arabic, and green cardamom, true cardamom, lesser cardamom in English. The part used is fruit (pod and seed). Pale green three-sided pods holding sticky black aromatic seeds, sweetly camphoraceous and warming with a cool eucalyptus lift.
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.
CARDAMOM
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Cardamom
- Scientific name
- Elettaria cardamomum (L.) Maton
- Family
- Zingiberaceae
Form
- Part used
- fruit (pod and seed)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- pungent (katu) · sweet (madhura)
- Western
- pungent · aromatic
- Unani
- pungent · aromatic
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- cooling (shita — mild, though pungent)
- Western
- warm (& dry)
- Unani
- hot (& dry, 2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- stomach · digestion · lungs
- Unani
- stomach · heart · liver
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- dipana (digestive kindler), hridya (cardiac), shwasahara (relieves cough), mukha-vaishadya (sweetens the mouth), kapha-vata-hara, mutrala (diuretic)
- Western
- carminative, stomachic, aromatic, antispasmodic; a warming adjuvant to other medicines
- Unani
- muqawwi-e-meda (stomachic), kaasir-e-riyah (carminative), muqawwi-e-qalb (cardiac tonic), mudirr-e-baul (diuretic), daf-e-ghasyan (antiemetic)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- high pitta with ulceration only in excess; generally a gentle spice
- Toxicity
- a safe culinary aromatic in ordinary amounts
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.