Witnessed by: Unani
Manna ash (Fraxinus ornus), of the Oleaceae family. Small deciduous ash with pinnate leaves and dense panicles of creamy fringed flowers; native range: southern Europe and Asia Minor; the manna harvest centred on Sicily and Calabria. Globally recognized as mann in Arabic, shir-khisht in Persian, manna in Urdu, and manna ash, flowering ash; the exudate: manna in English. The part used is the dried exudate of the bark (manna). Pale yellowish-white flakes and irregular tears, light and friable, faintly of honey, the taste sweet with a slight nauseous bitterness behind it.
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.
MANNA ASH
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- manna ash
- Scientific name
- Fraxinus ornus L.
- Family
- Oleaceae
Form
- Part used
- the dried exudate of the bark (manna)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Unani
- sweet
Temperature
- Unani
- hot & moist (1st degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Unani
- intestines · lungs · liver
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Unani
- mulayyin (a gentle laxative), munzij wa mukhrij-e-balgham (ripens and expels phlegm), mulattif (demulcent to the chest), muqawwi-e-jigar (mild liver tonic)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- diabetes and any state where the sugars are unwanted; intestinal obstruction
- Toxicity
- low; large doses bring flatulence, griping and loose stools
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.