Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Unani
Phalsa (Grewia asiatica), of the Malvaceae family. Large shrub or small tree with lobed leaves and clusters of small purple drupes; native range: the Indian subcontinent and southern Asia. Globally recognized as parushaka in Sanskrit, falsa in Hindi, falsa in Arabic, and phalsa, Indian sherbet berry in English. The part used is ripe fruit (root and bark used secondarily). Small dark-purple berries, sweet-sour and refreshing with a soft astringent finish when just ripe.
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.
PHALSA
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Phalsa
- Scientific name
- Grewia asiatica L.
- Family
- Malvaceae
Form
- Part used
- ripe fruit (root and bark used secondarily)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- sweet · sour
- Unani
- sweet · sour
Temperature
Ayurveda: cooling
Unani: cold (moist)
convergence: both {witness_count} witnesses read the ripe fruit as cooling and moistening — a refrigerant against heat and thirst
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Unani
- heart · stomach · liver
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- hridya (cardiac tonic), dahaprashamana (relieves burning), trishnaghna (quenches thirst), raktapittahara; the unripe fruit grahi (astringent)
- Unani
- muqawwi-e-qalb (cardiac tonic), mubarrid (refrigerant), musaffi-e-dam (blood purifier), qabiz (astringent) when unripe
Cautions
- Contraindications
- kapha conditions and cough with copious phlegm; cold weak digestion when taken in excess
- Toxicity
- essentially a food and safe; excess of the cold fruit may aggravate cold and cough
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