Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Chinaberry (Melia azedarach), of the Meliaceae family. Fast-growing deciduous tree with lilac, fragrant panicles and yellow drupes; native range: Indo-Malaya and China, long naturalised through the warm world as a street and shade tree. Globally recognized as mahanimba (the great neem) in Sanskrit, bakayan / drek in Hindi, ku lian (苦楝); bark ku lian pi (苦楝皮) in Chinese, azadaraht in Arabic, and Persian lilac · bead tree · pride of India · China tree in English. The part used is root and stem bark chiefly; also leaf and fruit. Pale fibrous bark, intensely and lingeringly bitter; the fruit sweetish then acrid, deceptively pleasant to the tongue.
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.
CHINABERRY
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Chinaberry
- Scientific name
- Melia azedarach L.
- Family
- Meliaceae
Form
- Part used
- root and stem bark chiefly; also leaf and fruit
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- bitter
- Ayurveda
- bitter (tikta)
- Western
- bitter · acrid
- Unani
- bitter
Temperature
- TCM
- cold
- Ayurveda
- cooling (sheeta)
- Western
- cool
- Unani
- cold & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Liver · Spleen · Stomach
- Western
- intestines · liver · skin
- Unani
- intestines · stomach · liver
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- kills parasites, clears heat and dries dampness (used externally for tinea)
- Ayurveda
- krimighna (anthelmintic), jvaraghna (antipyretic), kushthaghna (heals skin disease), kandughna (antipruritic)
- Western
- anthelmintic, febrifuge, and antiparasitic wash; the leaf as insect-repellent
- Unani
- daf-e-deedan (anthelmintic), muhallil (resolvent), for skin diseases and intermittent fevers
Cautions
Contraindications: pregnancy; weak or debilitated patients; liver disease; do not repeat or exceed the dose
Toxicity: the whole tree, and especially the FRUIT, is poisonous — the drupes contain meliatoxins that cause vomiting, diarrhoea, ataxia, convulsions, respiratory paralysis and death; fatal poisonings of children and livestock are recorded. Even the medicinal bark, overdosed, brings nausea, dizziness, blurred vision and collapse.
Interactions
- Western
- hepatotoxic drugs: additive liver burden from the tree's toxins
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.