Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Unani
Kewda / screwpine (Pandanus odoratissimus), of the Pandanaceae family. Much-branched shrub or small tree of the shore, propped on stilt roots, with long spiny sword-shaped leaves in three spiral ranks; native range: the coasts, backwaters and sandy littoral of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, above all the Odisha coast, which supplies the distillers. Globally recognized as ketakī · sūcikāpuṣpa · jambūka in Sanskrit, kewda · keora · ketaki in Hindi, kia in Odia, kadi · keora in Arabic, keora · gul-e-keora in Urdu, and screwpine · umbrella tree · fragrant pandan in English. The part used is the male flower (the fragrant spadix and its bracts); also the root, the leaf and the oil. The male inflorescence is a cluster of creamy spikes wrapped in pale fragrant bracts, and its scent is heavy, sweet and honeyed, carrying far on damp night air; the leaves are stiff, glossy and armed with hooked prickles along their edges and keel. The taste of the flower is bitterish and aromatic.
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.
KEWDA
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- kewda / screwpine
- Scientific name
- Pandanus odoratissimus L.f.
- Family
- Pandanaceae
Form
- Part used
- the male flower (the fragrant spadix and its bracts); also the root, the leaf and the oil
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- bitter (tikta) · pungent (katu) · astringent (kashaya)
- Unani
- aromatic · bitter
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
- Unani
- hot (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Unani
- heart · brain · stomach
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- kapha-vata-hara, dipana (kindles digestion), shirovirechana (clears the head), krimighna, kushthaghna (for skin disease), and vrishya; the fragrance is medhya and hridya
- Unani
- mufarreh (exhilarant), muqawwi-e-qalb (cardiac tonic), muqawwi-e-dimagh (nervine), musakkin-e-sardard (relieves headache), and daf-e-taffun (antiseptic)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- pitta predominance and hot conditions; pregnancy, in the concentrated attar
- Toxicity
- the flower and its distilled water are used freely and no toxicity is on record; the concentrated attar and the volatile oil are irritant and are not for internal use, and the pollen is a known trigger of headache and asthma in the sensitive
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