Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Indian madder (Rubia cordifolia), of the Rubiaceae family. A straggling perennial climber with whorled heart-shaped leaves and rough, backward-clinging stems; native range: the hill-forests of India, the Himalaya, China, Japan and tropical Africa. Globally recognized as manjishtha in Sanskrit, manjith in Hindi, qian cao (茜草); root = qian cao gen in Chinese, fuwwa (فوّة) in Arabic, and Indian madder, common madder, munjeet in English. The part used is the root and root-bark. Long, thin, cylindrical reddish-brown roots with a red-orange bark and a woody core, bitter and astringent to the taste and staining the fingers red.
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.
INDIAN MADDER
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Indian madder
- Scientific name
- Rubia cordifolia L.
- Family
- Rubiaceae
Form
- Part used
- the root and root-bark
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- bitter
- Ayurveda
- bitter · astringent · sweet
- Western
- bitter · astringent
- Unani
- bitter · astringent
Temperature
- TCM
- cold
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
- Western
- warm
- Unani
- hot (& dry, 2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Liver
- Western
- blood · uterus · kidneys · liver
- Unani
- liver · spleen · kidneys · uterus
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- cools the blood and stops bleeding (from heat), invigorates the blood and dispels stasis, unblocks the menses, and relieves painful joints from stasis
- Ayurveda
- raktashodhaka (blood-purifier), varnya (complexion), vishaghna (antitoxic), vranaropana (wound-healing), kaphapittahara, mutrala and jvaraghna
- Western
- an alterative blood-cleanser — aperient, diuretic, emmenagogue and lithontriptic; the root a famed red dye (Turkey red)
- Unani
- muffateh-e-sudad (deobstruent), mudirr (diuretic and emmenagogue) and mufattit-e-hasat (lithontriptic) — for obstruction of the liver and spleen, jaundice and dropsy
Cautions
Contraindications: pregnancy (an emmenagogue and blood-mover); harmlessly colours the urine, sweat and milk red
Toxicity: generally safe; large doses may upset the stomach — and the related dye-madder (Rubia tinctorum) contains lucidin and alizarin flagged for possible genotoxicity, so prolonged high doses are avoided
Interactions
- Western
- anticoagulants: the blood-invigorating action may add to bleeding risk
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