Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Unani
Coffee senna (Senna occidentalis), of the Fabaceae (Caesalpiniaceae) family. Erect foetid annual or short-lived undershrub with pinnate leaves and flat pods; native range: pantropical, likely of tropical American origin, now naturalised across India and southern China. Globally recognized as kasamarda in Sanskrit, kasondi in Hindi, wang jiang nan (望江南) in Chinese, kasondi in Arabic, and coffee senna, negro-coffee, stinking weed in English. The part used is seed; leaf; whole herb; root. Bruised leaves give off a rank, sour, mousy smell; the dark flat seeds roast to a bitter coffee-like scent.
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.
COFFEE SENNA
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Coffee senna
- Scientific name
- Senna occidentalis (L.) Link
- Family
- Fabaceae (Caesalpiniaceae)
Form
- Part used
- seed; leaf; whole herb; root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- bitter
- Ayurveda
- dominant: pungent (katu) · bitter (tikta)
- Unani
- bitter
Temperature
- TCM
- cool
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
- Unani
- hot & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Liver · Stomach
- Unani
- lungs · liver · stomach
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- clears liver heat, brightens the eyes, cools the blood and detoxifies; moves the bowel
- Ayurveda
- kasahara (antitussive), kaphaghna, krimighna, kushthaghna (skin), dipana; leaf purgative
- Unani
- munaffis-e-balgham (expectorant), muhallil (resolvent), jali (detergent), mus'hil (mild purgative)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- pregnancy; high pitta and loose stool; the seed in quantity
- Toxicity
- seeds contain toxic anthraquinones and can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and, in fodder amounts, muscle and liver damage — a livestock poison
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