Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Chiretta (Swertia chirayita), of the Gentianaceae family. Erect annual herb with an angular purplish stem and a large pith; native range: the temperate Himalaya from Kashmir to Bhutan, 1200–3000 m. Globally recognized as kirata / kiratatikta in Sanskrit, chirayta in Hindi, qasab-uz-zarira (chirayta) in Arabic, and chiretta, Indian gentian, bitterstick in English. The part used is whole herb (dried plant). Wiry brown-purple stems and yellowish pith with a clean, intensely and lastingly bitter taste and no marked smell — a pure bitterness that lingers.
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.
CHIRETTA
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Chiretta
- Scientific name
- Swertia chirayita (Roxb.) H.Karst.
- Family
- Gentianaceae
Form
- Part used
- whole herb (dried plant)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- dominant: bitter (tikta)
- Western
- bitter
- Unani
- bitter
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- cooling (sheeta)
- Western
- cool
- Unani
- hot & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- liver · stomach · blood
- Unani
- liver · stomach · blood
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- jvaraghna (febrifuge), dipana-pachana (bitter digestive), pittahara, raktashodhaka (blood purifier), krimighna, kushthaghna
- Western
- bitter tonic, stomachic, febrifuge, and anthelmintic; laxative in large doses
- Unani
- muqawwi-e-meda (stomachic), daf-e-humma (febrifuge), musaffi-e-khoon (blood purifier), daf-e-yarqan (for jaundice), mufattit (deobstruent)
Cautions
Contraindications: cold weak digestion with much vata; gastric ulcer; pregnancy in large doses
Toxicity: large doses may nauseate, gripe and purge
Interactions
- Western
- antidiabetic agents: additive blood-sugar lowering with the bitter glycosides
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