Latin Name(s): Pongamia glabra, Pongamia pinnata

English Name(s): Pongam Oil Tree, Indian Beech

Sanskrit / Indian Name (s): Karanja

Cure for: The oil obtained from the herb has been used to treat tumours, wounds, ulcers, itching, enlargement of spleen and abdomen, urinary discharges. The fruits and sprouts of Karanj are used in folk remedies for abdominal tumors in India, the seeds for keloid tumors in Sri Lanka, and a powder derived from the plant for tumors in Vietnam. In ancient India the seeds were used for skin ailments. Today the oil is used as a liniment for rheumatism. The juice from leaves is used for colds, coughs, diarrhea, dyspepsia, flatulence, gonorrhea, and leprosy while the roots are used for cleaning gums, teeth, and ulcers. Bark is used internally for bleeding piles. Powdered seeds are valued as a febrifuge, tonic and in bronchitis and whooping cough. Flowers are used for diabetes. In Ayurvedic medicine the root and bark are used in abdominal enlargement, ascites, biliousness, diseases of the eye, skin, and vagina, itch, piles, tumors, ulcers, and wounds. The sprouts and leaves are used for inflammation, piles and skin diseases; the flowers for diabetes; the fruit and seed for piles, urinary discharges, and diseases of the brain, eye, head, and skin, the oil for biliousness, eye ailments, itch, leucoderma, skin diseases, worms, and wounds