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Nirgundi aka Vitex Negundo is a plant from the Lamiaceae family. It has some common names like five-leaved chaste tree, horseshoe vitex, Chinese chaste tree etc. The name five-leaved chaste tree comes to it from its quality of diminishing sexual desire.
Indrani, Nilanirgundi, Nirgundika, Renuka, Sephalika, Shephali, Shvetasurasa and Sindhooka are some of its Sanskrit names.
It is the native plant of Africa and Asia. It is widely cultivated all over the world. Nirgundi plant is more likely to be found near water bodies. It grows best in the well-drained loamy soil. This plant is widely planted as hedges to demark the division of fields.
It is a shrub with an average height of 2 to 8 m. The roots of the plant are woody, thick and reddish brown in colour. The bark is thin and brownish-blackish in colour. The leaves are palmately compounded. The middle leaflet is petiolate.
As per Ayurveda, this herb has a bitter taste and is dry in nature. It has hot potency and balances Vata and Kapha doshas. Various parts of this plant especially essential oils of flowers and leaves are used in Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Unani and allopathy for therapeutic use. Nirgundi juice, oil and powders are widely used in preparing medicines.
It has around six species that are rich in phytochemical constituents. Nirgundi herb is rich in Phenol, angoside, acunbin, casticin, B-sitosterol, Alkaloid-vitricine, etc. All these substances contribute towards the better treatment of the human body.