Ankot (Alangium salviifolium)

Benefits of Ankola

• Arthritis (Aamvata): In Amavata (arthritis), the patient suffers from inflammation, swelling, and tenderness in one or more joints. Ankol Mula (roots) exhibits analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties that help to provide relief in arthritis.
• Jaundice (Kamala): Recent research revealed that the root bark of Ankola reduces the bilirubin level and controls the inflammation of the liver. Thus, helps to cure Kamala (Jaundice).
• Headache (Shiro Shool): Ankol consists of active constituents like tannins, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, alkaloids, etc due to which it exhibits anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties and is very beneficial in relieving headache (Shiroshool). 
• The root is useful as an acrid, bitter, slightly pungent, oily, sharp, heating, anthelmintic, alterative, and bitter tonic. The roots are useful for treating erysipelas, biliousness, inflammation, snakebite, and fish- poison.
• The juice is useful as an emetic, and alexipharmic, and cures diseases due to provocation of Vata and Pitta, pain inflammation and edema, diseases due to blood impurities, hydrophobia, rate-bite, lumbago, dysentery, diarrhea, and worms.
• The seeds have taste and flavor, and they are useful as cooling, aphrodisiac, indigestible tonic, and laxative. They are used for treating burning sensation, consumption, biliousness, and erysipelas. They cause or provoke Kapha and loss of appetite.
• The root bark is used in piles. The stem is good for vomiting and diarrhea. The fruits are useful as sweet, laxative, expectorant, carminative, anthelmintic, alexiteric, and oily. They are used in the treatment of inflammation, diseases of blood, burning sensation of the whole body, wasting disease, spermatorrhoea, gleet, acute fever, and lumbago.
• The root bark is used in traditional medicine as an anthelmintic and purgative medicine. 
• The leaves are used as a poultice for relieving rheumatic pains.
• In tribal medicine, the roots are used as a purgative in dyspepsia and also in gout and it is used against poisons, worms, and joint pain.
• The fruits are useful as cooling and tonic medicine and used in burning sensation of the body and general debility.
• It is an efficient and safe emetic in the dose of 15 grains and smaller doses, it is nauseant and febrifuge. The bark is very bitter, and it is reputed for skin diseases. It is a good substitute for the drug Ipecacuanha. It has been useful as a diaphoretic and antipyretic for relieving pyrexia.
• The root bark is used as a nauseant, diuretic, and febrifuge, in the doses of 6 to 10 grains; and used as an alternative in the dose of 2 to 5 grains, and useful in leprosy and syphilis. It is considered an alexiteric, especially in cases of bites from rabid animals.
• The powdered root bark in the dose of 60 grains is made into a bolus and given in cases of cobra poisoning in traditional practice. Both the bark and the roots are prescribed as an antidote to snake venom.
• The roots containing alkaloid Alangine are given as decoction or infusion with ghee for bites of dogs and vermin, worms, colic, and inflammation. The roots act as a hydragogue cathartic and are useful in dropsy and other similar disorders.
• The roots and root bark are used in rat-bite, fish poison-bite, dog bite-rabies, and bites-poisons of other poisonous animals of this category. It is specifically recommended in snake bite cases.
• The root bark is powdered and used with rice water as a snuff in the condition of jaundice. This recipe is orally used in cases of diarrhea, dysentery, and other diarrheal complaints.
• The fruit oil is medicinally useful and recommended in the treatment of various diseases. As an alternative and restorative medicine, the snuff of oil is prescribed and it helps longevity and vitality. This oil is used in skin diseases, scabies, itching, and blood impurities complaints and it counters provoked Vata and Pitta, and it is good for healthy hairs. 
• The oil is considered to help to enhance the semen ejaculation period during coitus if it is locally applied over the umbilicus region of a male.
• The oil is externally applied over painful organs or complaints with pain predominance, ulcers, wounds, scabies, itchy and cutaneous affections.
• The root bark is made into a paste and it is externally applied over body parts bitten by poisonous rate, snakes, dogs, jackals, and other animals, for countering the poisonous effect and allaying the pains, inflammation, and other symptoms.
• The root bark is a hypotensive agent and is considered useful in cases of hypertension as it reduces or controls blood pressure. Injection (intravenous) of Alangine sulfate (Alangine is the main active alkaloid of the plant) fastens and lowers blood pressure up to 30-40 mm, and within 1-2 minutes, the blood pressure becomes normal in the experiment.
• The flowers are also used in the case of treating poisonous collyrium, the flowers are rubbed and their collyrium is applied to the eyes.