Pharmacognostical study of Nagakeshara (Mesua ferrea Linn) - an ingredient in Vyaghrihareetaki Avaleha.

Herbs are staging a come-back and the herbal renaissance is “the happening” all over the globe. Ironical fact – Ayurvedic System of medicine is still struggling to reach the heights beyond numerous hurdles in its path. One such hurdle is controversy over botanical identity of drugs. Among the many drugs under controversy the drug nagakeshara is also one. The drug nagakeshara is found as an ingredient in many of the Ayurvedic formulations. Nagakeshara is an ingredient in Vyaghrihareetaki Avaleha, used commonly to cure many diseases like shwasa, kasa, pinasa etc. Mesua ferrea, Ochrocarpus longifolius, Calophyllum inophyllum, Cinnamomum tamala, Dillenia pentagyna are the divergent source plants of nagakeshara. Unripe buds of Ochrocarpus longifolius Benth & Hook are sold in the name of rattan nagakeshara. Identification of original drug is the first step to maintain the quality of the final product. Here an attempt was made to study the drug Nagakeshara (Mesua ferrea) conceptually, pharmacognostically and analytically. Derived morphological characters with the help of synonyms as per various Ayurvedic classics, one can arrive at a conclusion that the drug should be the stamens present in the flowers of Mesua ferrea. In API, Mesua ferrea is considered as authentic drug for Nagakehara.