AJOWAN oil. 



CARYOTA 

 URBNS 



Bastard Sago 

 C. coptloum,Benth.; FL Br. Ind., ii., 682; Cooke, Fl. Pre. Bomb., i., D.E.P., 



Prain, H<ng. Plants, i., 536; Duthie,^ 1 /. Upper Gang. Plain, i.,394. The ii., 198-200. 

 Hishi>|)'s NVr.il, Lovage (of Indian writers), ajowan, a j wain, ajioan, juvani 

 i, <i/amo, chochara, owa, amam, omdmi, omu, etc., a herbaceous plant 

 tivat-tl throughout India, especially in Bengal. It also grows in Egypt, Habitat 

 , and Afghanistan, and more recently was introduced into Europe. 



is certainly not the "ami " or "ammt" of Dioscorides (as exemplified Jiutory. 

 ia Mi-- Cixlcx Vindob., 60, which is Ammi Visnaga), though that opinion haa 

 .oen upheld. [Cf. Pharmacog. Ind., ii., 116.] It would appear, however, to 

 mi perpusillum, of Lobel (Stirp. Hist., 1576, 414). The fruits are certainly 

 tvc of Percivnl (1773). Pomet, physician to Louis XIV. of France (Hist. 

 \. od.). 1712, 3, f. 5), observed that by far the best quality came from 

 m<l Treto. In India it is sown in October to November on ridges, the Cultivation. 

 !!_ dibbled every 6 inches; strong manures are deleterious but a liberal 

 >u|>j>ly of water is necessary. The aromatic fruits are much in request for ad- 

 ! o in curries, etc., and in pan aupari. The plant is referred to in the Taleef 

 (Playfair, transl., 1833, 9) as astringent, aphrodisiac, vermifuge and 

 t ir. By distillation a WATER and an OIL are obtained, the percentage of the 

 r Ix-ing about 3-4. The oil is given medicinally in cholera, colic, etc., being Medicine Oil. 



like the fruits, antispasmodic, stimulant, tonic and carminative, 

 water is prepared and sold in most Indian bazars. A crystalline substance Omum- water : 

 itine separates from the oil and forms on the surface during distillation. Thymnl. 

 is sold as ajwain-ka-phul ("flowers of ajoivan"), and is identical with thymol, 

 which is the principal constituent (45 to 55 per cent.) of ajowan-oil and for which 

 ' lie fruits are distilled in Europe. It is prepared on a fairly extensive scale 

 ni I' j ji> in and other towns of Central India and was first made known to Europe by 

 Us. The price is from Rs. 6 to Rs. 12 per Ib. [Cf. Rept. Cent. Indig. Drugs 

 .. i., 125.] The value of thymol is mainly as an antiseptic, and very large 

 rs have recently been received from Japan. The price in Europe varies with 

 character of the Indian season : during cholera and plague years it has been 

 high (e.g. 2 l 2s. per kilo in 1901), but over-production has tended to keep prices 

 low (e.g. 13*. (k/. in 1897, 13s. in 1903). Besides thymol certain hydrocarbons 

 called thymene are obtained from ajowan-oil and used as a soap-perfume. A 

 sample of the fresh plant itself cultivated at Miltitz (Saxony) yielded - 12 per cent. 

 oil. hut the oil had only 1 per cent, of thymol. Of 8,641 cwt. of the fruit exported 

 from Bombay in 1903, 8,443 cwt. went to Germany and the rest to America and 

 r. [Cf.' Schimmel & Co., Semi-Ann. Kept., Oct.-Nov., 1903, 104 ; Apr.-May, 

 1'.<H4, 130.] The distilled dried fruit contains 15 to 17 per cent, protein and 25 Fodder. 

 to 32 per cent, fat, thus making an excellent food for cattle. [Cf. Gildemeister 

 and Hoffmann, I.e. 557; Craddock, Rept. Land Rev. Settl., Nagpur, 1890-5; 

 Lawrence, Valley of Kashmir, 1895, 346; Brit. Pharmacop., 1898, 335; White 

 and Humphrey, Pharmacop., 1901, 496, 553, etc.] 



5 



C. Roxburghianum, Benth. ; Prain, Beng. Plants, i., 536 ; ajmud, DJE.R, 



ii., 201-2. 



yt, randhuni, chanu, rajani, etc. 



This is extensively cultivated throughout India for the sake of its seeds, which Ajmud. 

 used in curries and to some extent for its leaves as a substitute for parsley. Food. 

 a drug ajmud is regarded as carminative and stimulant and has the reputation Medicine. 

 "f lifing specially useful in vomiting, dyspepsia, etc. (Taleef Shereef < (Playfair, 

 transl.), 1833, 8). It is probably only a cultivated form of c. stietocnrpmn.var. 

 "i-im. C. B. Clarke (Fl. Br. Ind.,ii., 681-2). [Cf. Buchanan-Hamilton,' tat. 



{Dinaj., 188 ; Fleming, Ind. Med. PI. and Drugs, in As. Res., 1810, xi., 157.] 

 CARYOTA URENS, Linn. ; Fl. Br. Ind., vi., 422 ; Gamble, D.E.P., 

 /. Timbs., 729 ; Prain, Beng. Plants, ii., 1093 ; Brandis, Ind. Trees, "-, 206-8. 

 ; Cooke, Fl Pres. Bomb., ii., 805-6; PALMED. The Indian Sago- Sago-palm. 

 palm, Bastard-sago, mari, bherawa, birlimhad, mhdr-mardi, conda-panna, 

 bhyni, shunda-pana, minbaw, etc. A beautiful palm met with throughout Habitat, 

 the hotter parts of India from the Sikkim Himalaya and Assam to 

 Ceylon and Singapore, distributed throughout tropical Asia and Malaya. 

 k The Fibre. The plant is mentioned by almost all the pre-Linneean Fibre. 



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