Talk:Dadima: Difference between revisions

|label6 = Year of publication

|data6 = 2026

|label7 = Publisher

|data7 = [[Charak Samhita Research, Training and Skill Development Centre]]

|label8 = DOI

|data8 = Awaited

'''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomegranate Punica granatum L.]''', popularly known as '''Dadima''' (Pomegranate), is a large deciduous shrub or small tree belonging to the family Lythraceae. It is highly revered in [[Ayurveda]] for its culinary and therapeutic uses, as a heart-healthy tonic (''hridya'') and digestive aid.

==English name==

* '''Sweet fruit (swadu):''' Beneficial in burning sensations (''daha''), excessive thirst (''trishna''), fever (''jwara''), enhancing reproductive constituents (''shukrala''), light to digest (''laghu''), and reduces bad mouth odour (''mukhagandhaghna'').

* '''Sweet and sour fruit (swaduamla):''' Beneficial for stimulating digestion (''dipana''), improving taste (''ruchya''), and slightly elevates pitta dosha.

It is a large deciduous shrub or small tree with shining, oblanceolate glabrous leaves, red-colored flowers with 5–7 petals, and a globose fruit.<ref name="ref1" />

==Traditional Context==

In traditional Ayurvedic texts, Dadima is classified into three types based on taste: sweet (''swadu''), sweet-sour (''swaduamla'') and sour (''amla''). It has an important role in dietary prescriptions (''Pathya'') and in many formulations, and pacifies Vata, Pitta and Kapha doshas depending on its variety.<ref name="ref2" />

==Synonyms in Charak Samhita==

* '''Dadima:''' Useful in many conditions.<ref name="ref2" />

* '''Dantabija:''' Seeds resemble teeth.<ref name="ref2" />

* '''Lohitapushpaka:''' Flowers are red in color.<ref name="ref2" />

# Swadu (Sweet)<ref name="ref2" />

# Swaduamla (Sweet and sour)<ref name="ref2" />

# Amla (Sour)<ref name="ref2" />

==Ayurvedic pharmacological properties==

|+ Properties

| 1 || Taste ([[rasa]]) || Sweet (madhura), Astringent (kashaya), Sour (amla)<ref name="ref2" />

| 2 || Potency ([[veerya]]) || Not too hot (anushna)<ref name="ref2" />

| 3 || Post digestion effect ([[vipaka]]) || Sweet (madhura)<ref name="ref2" />

| 4 || Qualities ([[guna]]) || Light (laghu), Unctuous (snigdha)<ref name="ref2" />

| 5 || Actions ([[karma]]) || Reduces [[vata]], [[pitta]] and [[kapha]]<ref name="ref2" />

==Reference in Charak Samhita and its actions==

! Sr.no. !! Reference in Charak Samhita !! Activity

* 5 to 10 g of the drug in powder form or fresh juice as required.<ref name="ref1" />

==Current availability==

* '''In India –''' Found growing wild in the valley and outer hills of the Himalayas between 900–1800 m, and cultivated widely across many parts of the country.<ref name="ref1" />

* '''Out of India –''' Central Asia, the Himalayas, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, California, Arizona, and South Asia.<ref name="ref1" />

==Phytoconstituents==

Different parts of ''Punica granatum'' (fruit peel, aril and juice, seed, flower, leaf, bark and heartwood) contain the following major classes of phytochemicals:<ref name="Wu2017" />

* '''Hydrolyzable tannins:''' ellagitannins (e.g. punicalagin, punicalin) and gallotannins, abundant in the fruit peel.

* '''Ellagic acid:''' free ellagic acid, its methylated forms and glycosidic derivatives.

* '''Flavonoids:''' chalcones, flavanones, flavones, flavonols, anthocyanins (responsible for the red colour), flavan-3-ols and procyanidins.

* '''Alkaloids:''' present in the bark.

* '''Steroids and lipids:''' steroid hormones and seed-oil lipids such as monoacylglycerols and triglycerides.

==Pharmacological Activities and Therapeutic Efficacy==

All studies below are preclinical or small human studies on pomegranate preparations. Results with juice or peel extract should not be taken as proof of the effect of the Ayurvedic dosage forms.

===Overview of therapeutic applications===

Pomegranate constituents have been reported to have antioxidant, anticarcinogenic and anti-inflammatory properties, with research on cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dental conditions, bacterial infections and other disorders.<ref name="Jurenka2008" />

===Cardiovascular protection (Hridya)===

In healthy male volunteers and in atherosclerotic apolipoprotein E-deficient mice, pomegranate juice consumption had potent antioxidant effects against lipid peroxidation in plasma and lipoproteins. In humans it decreased LDL susceptibility to aggregation and retention and raised the activity of serum paraoxonase by about 20%.<ref name="Aviram2000" />

===Antidiarrhoeal activity (Atisara)===

The aqueous extract of the peel (100–400 mg/kg) reduced castor-oil-induced diarrhoea, enteropooling and gastrointestinal transit in rats in a dose-dependent manner, and inhibited the spontaneous movement of the isolated rat ileum. The extract contained tannins, flavonoids and alkaloids.<ref name="Qnais2007" />

 

 

==Summary of Therapeutic Profile==

|+ Therapeutic applications of ''Punica granatum'' (preclinical and small human studies)

! Part / preparation studied

! Principal finding

| '''Cardiovascular health / Hridroga'''

| Juice

| Antioxidant effects; reduced LDL aggregation and retention, raised paraoxonase activity

| Aqueous peel extract

| Reduced castor-oil diarrhoea, enteropooling and intestinal transit in rats

|-

| Juice, peel and other parts

==References==

<ref name="Wu2017">{{cite journal |last1=Wu |first1=S. |last2=Tian |first2=L. |year=2017 |title=Diverse phytochemicals and bioactivities in the ancient fruit and modern functional food pomegranate (Punica granatum) |journal=Molecules |volume=22 |issue=10 |pages=1606 |doi=10.3390/molecules22101606}}</ref>

<ref name="Jurenka2008">{{cite journal |last1=Jurenka |first1=J. S. |year=2008 |title=Therapeutic applications of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.): a review |journal=Alternative Medicine Review |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=128–144}}</ref>

<ref name="Aviram2000">{{cite journal |last1=Aviram |first1=M. |last2=Dornfeld |first2=L. |last3=Rosenblat |first3=M. |last4=Volkova |first4=N. |last5=Kaplan |first5=M. |last6=Coleman |first6=R. |last7=Hayek |first7=T. |last8=Presser |first8=D. |last9=Fuhrman |first9=B. |year=2000 |title=Pomegranate juice consumption reduces oxidative stress, atherogenic modifications to LDL, and platelet aggregation: studies in humans and in atherosclerotic apolipoprotein E-deficient mice |journal=The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition |volume=71 |issue=5 |pages=1062–1076 |doi=10.1093/ajcn/71.5.1062}}</ref>

<ref name="Qnais2007">{{cite journal |last1=Qnais |first1=E. Y. |last2=Elokda |first2=A. S. |last3=Abu Ghalyun |first3=Y. Y. |last4=Abdulla |first4=F. A. |year=2007 |title=Antidiarrheal activity of the aqueous extract of Punica granatum (pomegranate) peels |journal=Pharmaceutical Biology |volume=45 |issue=9 |pages=715–720 |doi=10.1080/13880200701575304}}</ref>

<ref name="Lansky2007">{{cite journal |last1=Lansky |first1=E. P. |last2=Newman |first2=R. A. |year=2007 |title=Punica granatum (pomegranate) and its potential for prevention and treatment of inflammation and cancer |journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology |volume=109 |issue=2 |pages=177–206 |doi=10.1016/j.jep.2006.09.006}}</ref>