Bixa ORELLANA L.
| Synonym : | Bixa americana Poir. Bixa purpurea Sweet Orellana americana (Poir.) Kuntze |
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| Bangla Name : | Latkan, Belatihaldi, Utkana. |
| English Name : | Arnotta plant, Annatto. |
| Family : | Bixaceae |
| Disease : | Antiperiodic, antipyretic, fevers, jaundice and fever, astringent, febrifuge, diuretic, laxative, digestive, dysentery, epilepsy, skin diseases and gonorrhoea. |
| Description : | A small evergreen tree up to 5 m tall, generally with branches from near the ground. Leaves 10-20 cm long, ovate, cordate, acuminate. Flowers 5 cm diam., white or pink in terminal panicles. Capsule 3.7 cm long, ovoid or subglobose, clothed with long soft prickles. Seeds covered with red pulps. |
| Distribution : | Cultivated in Chittagong Chittagong Hill Tracts, sporadically in other districts. |
| Chemical Constituents : | Roots contain triterpenoid and tomentosic acid. Leaves yield essential oil (0.4%), which contains sesquiterpene, bixaghanene (ishwarane). Flavonoids, 7-bisulphates of apigenin, luteolin and hypolaetin have also been isolated from leaves. Seeds contain car |
| Uses : | Root bark is antiperiodic and antipyretic, used in intermittent, remittent and continued fevers. Root is used in jaundice and fever. Seeds are cordial, astringent, febrifuge, diuretic, laxative, digestive, prescribed in dysentery, epilepsy, skin diseases |
| Habit : | Tree |