Senna occidentalis
| Coffee senna | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Senna occidentalis flower | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
| Tribe: | Cassieae |
| Genus: | Senna |
| Species: | S. occidentalis |
| Binomial name | |
| Senna occidentalis (L.) Link, 1829 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Cassia caroliniana, C. ciliata Raf.
| |
Senna occidentalis is a pantropical plant species.[1]
Vernacular names include : ʻauʻaukoʻi in Hawaii, septicweed,[2] coffee senna, coffeeweed, Mogdad coffee, negro-coffee, senna coffee, Stephanie coffee, stinkingweed or styptic weed.
The species was formerly placed in the genus Cassia.
The plant is reported to be poisonous to cattle.[3] The plant contains anthraquinones. The roots contain emodin[4] and the seeds contain chrysarobin (1,8-dihydroxy-3-methyl-9-anthrone) and N-methylmorpholine.[5]
Uses
Mogdad coffee seeds can be roasted and used as a substitute for coffee. They have also been used as an adulterant for coffee. There is apparently no caffeine in mogdad coffee.
Despite the claims of being poisonous, the leaves of this plant, Dhiguthiyara in the Maldivian language,[6] have been used in the diet of the Maldives for centuries[7] in dishes such as mas huni and also as a medicinal plant.[8]
In parts of India, consumption of the plant has caused the poisoning deaths of children due to Acute HME syndrome. Once the plant was identified as the cause, the number of deaths plummeted.[9]
Description
C. occidentalis L. Sp. Pl. 377. 1753; DC. Prodr. 2 : 497. 1825 ; Baker, in Hook. F. Fl. Brit. Ind. 2: 262, 1878; Heinig, Enum. 401. 1907 ; Ohashi in Hara, Fl. E. Himal. 144. 1966; Deb. D.B. Fl. Tripura State 1 : 119. 1981; C. planisiliqua L. Sp. Pl. 377. 1753; Senna occidentalis Roxb. Fl. Ind. 2 : 343. 1832.
Plant:- Annual undershrub,subglabrous,foetid,few feet high.
Leaves:- Alternate ,compound, paripinnate; rachis channelled, presence of a gland at the base of the rachis; stipulate, stipules obliquely cordate, acuminate; leaflets 4-5 pairs, size (3.7 cm X 2 cm- 7 cm X 3.5 cm),obate to oblong- lanceolate; acuminate, margin ciliate, glabrous or pubescence.
Inflorescence:- Axillary corymb and terminal panicle.
Flowers:- Complete, bisexual, slighty irregular, zygomorphic, pentamerous, hypogynous, pedicelate; bractate, bracts white with pinkish tinge, thin, ovate- acuminate , caducous; yellow.
Calyx:- Sepals 5, gamosepalous, tube short, 5 lobed, obtuse, glabrous, imbricate, odd sepal is anterior.
Corolla:- Petals 5, polypetalous, alternisepalous, sub-equal, with distinct claw , conspicuously veined, ascending imbricate, posterior petal is the innermost.
Androecium:- Stamens 10, free, unequal in size, 7 perfect and 3 reduced to staminode, filaments unequal, anther dithecous, basifixed, introrse and dehiscing by terminal pores.
Gynoecium:- Carpel 1, ovary superiour, unilocular, many ovuled, marginal placentation; style simple; stigma terminate, capitate.
Fruit:- Pod, dehiscent, woody, 12.5 cm X 0.7 cm, glabrous, recurved, subcompressed, distinctly torulose, 23-30 seeded.
References
- ↑ "Senna occidentalis (L.) Link". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2004-01-22. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
- ↑ "Senna occidentalis". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
- ↑ Coffee Senna (Senna occidentalis) poisoning in cattle in Brazil. Barth AT, Kommers GD, Salles MS, Wouters F and de Barros CS, Vet Hum Toxicol. 1994 Dec;36(6):541-5.
- ↑ Emodin, an antibacterial anthraquinone from the roots of Cassia occidentalis. J.C. Chukwujekwu, P.H. Coombes, D.A. Mulholland and J. van Staden, South African Journal of Botany, Volume 72, Issue 2, May 2006, Pages 295-297, doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2005.08.003
- ↑ Isolation of N-methylmorpholine from the seeds of Cassia occidentalis (coffee senna). Hyeong L. Kim, Bennie J. Camp, Ronald D. Grigsby, J. Agric. Food Chem., 1971, 19 (1), pp 198–199, doi:10.1021/jf60173a026
- ↑ Thimaaveshi - Catalogue of Plants
- ↑ List of food items in 'Maldives Coding System'
- ↑ Xavier Romero-Frias, The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom. Barcelona 1999, ISBN 84-7254-801-5
- ↑ Cassia occidentalis poisoning as the probable cause of hepatomyoencephalopathy in children in western Uttar Pradesh
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