From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Commiphora wightii
(Guggal, Guggul or Mukul
myrrh tree) is a flowering plant in the family Burseraceae. The guggul
plant may be found from northern Africa to
central Asia, but
is most common in northern India. It prefers arid and semi-arid climates and is tolerant of poor
soil.
It is a shrub or small tree, reaching a maximum height of
4 m, with thin papery bark.
The branches are thorny. The leaves are simple or trifoliate, the leaflets
ovate, 1–5 cm long, 0.5–2.5 cm broad, irregularly
toothed. It is gynodioecious, with some plants bearing
bisexual and male flowers, and
others with female flowers. The individual flowers are red to pink,
with four small petals.
Guggal has been a key component in ancient Indian Ayurvedic system of medicine, and now is
widely used in modern medicine for treatment of heart ailments. But
Guggal (Commiphora weghtii), as it is locally known, has become so
scarce because of its overuse in its two habitats in India where
its is found — Gujarat and
Rajasthan that the World Conservation Union (IUCN) has
enlisted it in its Red Data List of endangered species.
The extract, called gugulipid, guggulipid or guglipid, comes
from the guggal or guggul tree and has been used in Ayurvedic
medicine, a traditional Hindu medicine, for nearly 3,000 years in
India.
Cultivation
and uses
Guggul is sought for its gummy resin, which is harvested from the plant's bark
through the process of tapping. In India and Pakistan, guggul is cultivated commercially.
The resin of the guggul plant, known as gum guggulu, has a
fragrance similar to myrrh and is commonly used in incense and perfumes. It is the same
product that was known in Hebrew, ancient Greek and Latin sources as bdellium.
Guggulipid
Guggulipid, gugulipid or guglipid is the extract extracted from
the sap or resin of Guggal tree also known as mukul myrrh tree (Commiphora mukul) it secretes a resinous
material called gum guggul.
Guggul
Dhoop
Guggul can be purchased in a loosely packed form called Dhoop,
an incense
from India, which is then burned over hot coals. This produces
a fragrant dense smoke. The burning coals which produces the smoke
is carried around in different rooms and held in all the corners of
the room for a few seconds. This is said to drive away evil spirits
as well as remove the evil eye from the home and its family
members.
References
- Kutch to house Centre’s Rs
8-cr Guggal conservation project, D V MAHESHWARI, Indian Express
Newspapers, Tuesday , January 8, 2008
- Indian herb can reduce
cholesterol, Health, BBC NEWS, Thursday, 2 May, 2002
- `US study results on
Gugulipid premature', Vinson Kurian, Variety - Health, The Hindu
Business Line, Thiruvananthapuram , Sunday, Aug 24, 2003
- “Guggal” description from
Herbs’n’Cures, Botanical Name: Commiphora wightii, Common Name:
Guggal, Family: Burseraceae, Part-Used: Olio gum resin
- Ancient Indian remedy 'lowers
cholesterol', May 3, 2002, CNN
- What's Gugul Good For? By
DAVID BJERKLIE, Time Magazine; Monday, Aug. 25, 2003
- Gugulipid: Controlling
Cholesterol Naturally, by Dena Nishek, 2003-08-01
External
links
Bibliography
- Dalby, Andrew (2003), written at
London, New York, Food in the ancient world from A to Z,
Routledge, ISBN 0415232597, pp. 226–227
See also
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