Pongamia pinnata
Pongamia pinnata
Author : (L.) Pierre
Family : Fabaceae

Habit:Small tree
Sanskrit: Karanjah
English: Indian beech, Pongam oil tree, Karanj
 
Description
A small tree, 10-15 m tall, with greyish-green or brown bark, imparipinnate leaves, 5-7, ovate or elliptic leaflets, small, numerous, fragrant, lilac or white tinged with pink or violet flowers, in axillary racemes and obliquely oblong, yellowish-brown, compressed, woody pods containing 1-2 elliptical or reniform, broad, wrinkled, reddish brown seeds.
Useful part

Root, bark, flowers, seeds, seed oil, leaves
Medicinal Uses
cleaning teeth, strengthening gums, gonorrhoea, scrotal & scrofulous enlargements, sores, foul ulcers, bleeding, beriberi, eye diseases, skin diseases, piles, vaginal diseases, ulcers, diarrhoea, leprosy, maggot infected ulcers, cough, rheumatism, cleaning wounds, whooping cough, anaemia, scabies, leprosy
Major chemical constituents

Karanjin, (-) isolonchocarpin, β-diketone, β-sitosterol, 3-methoxypongapin, 6-methoxyisopongaglabol, amino acids, aurantiamide acetate, carotene, chromenoflavone, demethoxykanugin, fatty acids, furanoflavones, gamain, glabrachalcone, glabrachromene, glabrachromene-I, glabrachromene-II, glabra-I, glabra-II, glabrin, glabrosaponin, glucoside, G-sitosterol, hydroxyfuranoflavone-pongaglabol [5-hydroxyfurano (8, 7, 4”, 5”) flavone], isopongachromene, isopongaflavone, isopongaglabol, kaempferol, kaempferol-7-0-D-glucoside, kanjone, kanujin, karanjachromene, karanjone, lonchocarpin, neoglabrin, ovalitenone, pinnatin, pongachalkone-I, pongachromene, pongaglabrone, pongamin, pongamol, pongamol-chromeno chromene, pongapin, pongapir, pongol, lanceolatin-B, quercetin, quercetin-7-0-D-glucoside, tetra-o-methylfisetin, triterpenoids