Mucuna pruriens - Kapikachchu

Kapikachuchu, Cowhage, Mucuna pruriens

Kapikachuchu is a tropical legume native to Africa and tropical Asia and widely naturalized and cultivated. Its English common names include velvet bean, Bengal velvet bean, Florida velvet bean, Mauritius velvet bean, Yokohama velvet bean, cowage, cowitch, lacuna bean, and Lyon bean. The plant is notorious for the extreme itchiness it produces on contact, particularly with the young foliage and the seed pods. It has value in agricultural and horticultural use and has a range of medicinal properties.

Uses

nervous system problems, handle stress, Parkinson’s Disease, Brain disease, Prolactin levels, Male Infertility, Cobra Venom, Diarrhea, Sore throats

Parts Used

Leaves.

Chemical Composition

There are many ingredients in mucuna pruriens, while L-dopa is the main content that we care about. Mature seeds contain typically 3.1-6.1% Levodopa, although up to 12.5% has been recorded. The leaves tend to contain around 0.5%.

Common names

Language	Common name
Kannada
Hindi
Malayalam
Tamil
Telugu
Marathi	NA
Gujarathi	NA
Punjabi	NA
Kashmiri	NA
Sanskrit
English	Agrimony

Properties

Reference: Dravya - Substance, Rasa - Taste, Guna - Qualities, Veerya - Potency, Vipaka - Post-digesion effect, Karma - Pharmacological activity, Prabhava - Therepeutics.

Rasa

Tikta (Bitter), Kashaya (Astringent)

Guna

Laghu (Light), Ruksha (Dry), Tikshna (Sharp)

Veerya

Ushna (Hot)

Vipaka

Katu (Pungent)

Karma

Kapha, Vata

Habit

Herb

Identification

Leaf

Kind	Shape	Feature
Simple	trifoliate	lateral leaflets conspicuously asymmetrical, 7–15 cm long, 5–12 cm wide, terminal leaflet symmetrical, somewhat smaller

Flower

Type	Size	Color and composition	Stamen	More information
Unisexual	4–13 cm long	purple or white	5	Usually more or less S-shaped, finely pubescent with white to light brown hairs

Fruit

Type	Size	Mass	Appearance	Seeds	More information
simple	7–10 mm	clearly grooved lengthwise, Lowest hooked hairs aligned towards crown		100-seed	{{{6}}}

List of Ayurvedic medicine in which the herb is used

• Vishatinduka Taila as root juice extract

Mode of Propagation

Seeds, Cuttings.

How to plant/cultivate

Mucuna is a popular kharif crop in India. Seeds are sown at rate of 50 kg/ha between 15 June to 15th July with plant spacing of 60 × 60 cm. Delayed sowing may result in infestation of aphids (Aphis craccivora) (Oudhia 2001a ).

Commonly seen growing in areas

Tall grasslands, meadows, Borders of forests and fields.

Photo Gallery

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

External Links

• Mucuna pruriens on zd biological product centre
• Analysis of Levodopa Content in Commercial Mucuna pruriens Products Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography
• Mucuna pruriens on sivashakti herbal.in