Saccharum officinarum L.

Family : Poaceae

Synonym(s) : Saccharum chinense Roxb., Saccharatum hybridum hort., Saccharum officinale Salisb., Saccharatum violaceum Tussac

English Name : Sugar Cane

Origin : South Pacific islands

Description

It is a perennial, tall and erect grass upto 6 to 8 m in height. Culms are more or less cylindrical, solid and jointed with distinct nodes and internodes. Leaves are alternate, distichous and lamina linear and long with a distinct midrib. Panicle is silky and spikelets are deciduous. The fruit is a caryopsis.

Parts Used : Roots, stems, juice, sugar or gur and vinegar.


Herb Effects

Its roots are considered as cooling, demulcent and diuretic and the stems sweet, laxative, diuretic cooling and aphrodisiac.

Active Ingredients

Ascorbic acid, riboflavin, niacin.

Medicinal Use

The juice is drunk in jaundice and as a remedy for low blood pressure. This is also drunk or its gur with a little of dry ginger rubbed into it and taken to relieve hiccup. Besides it is administered for fistula.

Contraindication

Twenty to fifty percent of unrefined sugar added to oat produces skin swelling, weakness in the hind quarters, paralysis of the urinary bladder, weakness of the heart, and sometimes, death.

Reference