Madhuca longifolia

HABIT: Mahua is a large deciduous tree growing widely under dry tropical and sub tropical climatic conditions. Leaves are clustered at end of the branches; coriaceous, elliptic, shortly acuminate, base cuneate. Flowers are numerous, near the ends of branches, drooping on pedicels. 

CONSERVATION STATUS: Evaluated as 'Not Evaluated' by IUCN.

MEDICINAL USES: Madhuca longifolia is been gifted with the antioxidant activity which is necessary to combat the oxidative stress due to free radicals. The free radicals are responsible to damage chemical species making the other molecules unstable like superoxide anion. The flowers are used as cooling agent, aphrodisiac, astringent, demulcent, tonsillitis, helminthes, pharyngitis, bronchitis, impotency, inflammation, eczema. Flowers are used in the cure of eye diseases. The aqueous extract of mahua oil cakes possessed significant larvicidal and ovicidal activities against Meloidogyne incognita. Its flowers have the property of tonic, aphrodisiac, astringent and cooling. The saponins extracted from mahua leaves possessed a significant spasmolytic activity. . Its paste can be used as antidote for scorpion sting. It is also used for the treatment of ulcer, tonsillitis. In the study it was reported that the mahua leaves extract caused a significant decrease in tumor volume, tumor weight, tumor cell count and enhanced the mean survival time.

(Khare, P., Kishore, K., & Sharma, D. K. (2018). Medicinal uses, Phytochemistry and Pharmacological profile of Madhuca longifolia. Asian Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 4(5), 570-581.)

ETHNOBOTANICAL USES: Mahua seeds contain about 40% pale yellow semi-solid fat. The seed oil is commonly known as „Mahua Butter‟. The oil content of the seed varied from 33 to 43% weight of the kernel. For the tribals of India, Mahua oil is by far the most important tree seed oils. The oil is used as cooking oil by most of the tribes in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra etc. Due to high content of sugar (sucrose, glucose, fructose, arabinose, few amount of maltose and rhamnose) tribal people are utilizing mahua flowers as a sweetening agent in numerous local and traditional dishes like halwa, meethi puri, kheer and burfi. In term of fermented products flowers are also used as crude material for production of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. Mahua flowers are also utilized by the tribal people of Orissa to make a country liquor called Mahuli. 

(Pinakin, D. J., Kumar, V., Kumar, A., Gat, Y., Suri, S., & Sharma, K. (2018). Mahua: A boon for pharmacy and food industry. Current Research in Nutrition and Food Science Journal, 6(2), 371-381.)