Masa is an extensively used pulses. It is considered as one of the best vrsya substance. Masa formed the main ingredient of diet for rajayaskma, purisa ksaya and sukra ksaya.
Botanical description – An erect pubescent herb, 30-90 cm high,; leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets entire, acuminate, ovate to rhombic-ovate, 5-10 cm long; flowers yellow, small, in short but later elongating peduncles; pods erect or spreading, cylindrical; seeds 1-4, oblong with square ends, generally black or greenish-black with a white hilum, concave in the middle. Flowering in September-October and fruiting in November-December. Cultivated throughout India as a pulse crop.
Chemical constituents – Genistein, kievitone, dalbergioidin, hemicellulose A, pectin, starch and hexosans etc.
Part used – seeds, fruit.
Uses – Seeds exhibit the following effects viz.m astringent, diuretic, cooling, afebrile etc.
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