Dolichos lab lab L. (NISPAVA)

Nispava is quoted under simbi dhanya by brhat trayi.  Vagbhata mentioned it as ‘valla’ in one context (A.H.Su.7/32).  Though simbi term is also used to denote this plant, simbi is more used for plants with green pods / legumes.  But nispava / simbi valla is identified with Dolichos lab-la Linn. According to susruta (Ut.17/27), green pods of mudga may be used as a substitute of simbi.

Botanical description – A perennial / annual twining herb; leaves trifoliolate; flowers in axillary racemes, reddish, purple or white; pods flat or inflated, broad or linear, incurved with remains of style, 2.5-12.7 cm long; seeds 5-7, globose, ovate or flattened, white to dark black.  Flowering in November and fruiting in December.  Cultivated throughout India.

Part used –  pods, seeds.

Uses – Pods are beneficial in epistaxis; Seeds – act as febrifuge, ighantu and aphrodisiac.

Chemical constituents – Seed oil – large amounts of linoleic acid, palmitic acid, oleic acid and linolenic acid; Plant – myoinositol, galactinol, amino acids etc.