Botanical Name :indigoferatinctoria Linn.

Classification:

According To Modern

Kingdom –Plantae
Order – Rosales
Family –Papilionaceae

According To Ayurveda

Charak- VirecanaDravya
Sushruta- AdhobhagaharaDravya
Bhavprakash- GuducyadiVarga

Other Names :

Tamil: Aviri, Nili
Assamese: Nilbam , Bengali: Nil
English: Indigo, Indian indigo
Gujrati: Gali, Gari, Nil
Hindi: Nili
Kannada: Karunili, Neeligida, Malayalam: Nilam, Amari
Marathi: Neel
Oriya: Nili, Nila
Punjabi: Neel
Sanskrit: Nili, Nilika, Nilini, Rangapatri
Telugu: NiliChettu, Nili, Aviri
Urdu:&Habb-ul-Neel

General Information :

Habit- A branching shrub grows up to 7 ft. in height. Leaves- Compound, 7 to 13 pairs of leaflets, green when fresh and grayish black on drying. Inflorescences- Lax spicate raceme Flowers- Red or pink, Fruit- Cylindric pods, pale greenish grey when yound and dark brown or ripening with 10 to 12 seeds.

Properties (Gunadharma)

Rasa- Tikta
Vipak- Katu
Virya- Ushna
Guna-Laghu, Ruksha

Specific Parts :
Panchanga (Whole Plant), Leaf, Root, Fruits.

Doshaghnata :
kapha-vataghna


Benefits :

Internal application:
Used in vibandha, udavarta, yakritpleehavriddhi, jalodara, and in krimis as virechana, yakritottejana, shoolaprashamana and krimighna. In hriddrava, vatarakta, raktadushti, shotha and amavata as hridya, raktaprasadana, and shothhara.In kasa-shvasa as Kaphaghna. It is also useful in ashmari and mootrakrichchhra.
50 ml. of svarasa mixed with equal amount of milk should be pratibandhak also. Given with maricha it acts as kushthaghna and vishamajvaraghna.
For Glowing Skin:
Take some Indigo leaves and mash them and put them in boiling water. Extract the boiled leaves and apply on any part of the skin. Massage it on to the skin for some time to get glowing skin. Also small spots and boils on the skin will disappear.
For Sores, Ringworm, Blisters:
Get some Indigo leaves, dry them and powder them. Mix this powder with some sesame oil and apply on infected area. It will cure sores, ring worm and blisters.
For Hair rejuvenation:
Get some Indigo leaves, dry them and powder them. Mix this powder with some sesame oil and apply on scalp. Soon hair will grow strong and healthy.
For removing Worms in Teeth and Gums:
Obtain Indigo leaves and crush them to a juice. To this add cinnamon stick oil. Dip a cotton ball in this oily juice and put beneath the infected tooth to get rid of worms. Do this at least 3 times.
For Sores on skin:
Crush Indigo plant roots into a paste. Apply this on the sores that are secreting puss. Doing this regularly will cure painful sores.
For Insects in Ear:
Sometimes insects enter our ear when we are sleeping or riding a bike. Neither can we remove them with our hands nor leave it alone.
Take Indigo plant roots and Gigantic swallow wart tree root. Wash some rice and pour the water in a vessel. Using this rice washed water grind the above roots. To this add equal quantity of sesame seeds oil. Heat this root paste oil mix on a stove. Put 4 to 5 drops of this lukewarm oil in the ear. This will kill all insects in the ear.
For Black Hair and Hair fall:
Obtain Indigo leaves and crush them to a juice. To this add equal quantity of black Sesame seeds oil. Put this mix on a stove and warm on a slow flame, till only oil remains. Remove and let it cool. Store in a glass bottle. Apply this oil daily on the scalp and hair. It will stop graying hair and restore black hair. Also hair will grow once again.
NeeliBhringaraj Oil made with mixture of Indigo leaves and Eclipta Alba (Bhringaraj) leaves boiled in sesame oil will also help restoring natural color of hair and prevent premature greying.
For Dog bite:
We all have at one time or another experienced being chased by rabid dogs. Many times we get away, but if not the mad dog bite can cause rabies. Indigo is an excellent remedy for this. Take some fresh Indigo leaves and crush them to a juice. Drink 10 grams of this juice everyday on empty stomach. Do this for 4 day. Also wash the bite wound with hot water and lemon juice. Then apply crushed Indigo leaf paste on the wound and bandage it. Doing this for 4 day will remove the mad dog bite poison. The indigo leaf juice is bitter in taste and some people may experience giddiness. It is normal and nothing to worry.

Formulation (Kalp):

Name Indication
Nilinyadighrita Palitya
NilibhringadiTaila Kesavikara
Nilinyadichoorna Palitya, Khalitya

Dosage :
Quatha – 40 to 80 ml.
Home remedies:
Ksaya(Wasting)
In case of ksaya (Wasting) one has to take root powder of Nili (Indigoferatinctoria) with milk.

Pakwasayagata visa (Poison accumulated in Large intestine)
Intake of fruit of Nilini (Indigoferatinctoria) with ghee as a purgative is beneficial in case of Pakwasayagata visa.
Research Corner :
A study done to compare and elucidate the antioxidant efficacy of ethanolic and hydroethanolicextracs of Indigoferatinctoria Linn.Hydroethanolicextracts showed considerably more potent antioxidant activity in comparison to ethanol extracts. Hydroethanolic extracts had lower IC 50 values than ethanol extracts in the case of DPPH, metal chelation and hydroxyl radical-scavenging capacity (829,659 and 26.7 lag/mL) but had slightly higher values than ethanol in case in of S02- and N02- scavenging activity(P>0.001 vs standard).