Gokshura is a small, prostrate, hirsute or silky hairy herb
Botanical Name – Tribulus terrestris
Family – ZYGOPHYLLACEAE
Vernacular Names of Gokshura
- Hindi : Gokharu
- English : Cow hage
- Telugu : Palleru
- Tamil : Neringil
Synonyms – Iksugandhika, Svadanstra, Trikantaka, Svadukantka, Palankasa
Also Read : The Best Breathing / Pranayama
Botanical Description of Gokshura
(i) T. Terrestris – A small, prostrate, hirsute or silky hairy herb. Leaves – Stipulate, opposite,
usually unequal, abruptly pinnate; leaflets 4-7 pairs, oblong, mucronate. Flowers- Solitary, axillary or
leaf-opposed, yellow or white. Fruits- Globose, hairy, 5-angled, spinous with 2 long & 2 short spines on
each cocci. Seeds – obliquely pendulous. (Flowers & fruits during April – August).
(ii) P. Murex – A glabrous annual herb. Leaves- opposite or alternate, petioled irregularly
toothed or almost lobed. Flowers – Solitary, axillary, with 2 glands at the base. Calyx small 5-partite.
Corolla yellow. Stamens 4, didynamous, included, Ovary 2-called. Fruits – hard indehiscent. Pyramidal-
ovoid capsules with 4 patent spines from base.
Properties
- Rasa : Madhura
- Virya : Sita
- Vipaka : Madhura
- Guna : Guru, Snigdha
- Karma : Vata-pitta hara, Vrsya, Mutrala, Rasayana
Chemical Constituents
Fruits – Chlorogenin, diosgenin, gitogenin, rutin, rhamnose.
Roots – Campesterol, Sitosterol & stigmasterol, neotigogenin.
Aerial parts – Astragalin, dioscin, diosgenin, hecogenin, ruscogenin, trillin, furostanol glycoside,
spirosterol saponin; terrestrosides A-F saponins C & G etc.
Indications
Mutrakrcchra, Asmari, Prameha, Hrdroga, Arsas, Svasa-kasa, Klaibya.
Therapeutic Uses
- Vajikarana – Powder of Goksura fruit is boiled with milk & consumed (G.N.)
- Amavata – Decoction of Sunthi & Goksura (root?) will be of difinite use (C.D.)
- Kesa Vardhana – Goksura & the flowers of Tila are applied externally by making them into pasteusing honey (Sa.Sam).
Dosage
Decoction 50-100ml, powder 3-6g.