Kapikachhu {Mucuna pruriens}
Kapikachhu also know as cowhage balances Vata, Pitta, and Kapha
Ayurveda Characteristic and Uses
- Effect on doshas – Good for pacifying all three doshas
- Taste – Sweet, astringent
- Energetics – Cooling
- Main Traditional Action: Infertility, treating Parkinson’s disease, treating snakebites
- Other Traditional Uses: Rasayana, antidepressant, anxiety, arthritis, parasitic infections, pain and fever, and to induce vomiting
Modern Research
There are a number of studies on the plant and its components on its effects on sexual behaviour, for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, its protective effects against snake venom, for hyperprolactinemia, and as an antioxidant, hypoglycemic, antimicrobial, and antidiabetic agent. Kapikachhu contains levodopa (L-dopa), which is used to treat Parkinson’s disease.