Common Name
English :Common yew/Himalayan Yew/Yew tree
Hindi :Thuno
Manipuri :Taxus
Scientific Name
Group :Gymnosprem
Family :Taxaceae
Genus :Taxus
Species :baccata Linn.
Habit :Robust tree
Parts Used :Leaf, Bark & Fruit
Mode of Preparation :Leaves crushed for juice (extract). Bark boiled for extract
Mode of use :Fresh and Decoction
Ingredients :Alkaloids,Taxine, Ephedrine, b-Sitosterol, Glucoside, Taxicatin, Taxiphyllin, Hydrocyanic acid, Formic acid and Resins. Taxol is obtained from the taxus baccata. Taxal is very small amount (0.007 – 0.01.0%) 60 years old trees to get 1 gm of taxol. Heart wood contains isotaxi-resimol, isotaxiresimol-6-methyle ether and isolariresnol. Root bark contains baccatine. Seeds contain taxicatin and abscisic acid. Fruits contain lycopene, b-carotene and zeaxanthin.
Ailment Treated:Leaves and fruits are emmengogue, sedative and antiseptic. Leaves are used in asthma, bronchitis, indigestion and epilepsy. A tincture made from young shoot used for headache, feeble, coldness, diarrhoea. Extract of various parts of the tree added to hair lotions, beauty and shaving creams and dentifrices. Leaves and bark extraction of important anti-cancer drug taxol and other taxenes. Taxol is used in the treatment of ovarian, lung gastric, colon and cervical cancer. Bark is used in rhuematism, liver and urinary tract affections. Dilute decoction of bark is taken during winter to increase body resistance to extreme cold. Leave extract is used in wounds.
Source:Grown wildly in high altitude hills of Manipur particularly in Siroi hill of Ukhrul District but the population has been declined now to a great extend due to excessive exploitation.
