European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

The Siddha system of medicine is a sophisticated and useful form of medicine that provides numerous treasures to be uncovered and investigated. Every individual notion within this system offers extensive knowledge on many facets of the universe. The therapeutic formulations mostly originate from metals, animals, herbs, and aquatic creatures. This drug not only aims to treat the illness but also prioritises the holistic therapy of both the body and mind. Serankottai nei is a highly esteemed Siddha remedy that has been used since ancient times. It is employed for the treatment of several ailments, including dermatological disorders, rheumatism, neurological weakness, epilepsy, respiratory conditions, and sciatica. The serankottai extract has antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, anticarcinogenic, and antiatherogenic properties, as reported by Shekhar Neema et al. This review focuses on the antifungal effects of an extract obtained from the semecarpus anacardium nut. 

Semecarpus Anacardium:

Semecarpus anacardium  nut  is also known as marking nut and in siddha it is called as Seraankottai. Semecarpus anacardium belongs to the family : Anacardiaceae. It is distributed majorly in sub Himalayan areas , tropical and central  part of india . It present mainly in the hotter part of india . It contain the red blaze exducing resins which on exposure to outside blackens. It closely related to the Toxicodendron genera which contain the compound like urushiol. It is a moderate size deciduous tree. The Nut of the Semecarpus anacardium is 25mm long , ovoid, and smooth ,lustrous black. The serankottai has antifungal , anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticarcinogenic, antiatherogenic properties. It is also used to increase memory power [1] [2].

Phytochemical Constituents:

The major chemical compound present in the serankottai are phenolic compounds ( flavonoids, saponins, and tannins ) , Biflavonoids , sterols and glycosides. These chemicals compounds are present majorly in the fixed oil of nut extract.  It also contains Bhilawanol (like urushiol ), terpenes, 3’,8’-binaringennin etc … . [1],[2],[3],[4]

Purification Of Nut  :

The selected nut were taken and cleaned by using cotton  cloth. Seeds contains corrosive property so which were soaked in milk for overnight , then after removed from milk and dried under sunlight . Completely dried nuts used for extraction [7] . If we exposed to this plant some may prone to get factitious dermatitis[6],[5] due to the presence of urushiol like compound ( Bhilawanol ), so proper procedure need to be followed while the nut oil extract. The proper purification of nut extract ( edible oil) need to be done because in unpurified nut extract if it is used it lead to the production of free radicals [7] which result in many problems in our body so proper purification of Serankottai as per the procedure mentioned by Siddhars need to be done.

Toxicity Study Of Serankottai:

Toxicity study is to determine the non-toxic dosage of serankottai higher dosage of serankottai may result in mortality. The mortality dosage of the Semecarpus anacardium nut extract for human may  around 1380 mg/m² if it’s given internally.  External applications of this extract around this dosage has some useful work in the cancer chemotherapy. [8]

Fungal Infection:

In the world there are many prevailing fungal infection are there and the world is searching for medicine for curing the disease in traditional systems of medicine AYUSH. Herbs which are used particularly for particular disease is are not present in the amount to satisfy the world population to rectify that situation the research works are going on to find the new Herbs to use against this disease on the basis of this Serankottai extract is studied for the antifungal activity but the drug is specifically mentioned majorly in curing other problems.

Antifungal Activity  Of  Semecarpus Anacardium Nut Extract:

The antifungal activity of Serankottai is mainly due to the presence of phenolic compound [4],[10],[11],[12] . The alcoholic extract of this nut is used as a antifungal agent it works against some fungal species like Candida  albicans , Aspergillus fumigatus [9], Fusarium oxysporium , Rhizoctonia solani, Alternaria spp , Sclerotium rolfsii [10] which cause diseases such as fungal keratitis , onychomycosis , hyalohyphomycosis , candidiasis , it affect CNS ( Central  Nervous System) ,Cardiovascular system. The phenolic compound works by decrease the growth and sporulation , shrunken Mycelium tells that the alcoholic extract of Serankottai  has fungistatic activity. This review shows that there will be reduction in the growth of the fungus on using the alcoholic extract of Semecarpus anacardium nut (Serankottai) .

The major chemical compound present in the serankottai i.e phenolic compound involved majorly in the antifungal activity.  Serankottai  extract  after process of purification according to the prescribed level for the most effective antifungal activity is clearly reviewed in this review article. The factitious dermatitis caused by the serankottai is due the presence of urushiol like compound ( Bhilawanol ). The serankottai extract is functions as antifungal drug by reducing the growth of hyphae and also constrict or shrinks the spores there by its act as one of the effective antifungal medicine.

The article that had reviewed clearly shows the effective antifungal activity of Semecarpus anacardium (serankottai) a precious Siddha Medicine.

1. Semecarpus anacardium Linn.: A review, Article in pharmacognosy  reviews, DOI:10.4103/0973-7847.65328 – Source: pubMed. Authors : Mona Semalty, M.s.M.Rawat , Ajay Semalty.
2. Waghmare Anandkumar Rameshrao & Waghaye Ramesh: A Critical Review On Bhallataka (Semecarpus Anacardium Linn). International Ayurvedic medical Journal {online} 2016 {cited 2016 July}.
3. Physicochemical properties and phytochemical constituents of Semecarpus anacardium L. seed oil A. Srinivasan, D. Suresh Babu, N. Senthilkumar and S. Murugesan* Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Coimbatore-641002, India.
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6. Shekhar Neema, Disha Dabbas, Vikas Pathania, Biju Vasudevan, Marking nut dermatitis: A case series on factitious dermatitis, Medical Journal Armed Forces India, Volume 79, Issue 4, 2023, Pages 470-473, ISSN 0377-1237, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mjafi.2020.11.022.
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