Alexandrian senna pods

Alexandrian Senna Pods Aniseed Arnica Flower Bearberry Leaf Cape Aloes Can/i fructus Centaurii herba Crataegi folium cum flore Dandelion Root Echinaceae pallidae radix Eucalypti aetheroieum Fennel... 

Senna pods normally contain 2-5% sennosides, with Alexandrian pods having higher values than Indian pods. In addition to sennosides A and B, a closely related glucoside, named sennoside Ai, has been isolated from Alexandrian senna pods. ... 

Fig. 7,8 Sennae fructus Senna pods Cassia senna L, (Alexandrian senna) Cassia angustifoiia VAHL (Tinevelly senna) Caesalpiniaceae DAB 10, PhEur I, OAB, Helv Vll, MD. LISP XXII...

Parts used are the dried leaflets (commonly called leaves) and pods. Alexandrian senna leaves and pods are reportedly derived mostly from wild plants, while Indian senna leaves are collected at 3-5 months after planting and pods 1-2 months hence. 

Regulatory Status. Only Alexandrian senna (leaf and pod) has been approved for food used ( 172.510). Senna leaves, pods, and their preparations are subjects of a positive German therapeutic monograph. " ... 

Features Leaves, grey-green, lanceolate, unequal and varying at the base, between half an inch and one and a half inches long, and about a third of an inch across. Tinnevelly Senna leaves are broader near the middle and proportionately longer than the Alexandrian leaves. The commercial "Mecca Senna" is usually badly picked, and of poor quality generally. Pods (Alexandrian) green, about two inches by a quarter-inch East Indian narrower and darker coloured. Taste, sickly sweet. 

Although the component or components responsible for senna s effect have not been definitively identified, most pharmacopoeias standardize senna based on its sennoside B content. Both the German and European Pharmacopoeia require 2.5% for the leaves, 3.4% in the Alexandrian pods, and 2.2% in the Indian pods (Franz, 1993). 

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