Takla / Tarota / टाकळा /तरोटा / Wild Senna / Senna tora (L.) Roxb

  • Local Name: Takla / Tarota / टाकळा /तरोटा
  • Common Name: Wild Senna
  • Botanical Name: Senna tora (L.) Roxb

Status & Habitat

  • Habitat: Herb

  • Occurrence: Farm bunds, Roadside, Hilly area, Barren land

  • Season of Availability: Year-round

  • Geography: Central America

  • Method of Propagation: Seed propagation

  • Part used for Propagation: Seeds

Edible Parts

  • Edible Parts: Leaves & Seeds

  • Can be Eaten Raw: No

Method of Consumption

  • Raw: No

  • Ripe: No

  • Both Raw & Ripe: No

  • Dangerous Form to Consume: When raw

  • As Food: Young leaves are cooked and eaten as a vegetable with other vegetables and pulses; roasted seeds made into a tea known as "coffee-tea" because of its coffee-like aroma

  • As Medicine: Roasted seeds used as an alternative to coffee; seed paste applied to eczema, insect bites, etc.; shoots and leaves are useful in treating bloating; leaves pounded with alcohol can be applied to insect bites.

  • Cooking Without Prior Boiling: Yes

  • Boiling Before Cooking: Yes, to make herbal tea

  • Pickling: N/A

  • Brining: N/A

  • Fermenting: N/A

  • Drying for later Consumption: Yes, Seeds

  • Overall Method: Leaves can be cooked into a sabji; roasted seeds brewed into a tea.

Nutritional & Medicinal Benefits

  • Nutritional Benefit: Helps reduce cholesterol.

  • Medicinal Benefit: Leaves and seeds are used in leprosy, gastric troubles, colic, constipation, bronchitis, cough and heart ailments

Tribal Wisdom

  • Tribal Wisdom: Roasted seeds used as an alternative to coffee; seed paste applied to eczema, insect bites, etc.; shoots and leaves are useful in treating bloating; leaves pounded with alcohol can be applied to insect bites.

Recipes / Usage

  • Tribal Recipe / Usage: Sickle senna sabji:
    - In a kadai, mix mustard seeds, oil, chilis, garlic, coconut, bay leaf, onion. Mix then grind into a powder.
    - Put this back into the kadai and mix with washed and cut leaves.