Radish

Mulaka (Radish/Mooli) is a common root vegetable grown extensively in winter season. The plant has white, fleshy, cylindrical root that grows 6-18 inches or more. The leaves are also eaten as a green vegetable. The root is pungent and slightly bitter. It kindles digestive fire and is useful in digestive disorders. It alleviates Vata. Fresh radish is light while stale or dried radish is heavy. The small white radish (Chhoti Mooli) is considered superior. Large radishes may be harder to digest. The leaves (Mooli ka saag) are also nutritious. Cooked radish is different from raw — cooking makes it lighter. Chemical analysis shows 70-100 grams contains significant Vitamin C and Raphanol. Verses: 62. Dose: As vegetable.

• Deepana (appetizer)
• Vatahara (pacifies Vata)
• Krimighna (anthelmintic)

Radishes (especially daikon—the long, white radish) are pungent and heating with a pungent vipak. For vata and kapha they are fine, but pitta should use them only occasionally. Radishes can help to relieve gas, flush the liver and get rid of intestinal worms.

• Digestion: Fresh radish juice, 2 teaspoons with a pinch of ginger, is good for kindling agni and improving digestion.
• Gas and distention: Take 2 teaspoons of radish juice with 2 pinches of ajwan and a pinch of hing, twice a day on an empty stomach.
• Liver dysfunction: 2 teaspoons of radish juice with a pinch of coriander powder may relieve the pain.
• Intestinal worms: Try 2 teaspoons of radish juice with ½ teaspoon of vidanga, 2–3 times a day.

Do not eat radishes with:

• Milk
• Bananas
• Raisins

Mulaka (radish), when tender and not having definite taste, is slightly alkaline and better, mitigates the dosas, easily digestible hot in potency, and cures abdominal tumours, cough, asthma, ulcers, disease of he eye and throat, horseness of voice, asthma, upward movement inside the abdomen (reverse peristalsis) and chronic nasal catarrh.

— Astanga Hridaya Sutrasthan, Annaswaroopa Food

Radish benefits: य बालं अ य तरसं कि जत ् ारं स त तकम ् त मूलकं दोषहरं लघु सो णं नय छ त गु मकास य वास णने गलामयान ् वराि नसादोदावतपीनसां च मह पुनः रसे पाके च कटुकमु णवीय दोषकृत ् गुव भ यि द च ि न ध स ं तद प वातिजत ् वात ले महरं शु कं सवम ् आमं तु दोषलम ् Radish that is tender, and not having definite tatste, is slightly alkaline and bitter, balances Doshas, easy to digest, hot in potency and cures abdominal tumors, cough, respiratory conditions, ulcers, diseases of eye and throat, hoarse

— Astanga Hridaya Sutrasthan, Annaswaroopa Food

Bisa, Mulaka (Radish – Raphanus sativus) or Guda jaggery is incompatible with fish.

— Astanga Hridaya Sutrasthan, Anna Raksha Vidhi

After consuming green leafy vegetables and radish, drinking milk should be avoided.

— Astanga Hridaya Sutrasthan, Anna Raksha Vidhi

39 Food that should not be consumed habitually कलाटद धकूचीका ारशु ताममूलकम ् कृशशु कवराहा वगोम यभ हषा मषम ् माष न पावशालूक वस प टवी ढकम ् शु कशाका न यवकान ् फा णतं च न शीलयेत ् Kilata (dairy product – sweet in taste), Dadhi – Curds, Kuchika (solid part of curds), Kshara (alkalies), Sukta (fermented gruel), Ama Mulaka – Uncooked radish, Meat of animals which are emaciated, dry meat, meat of the boar, sheep, cow, fish and buffalo, Masha (black gram), Nishpava;

— Astanga Hridaya Sutrasthan, Food habits &

Now the patient should be asked to bring the drugs- Mulaka (radish), sarshapa (mustard), lashuna (garlic), karanja (pongamia), shigru (drum stick), madhu shigru (a kind of drumstick), kharapushpa(katphala or vana tulasi), bhustruna, sumukha(a type of tulasi), surasa(type of tulasi), kutheraka(type of tulasi), gandira(Canthium parviflorum Lamk), kalamalaka(type of tulasi), parnasa(type of tulasi), kshavka(type of tulasi), phaninjaka(type of tulasi)- all or whichever are available, should be cut i

— Charaka Samhita, Vimana Sthana — Specific Medical Principles, Chapter 7: Signs of Morbidity (Vyadhita Rupiya Vimana / व्याधित रूपीय विमान)

024 Kg of dried radish and dried ginger.

— Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Sthana — Therapeutic Principles, Chapter 12: Edema Treatment (Shvayathu Chikitsa / श्वयथुचिकित्सा)

If there is pain in hemorrhoidal mass, then it should be well smeared with medicated oil and sitz-bath should be given with the help of decoction prepared by leaves of radish, triphala [Haritaki (Terminalia Chebula Roxb.

— Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Sthana — Therapeutic Principles, Chapter 14: Hemorrhoids Treatment (Arsha Chikitsa / अर्शचिकित्सा)

Vegetable soup prepared from dried radish or kulattha (Dolichous biflorus) or combination of kapittha (Limonia acidissima), bilva (Aegle marmelons), Kulattha (Dolichous biflorus) and makushtka (Vigna aconitifolia) is useful for hemorrhoids.

— Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Sthana — Therapeutic Principles, Chapter 14: Hemorrhoids Treatment (Arsha Chikitsa / अर्शचिकित्सा)

Soup of dried radish or kulatha is to be given regularly and repeatedly.

— Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Sthana — Therapeutic Principles, Chapter 15: Digestive Disorders Treatment (Grahani Chikitsa / ग्रहणीचिकित्सा)

Shatapushpa (dill), Devadaru (Cedrus deodara), Shephali (Nyctanthes arbor-tristis), Sthula Jiraka (cumin), Eranda Mula (castor root) and seeds, Rasna, Mulaka (radish), and Shigru (Moringa oleifera).

— Sharangadhara Samhita, Uttara Khanda, Chapter 2: Sveda Vidhi (Sudation Therapy)

Another paste: Darvi (Berberis aristata), radish seeds (Mulaka Bija, Raphanus sativus), Talaka (orpiment), Suradaru (Cedrus deodara, Himalayan cedar), and betel leaf (Tambula Patra, Piper betle) -- each one Karsha (12g) individually.

— Sharangadhara Samhita, Uttara Khanda, Chapter 11: Lepa Vidhi (Topical Paste Application)

Radish seeds are traditionally used for skin diseases due to their sulphur content.

— Sharangadhara Samhita, Uttara Khanda, Chapter 11: Lepa Vidhi (Topical Paste Application)

A ripening (Pachana) paste for wounds/abscesses: fruits of Sha (possibly Tectona grandis), Mulaka (radish, Raphanus sativus), and Shigru (Moringa oleifera);

— Sharangadhara Samhita, Uttara Khanda, Chapter 11: Lepa Vidhi (Topical Paste Application)

For Gandamala (cervical lymph chain swelling), Arbuda (tumors), and Ganda (goiter): grind mustard (Sarshapa), Shigru seeds (Moringa oleifera), Shana seeds (hemp, Cannabis sativa), Atasi (linseed, Linum usitatissimum), barley (Yava), and radish seeds (Mulaka Bija) with sour buttermilk (Amla Takra).

— Sharangadhara Samhita, Uttara Khanda, Chapter 11: Lepa Vidhi (Topical Paste Application)

Short radish soup is beneficial in Vata-Kapha predominant fever.

— Sushruta Samhita, Uttara Tantra, Chapter 39: Jvarapratishedha

The fruits of shana (hemp), mulaka (radish), and shigru (drumstick), along with sesame and mustard seeds, barley meal, kirava, and linseed — these are ripening (pachana) agents (verse 9).

— Sushruta Samhita, Sutra Sthana, Chapter 37: Mishrakaadhyaya - The Miscellaneous Chapter

Sweet fish and pungent radish aggravate Kapha due to unctuous potency.

— Sushruta Samhita, Sutra Sthana, Chapter 40: Dravyarasagunavipaka-vijnaniya Adhyaya - On the Knowledge of Substances, Tastes, Properties, and Post-Digestive Effects

The fruits of shana (hemp), mulaka (radish), and shigru (drumstick), along with sesame and mustard seeds, barley meal, kirava, and linseed — these are ripening (pachana) agents (verse 9).

— Sushruta Samhita, Mishrakaadhyaya - The Miscellaneous Chapter

Sweet fish and pungent radish aggravate Kapha due to unctuous potency.

— Sushruta Samhita, Dravyarasagunavipaka-vijnaniya Adhyaya - On the Knowledge of Substances, Tastes, Properties, and Post-Digestive Effects