Senna alexandrina Mill. (Senna): Traditional knowledge and Improved Production Technology

Cassia species are used enormously to treat many diseases in the Indian traditional system of medicines. About 45 Cassia species are found in India, out of which Senna alexandrina Mill. is a medicinally important species. The traditionally use parts of Senna alexandrina are the leaves and immature pods which mainly contain sennoside-A and sennoside-B. Sennosides A and B are purgative, antibacterial, and antioxidant compounds isolated from Senna leaves and immature pods. Senna is in high demand in the international market due to its potential use in many medicines. Cultivation of Senna does not require much expense on irrigation, manuring, pesticides, protection and other pre-and post-harvesting care. The leaves are shipped from the branches and dried in the shade for 10-15 days till the moisture content reaches 8 to 10%. After shade dried and sorted the leaf and pods as per the leaf size into five different grades, viz., Prime numbers. Other important by-products are Senna stem and Senna powder. Senna crop offers an avenue for vertical integration and can be developed into a rural-based cottage industry starting from cultivation, grading, extraction and export.