Gokshur - Sirunerunjil

Botanical name: Tribulus Terrestris  
Family: Zygophyllaceae (Caltrop family)
Common name: Puncture Vine, Caltrop
Sanskrit: Gokshur
Hindi: Gokharu
Urdu: Gokhru
Bengali: Gokhru kanta
Telugu: Cinnpalleru
Tamil: Nerunjil, Palleru mullu
Malayalam: Nerinji

Introduction:
Tribulus terrestris refers to a herb that has been used in countries like China and India, for centuries, in order to cure disorders that are related to male sexuality. It can also be used to improve a person’s athletic performance, during sporting events. This herb became popular in countries in North America as well as Europe, during the mid 1990s, after claims that were made by some East European athletes, about how taking Tribulus terrestris helped them improve their performance. The main active compounds in the Tribulus terrestris herb are known as steroidal saponins, which can be found mainly in the leaf of the plant.

Puncture Vine is an obnoxious weed whose seeds are incredibly painful to step on, they easilly puncture your bicycle tires, and sometimes have to be pulled out of your pets' paws. It is a taprooted herbaceous perennial plant that grows as a summer annual in colder climates. The stems radiate from the crown to a diameter of about 10 cm to over 1 m, often branching. They are usually prostrate, forming flat patches, though they may grow more upwards in shade or among taller plants. The leaves are pinnately compound with leaflets less than a quarter-inch long. The flowers are 4-10 mm wide, with five lemon-yellow petals. A week after each flower blooms, it is followed by a fruit that easily falls apart into four or five single-seeded nutlets. The nutlets or "seeds" are hard and bear two sharp spines, 10 mm long and 4-6 mm broad point-to-point. These nutlets strikingly resemble goats' or bulls' heads; the "horns" are sharp enough to puncture bicycle tyres and to cause considerable pain to unshod feet.

Tribulus is mentioned in ancient Indian Ayurvedic medical texts dating back thousands of years. Tribulus has been widely used in the Ayurvedic system of medicine for the treatment of sexual dysfunction and various urinary disorders. The Greeks used Tribulus Terrestris as a diuretic. In China and Vietnam it has been used in the treatment of post-partum hemorrhage, epistaxis and gastro intestinal bleeding. Tribulus terrestris is being promoted as a testosterone booster for the purpose of building muscle and increasing sex drive. It does not work like DHEA, which are progenitors of testosterone. Instead, claims have been made that it enhances testosterone levels by increasing luteinizing hormone levels.

This plant has many common names, including bindii, bullhead, burra gokharu, caltrop, cat's head, devil's eyelashes, devil's thorn, devil's weed, goathead, puncturevine and tackweed.

Parts used: Fruit and root

Actions and uses in ayurveda: vrishyam, dipanam, balya, pushtikaram, hridya, asmri-har, prameh-har, arsh-har, shwas kas-har

Pharmacological action: Diuretic and increases sexual performance

Indications: Tribulus is known to treat conditions affecting the liver and kidney as well as the cardiovascular and immune systems. Tribulus Terrestris is used to treat headaches, eye problems such as itching, conjunctivitis and weak vision, and nervousness. It is also used to treat high blood pressure and rib pain. Gokshur contains Dioscin, protodioscin, diosgenin and similar. These substances have effect on sexual performance and may treat various sexual disorders, they regulate sexual energy level and strength by increasing the percentage of free testosterone level for men and they affect pregnenolone, progesterone and estrogen. The hormone balancing effects of Bulgarian Tribulus Terrestris for women makes this herb suitable for premenstrual syndrome and menopausal syndrome

Properties and action

Rasa: madhur
Guna: guru, snigdh
Vipaka: madhura
Karma: vatanashak, vrsya, brmhana, mutral

Preparations: powder, decoction

Therapeutic index

Digestive system: it is used in diarrhea and dysentery

Reproductive system: it is used to promote lactation.

Skin: it is used in psoriasis and eczema

Genito urinary system: The diuretic properties of plant are due to large amount of nitrates and essential oils present in seeds. Plant and dried spiny fruit is used for spermatorrhea, phosphateuria, dysuria, gonorrhea, gleet, chronic cystitis, calculous affections, incontinence of urine and impotency. It is used in inflammation of urinary passage.

Use of Tribulus Terrestris in angina pectoris: It is shown that saponin of Tribulus Terrestris has the action of dilating coronary artery and improving coronary circulation, and thus has better effects on improving ECG of myocardial ischemia. If taken for a long time, it has no adverse reaction on blood system and hepatic and renal functions. Neither does it have side effects. It is one of the ideal medicines to treat angina pectoris

Use of Tribulus Terrestris in impotency: Tribulus Terrestris is a testosterone enhancer. Studies show that it works very well when stacked with DHEA and androstenedione Instead of being a testosterone precursor, it leads to the production of the luteinizing hormone (LH). When LH levels are increased, the natural production of testosterone also increases. LH is a hormone that also deals with sex drive. Laboratory animal studies found that Tribulus Terrestris increased sperm count as well as motility levels after taking it for 30 days.






Note: Siddha treatment is based on complete physical examination of the patient, Naadi diagnosis, and other diagnostic criteria of the disease. The content given in this article is purely meant for information and education purpose only. Kindly consult a Siddha physician before any sort of self medication.