Senna Leaf/Pods, C/S & Powder & Whole (Cassia acutifolia) Properties and Uses: Stimulant laxative. This effective laxative should be combined with ginger or fennel to prevent cramping. Caution: Senna should not be used in cases of piles, prolapsed intestine or inflammation anywhere in

the intestinal tract. It has a tendency to be habit forming if taken for an extended time. As it is a stimulant laxative, do not use during pregnancy. (Cassia acutifolia) is a medicinal herb. It is a small shrub, about 2 ft high, with a pale green smooth erect stem, long spreading branches, bearing four or five pairs of leaves. The flowers are small and yellow, the pods broadly oblong and containing about six seeds. Senna is an Arabian name, and the plant is grown mostly in Nubia. Twice a year the plants are cut down, dried in the sun, stripped and packed in palm-leaf bags and sent on camels to Essouan and Darao then up the Nile to Cairo or else to Red Sea ports. It is a purgative, closely related to Aloe and Rhubarb, the active ingredients being anthraquinone derivatives and their glucosides. Its action is on the lower bowel, and is especially useful in habitual costiveness. It increases the peristaltic movements of the colon. The pods are milder in their effects than the seeds as they contain less of the resin responsible for griping. •Pods Are processed either as whole pods, De-seeded pods, Ground deseeded pods or ground whole pods After being collected, they are dried on the sand which helps in the rapid drying. The pods are then mechanically sifted to eliminate foreign bodies and other plant parts including stems and leaves or in some case to separate the seeds from the pods

• Leaves The same drying and sifting process applies. Leaves can be crushed and sized according to specific mesh sizes. It can be also ground