Mahua: Cash Crop with high Medicinal Value

The botanical name of Mahua is Maduca Indicia. Mahua is important tree of deciduous forests of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, states. Mahua is also known as butter tree. Bark, heartwood, flowers, fruits, seeds of Mahua having high medicinal and industrial uses which make Mahua a cash crop.
In the month of March and April people collected Mahua flowers. One person collects about 10-20kg flowers per day in good season and earn about Rs 100/- per day. Mahua flowers are famous for liquor making and other medicinal uses so it is sold in local market through well established market channel. Due to good percentage of sucrose Mahua flowers used as vitality drink among tribal people. Mahua flower juice is also used in the treatment of enlargement of auxiliary gland, neurotic disorder and taken with milk in cough, bronchitis and as an aphrodisiac. Dry Mahua flowers are sweet in taste.
Oil is extracted from Mahua seeds and byproduct cake used as cheap organic manure and possesses insecticide property. Mahua cake contains 3.5% nitrogen, 50.51% proteins and can also be used as cattle feed when freed from bitters and saponins, since it contains 20% crude protein. To be used as feed it must be supplemented with essential amino acids.
Mahua used with shikaki for hair wash. The flowers are used as vegetable for making vinegar. Seed paste of Mahua used to reduce muscle fatigue and relieve pain in the muscle and joints to improve the texture and vigor of skin. The bark decoction is used in curing bleeding gums and ulcers. Due to laxative nature seeds use to cure piles by relieving chronic constipation. The leaves of Mahua are effective in the treatment of eczema. Seed Oil is also used as ointment, in rheumatism and to prevent cracks in the skin in winter. It is used for edible purposes culinary, hair oil, illumination, lighting, keeps body glossy and warm. Mahua wood is used by craftsmen in making different tools. It can thus be used in bee sting, bilious conditions, blood disorders, blister, breast ailments, bronchitis, cachexia, cholera, colds, consumption, cough, diabetes, dysuria, ear ailments, eye ailments, fever, fistula, gingivitis, headaches, heart problems, intestinal ailments, itch, leprosy, orchitis phthysis, piles, pimples, rheumatism, skin ailments, small pox, snake bites, small pox, suppuration, tonsillitis, tuberculosis, tumours of abdomen and wounds.