Khadir

The classical Ayurveda plant Khadir is co-related to the genus Acacia botanically. The probable species of this genus which can be accepted as the source of Khadir are enumerated.

In India, there are 3 varieties of Acacia catechu namely, Acacia catechu, Acacia catechuoides and Acacaia chundra. Acacia catechu is commercially used to obtain Kaat (a concentrated filtered extract) in north India. Acacia catechu is found widely distributed in Jammu, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Orrissa. Acacaia catechuoides is found in Sikkim, Assam and West Bengal, whereas Acacia chundra (Red catechu) is found in Deccan Gujrat, Rajasthan and Southern Maharashtra (Brandis, 1984).