Anjeera is the Sanskrit name of the herb and it is known as Fig in English. The Latin name of this herb is Ficus Carica. It is called as Anjeer in Hindi, Athi in Tamil and Anjeera in Kannada. Anjeera is a medium-sized tree. The leaves of Anjeera are soft on the under surface and round on the upper surface. The fruits grow at the root of the leaves and they are red in colour when they become ripe. The fruits contain a lot of seeds.
Ayurveda mainly uses the fruit latex of Anjeera as medicine. The main properties of Anjeera are diuretic, laxative, expectorant and highly nutritive. Anjeera is a powerful source of iron, calcium and copper, with a moderate presence of zinc. All Anjeera fruits contain vitamin A and vitamin C, along with vitamin B complex and vitamin D. However, nearly 30% of vitamin A is lost if the fruits become dry.
If you consume one or two dry Anjeera fruits every day, it builds body resistance and provides you your daily vitamin requirements in a natural manner.
Anjeera is highly effective for persons afflicted with leucoderma due to the presence of ‘furocoumarin’, a chemical that acts on the white spots on the surface of the skin. If a person is suffering from leucoderma, the patient should consume Anjeera in any form for a minimum period of 2 to 3 months.
Ayurveda uses Anjeera fruits for treating dysuria and urinary stones. You should boil Anjeera fruits in water, prepare a decoction and consume one or two ounces twice a day to melt small urinary stones and resolve urinary disorders.
Filtered Anjeera decoction, consumed for a few weeks, corrects delayed periods and brings the period cycle to normal.
If you are suffering from hyperacidity, you should burn the ash of Anjeera and consume a teaspoon before meals. One can easily counter hyperacidity due to the highly basic nature of the burnt ash.
If you have ulcers caused by burns, you should boil the bark of Anjeera with barks of neem, peepal and mango in water and prepare a decoction. If you wash the burn ulcers with this decoction, the ulcers are soothed and disappear quickly.
Ark Anjir or Sherbat, an Ayurveda preparation is readily available in Ayurveda medical stores and it is a very good cure for amoebiasis.
Anjeera latex contains an enzyme named ficin and its anthelmintic activity is very effective against worm infestations, particularly tricharus and ascaris worm infestation types.
The rich iron content of Anjeera, persons suffering from anaemia should include Anjeera regularly in their diet.