Introduction

Karanja seed oil (Millettia pinnata (L.) Panigrahi • Pongamia glabra vent • Derris indica (Lam)) is a fast growing, medium sized evergreen tree indigenous to South East asia and tropical environments. The seeds are contained in a thick-walled pod shell. It grows in diverse soils with high tolerance to elevated temperatures and and is resistant to drought and salt. The tree reaches maturity in 8-10 years. Karanja seed oil goes by a variety of different common names including Pongamia Oil, Honge Oil, Kanuga Oil, Pungai Oil. (THAKUR et al 2021). Karanja seed oil goes by a variety of different common names including Pongamia Oil, Honge Oil, Kanuga Oil, Pungai Oil.

Karanja oil has a long history of human use for aesthetic, medicinal and pesticidal purposes in India and neighbouring regions. It is known for its wound healing, hemostatic (stops bleeding) and pain killing properties. However, its pungent aroma and bitter taste has historically discouraged its use as a cooking oil. (Marone et al, 2022).

Physical and Chemical Characteristics

The Karanja seed cake is rich in minerals, amino acids and micronutrients. The seed contains between 10 and 33% oil depending on the environment and the age of the plant; the older the plant, the higher the oil yield.

Karanja seed oil predominantly contains four fatty acids, namely, palmitic, stearic, oleic and linoleic acid. It also contains lesser amounts of linolenic, behenic and eicosenoic acid. (Sharma et al 2016)

Pongamia pinnata seeds contain alkaloids like demethoxykanugin, gamatay, glabrin, glabrosaponin, kanjone, kaempferol, karangin, kanugin, quercitin, pinnatin, neoglabrin, pongamol, pongapin, b-sitosterol, saponin, and tannin. Air-dry kernels have 19.0% moisture, 27.5% fatty oil (Fatty acid composition: stearic 2.4–8.9%, palmitic, 3.7– 7.9%, lignoceric 1.1–3.5%, arachidic 2.2–4.7%, linoleic 10.8– 18.3%, oleic, 44.5–71.3%, behenic 4.2–5.3%, and eicosenoic 9.5–12.4%), 17.4% protein, 6.6% starch, 7.3% crude fiber and 2.4% ash. Destructive distillation of the wood yields, on a dry weight basis: charcoal 31.0%, pyroligneous acid 36.69, acid 4.3%, ester 3.4%, acetone 1.9%, methanol 1.1%, tar 9.0%, pitch and losses 4.4%, and gas 0.12 cu m/kg (KV Usharani,, 2019)

Health Benefits (Internal Use)

In the study Pongamia pinnata (Linn.) Pierre and Inflammation, Sachin et al (2014) state that the fruit, seeds, bark seed oil, roots, leaves and flowers have been recommended for the treatment of arthritis, and for its anti-inflammatory and analgesic (pain killing) activity. The polyphenol karanjin is responsible for the curative properties of the oil. In traditional medicine the oil was used to treat rheumatism. The alcoholic extraction was found to have pain killing, anti-inflammatory and wound healing activity in rats, and aqueous, and alcoholic extracts of the stem bark showed anti-inflammatory properties.

Another study found that the plants polyphenol, flavanoid and volatile oils possessed cardioprotective properties and a ‘Standardized ethanolic extract of Pongamia pinnata (rich in flavonoids) produced significant antioxidant and antidiabetic activity. Pongamol and karangin are active polyphenols isolated from the fruits of this plant and showed antidiabetic activity. Hence, it is concluded that the Pongamia pinnata plant is useful in treating metabolic disorders.” (Sachin et al 2014)

Skin and Hair Benefits (Topical Use)

The seeds and oil of Pongamia pinnata are rich in pongamol which ‘exhibits promising antioxidant activity’ (Jahan et al, 2021) Pongamia oil has medicinal properties, can be used as pesticide, insect repellent, to produce soap, and as a source of edible grade vegetable oil (Degani et al, 2022)

The oil is known to have value in folk medicine, the seed oil is also used in scabies, leprosy, piles, ulcers, chronic fever, lever pain and lumbago (Yadav et al., 2018 in ). The therapeutic action of Pongamia oil in the management of conditions such as piles, ulcers, and skin diseases is mainly attributed to Karanjin (A. Singh et al., 2021). Pongamia oil is also used in cosmetics for its sunscreen activity which is mainly attributed to pongamol (Bernoud et al., 2019 in Degani et al, 2022).

References

Erika Degani, M.V.R. Prasad, Anant Paradkar, Rodica Pena, Amin Soltangheisi, Ihsan Ullah, Benjamin Warr, Mark Tibbett, A critical review of Pongamia pinnata multiple applications: From land remediation and carbon sequestration to socioeconomic benefits, Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 324, 2022

Palma Ann Marone, Jake Olson, Ray Matulka, Mark Bauter, James D. Astwood, Safety and toxicologic evaluation of Edible Pongamia Oil: A novel food ingredient, Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 166, 2022, 113213, ISSN 0278-6915, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2022.113213.

Sharma, S. S., Islam, M. A., Malik, A. A., Kumar, K., Negi, M. S., & Tripathi, S. B. (2016). Seed traits, fatty acid profile and genetic diversity assessment in Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre germplasm. Physiology and molecular biology of plants : an international journal of functional plant biology, 22(2), 193–205. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-016-0356-0

Nayak, Swarup & Mishra, Purna & Kumar, Ankit & Behera, Gyana & Nayak, Biswajeet. (2017). Experimental investigation on property analysis of Karanja oil methyl ester for vehicular usage. Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects. 39. 1-7. 10.1080/15567036.2016.1173131.

KV Usharani, Dhananjay Naik and RL Manjunatha. Pongamia pinnata (L.): Composition and advantages in agriculture: A review. J Pharmacogn Phytochem 2019;8(3):2181-2187.

Sachin L. Badole, Kalyani Y. Patil, Chapter 45 - Polyphenols from Pongamia pinnata (Linn.) Pierre in Metabolic Disorder, Editor(s): Ronald Ross Watson, Victor R. Preedy, Sherma Zibadi, Polyphenols in Human Health and disease, Academic Press, 2014, Pages 607-610, ISBN 9780123984562, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-398456-2.00045-1.

Sachin L. Badole, Kalyani Yuvaraj Patil, Chapter 34 - Pongamia pinnata (Linn.) Pierre and Inflammation, Editor(s): Ronald Ross Watson, Victor R. Preedy, Sherma Zibadi, Polyphenols in Human Health and Disease, Academic Press, 2014, Pages 463-465, ISBN 9780123984562, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-398456-2.00034-7. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123984562000347)

Shamima Jahan, Md. Hasan Mahmud, Zidan Khan, Ashraful Alam, Anees Ahmed Khalil, Abdur Rauf, Abu Montakim Tareq, Firzan Nainu, Syed Mohammed Tareq, Talha Bin Emran, Muneeb Khan, Ishaq N. Khan, Polrat Wilairatana, Mohammad S. Mubarak,Health promoting benefits of pongamol: An overview, Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, Volume 142, 2021

THAKUR, SHIFALI & Kaurav, Hemlata & CHAUDHARY, GITIKA. (2021). KARANJ (PONGAMIA PINNATA) – AN AYURVEDIC AND MODERN OVERVIEW: KARANJ (PONGAMIA PINNATA). Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research. 14-21. 10.22159/ajpcr.2021.v14i6.41367.