INTRODUCTION:

The golden shower tree, or Cassia fistula Linn is a member of the Caesalpiniaceae. Amultas, sometimes called "Indian Laburnum," is a semi-wild plant that grows in Brazil, China, South Africa, Asia, and the West Indies¹. In the Ayurvedic medical system, it is commonly utilized to treat a variety of illnesses. It can grow up to 1300 meters in the outer Himalaya and is found in deciduous and mixed-monsoon forests all over India².

According to research, 25% of medications are made from medicinal plants, and 70–80% of people in underdeveloped nations use herbal therapies³.

Cassia fistula extract's biological effects are derived from its primary and secondary metabolites. Numerous plant parts contain alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, and flavonoids, which have antimicrobial qualities and lessen the need for chemical solutions in medicinal applications. Fatty acids are abundant in seeds, fruits, leaves, and pods⁴. Numerous plant-based chemicals exhibit potent antibacterial qualities that are useful against a range of ailments, and these plants are abundant in bioactive compounds that have the potential to be turned into pharmaceuticals⁵. Plants that produce phytopharmaceuticals with significant use in human, veterinary, and agricultural medicine are the source of traditional herbal treatments⁶. A variety of pharmacological actions, including antibacterial, antifungal, antipyretic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, hepatoprotective, antidiabetic, and laxative qualities, are exhibited by the biologically active chemicals found in Cassia fistula, which have been isolated from different plant sections. It has long been used to treat skin conditions, liver issues, TB, hematemesis, pruritus, leucoderma, and diabetes in Ayurvedic and Unani therapy⁷. The taxonomy, phytochemicals, and pharmacological activities of the major bioactive substances found in Cassia fistula's various plant parts are covered in this paper⁸.

Table 1: Cassia Fistula Its Taxonomy and Classification⁹

Taxonomic Category	Scientific Name
Kingdom	Plantae
Subkingdom	Tracheobinota
Division Super	Magnoliophyta
Division	Spermatophyta
Class	Magnoliopsida
Subclass	Rosidae
Order	Fabales
Family	Leguminosae
Subfamily	Caesalpinaceae
Genus	Cassia
Species	Fistula

Table 2: Cassia Fistula the Vernacular Name with Its State Origin¹⁰

State / Language name	Vernacular Name
Bengali	Bundaralati, Sonalu, Soondali, Sondal
English	Indian Laburnum, Purging Fistula, Cassia, Golden Shower
Guajarati	Garmala
Hindi	Sonhali, Amultus
Kannad	Kakkemara
Tamil	Shrakkonnai, Konai, Irjviruttam
Telegu	Kondrakayi, Raelachettu, Aragvadhamu, Koelapenna
Sanskrit	Nripadruma
Arab	Khayarsambhar
Oriya	Sunaari
Punjabi	Amaltaas, Kaniyaar, Girdnalee
Urdu	Amaltaas

Geographic Distribution:

The golden shower tree, or C. fistula, is the state flower of Kerala, India, and the national tree and flower of Thailand. It is native to South-East Asia, but it has spread to tropical regions and can grow in a variety of forest types, from tropical to subtropical, and from sea level to 1300 meters in elevation. It prefers regions with 18–29°C temperatures and 480–2720mm of annual rainfall. This tree grows in all soil types, but prefers calcareous and volcanic ones. It can survive shade, dryness, but not frost, and is not a nitrogen-fixing tree¹¹.

Botanical Description:

It is a deciduous tree with complex leaves that range in length from 5 to 12cm and greenish-grey bark. It is semi-wild and utilized in traditional medicine; it is well-known for its clusters of beautiful yellow flowers. The tree has long, cylindrical pods with a lot of black seeds and tasty flesh that turn black when ripe¹². The pulp has a distinct but not particularly pleasant smell, and it is dark brown, sticky, sweet, and mucilaginous¹³. The substance has a sweet, astringent flavor and is shaped like thick, flat or curved chunks that are rough and reddish on the inside and greenish-grey to red on the surface¹⁴. The tree has a straight trunk and reaches a height of 6 to 9 meters. Its young bark is smooth and pale grey, but as it ages, it becomes rough and dark brown. Its branches are slender and spread, and its leaves are 23 to 40cm long, with a pubescent main rachis and minute, linear-oblong stipules. Its leaves have four to eight pairs of ovate or ovate-oblong leaflets that are bright green and glabrous above and silvery-pubescent below. The flowers are yellow, measuring 3.8 cm across, in lax racemes that are 30 to 50cm long. The pods are pendulous, cylindrical, brown-black, smooth, and indehiscent, and they contain 40 to 100 broadly ovate seeds that are submerged in dark, tasty pulp¹⁵. The fruit pods are smooth with tiny transverse striations that resemble cracks, 40–70cm long, and 20–27mm in diameter. They can be straight or slightly bent. The position of the style is indicated by a little point on the rounded distal ends. The ventral suture consists of two closely connected vascular strands, whereas the dorsal suture is a single thread. Thin, buff-colored transverse dissepiments spaced roughly 0.5cm apart split the pod within. One flat, oblong, reddish-brown seed with a distinct raphe and whitish endosperm encasing a yellowish embryo is found in each compartment.¹⁶

Fig. 1: The Picture Depicts the Plant, Its Parts - (A) Whole Plant (B) Leaf (C) Fruit (D) Flower (E) Stem (F) Seeds

Herbal Medicine Uses:

The golden shower tree is a common choice for its mild laxative qualities, but its leaves and bark can also induce nausea, vomiting, cramping, and abdominal pain. Cassia species are used extensively in herbal medicine systems to treat a variety of conditions, such as burns, cancer, abdominal tumors, constipation, and epilepsy. Seeds are utilized for their antibilious, aperitif, carminative, and laxative qualities in Ayurvedic medicine, while leaves are used for rheumatism, ulcers, malaria, and erysipelas. In Brazilian herbal medicine, seeds are used as a laxative, while bark and leaves are used to cure inflammation and discomfort¹⁷.

Phytochemistry:

Primary and secondary metabolites in seeds, pollen, fruits, leaves, and pods include proteins (12%), carbohydrates (11.75%), lipids (12%), and free amino acids (1.42%). flavonol and xanthone glycosides, including complex methoxyflavone and xanthone derivatives with arabino- and rhamnoglucosides, are found in the stem bark of cassia fistula¹⁸. It has been suggested that the stem bark of C. fistula is potentially a possible source of lupeol, ß-sitosterol and hexacosanol ¹⁹. The pod's pulp contains sennosides A and B, anthraquinone glycosides, rhein and its glucoside, barbaloin, aloin, formic acid, butyric acid and its ethyl esters, and oxalic acid. Pectin and tannin are also said to be present²⁰. Leaves provided free rhein and its glycosides, sennosides A and B; flowers provided ceryl alcohol, kaempferol, rhein, and a bianthraquinone glycoside, fistulin; and seeds provided galactomannan free sugars and free amino acids²¹. The flower’s pollen showed a protein composition with substantial levels of free amino acids such as phenylalanine, methionine, glutamic acid and proline. Carbohydrate, lipid and free amino acid concentrations.²² Arginine, leucine, methionine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, aspartic, and glutamic acids were separated from fruit pulp, along with a novel dimeric proanthocyanidin CFI, (-) epiafzelechin, (+) catechin, kaempferol, and proteins (19.94) and carbs (26.30%).²³ The structure of 1, 8-dihydroxy-3-methylanthraquinone and dihydrokaempferol was established. Furthermore, compounds, phlobaphenes, emodin, oxyanthraquinone chrysophanic acid, fistulic acid, rhein, rheinglucoside, galactomannan, sennosides A and B, tannin, barbaloin, lupeol, beta-sitosterol, and hexacosanol are all present in the plant.²⁴

Pharmacological Activities:

1. Antioxidant Activity: According to a study by P. Siddhuraju et al. (2002) on the antioxidant activity of Cassia fistula extracts, the highest activity was found in the stem bark, which was followed by the leaves, flowers, and pulp. According to the polyphenolic content, prooxidants such as chrysophanol and reducing sugars were responsible for the lower activity in the flowers and pulp. The stem bark also demonstrated strong reducing power and radical scavenging abilities.²⁵

Amitabye Luximon-Ramma et al. (2002) used the TEAC and FRAP tests to assess antioxidant activity in the vegetative and reproductive organs of Cassia fistula. The findings demonstrated a substantial relationship between total phenolic content and antioxidant activity (TEAC r = 0.989; FRAP r = 0.951), particularly in reproductive portions such as pods. With TEAC at 992µmol/g and FRAP at 811µmol/g dry weight, the pods had the highest levels of phenolic, proanthocyanidin, and flavonoid compounds, demonstrating their exceptional antioxidant potential.²⁶

2. Anti-bacterial Activity: Both Gram-positive (S. aureus, S. epidermidis, B. cereus) and Gram-negative (E. coli, K. pneumonia) bacteria were significantly inhibited by the ethanolic and methanolic extracts of cassia fistula (golden shower tree). ²⁷ Strong inhibition was found by disc diffusion and tube dilution experiments, particularly in K. pneumonia and E. coli. Cassia fistula's potential as a natural antibacterial agent was highlighted by MIC and MBC testing, which verified the extracts' strong antibacterial properties.²⁸

3. Wound Healing Activity: The alcohol extract from Cassia fistula leaves shown antibacterial action against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Its efficacy against infected wounds was confirmed by treated rats' improved wound closure, tissue regeneration, and histological healing indicators.²⁹

4. Antipyretic activity: Rats with both normal and yeast-induced fever models showed notable antipyretic action in the methanol extract of Cassia fistula buds, according to T. Bhakta et al. (2001). The extract lowered body temperature for up to three and six hours at 200 and 400mg/kg, respectively. Up to four hours of dose-dependent temperature decrease was noted in yeast-induced pyrexia. The fact that the impact was similar to that of paracetamol suggests that Cassia fistula may have use as a natural antipyretic.³⁰

5. Anti-fertility Activity: When given to female rats in the early stages of pregnancy, the pregnancy petroleum ether extract of Cassia fistula seeds demonstrated dose-dependent antifertility effect, decreasing the fertility index, uterine implants, and viable fetuses. It has mild antiestrogenic and weak estrogenic effects at 100mg/kg. hematological markers and blood sugar levels stayed normal. The results imply that the extract's anti-implantation action results in a -terminating impact.³¹

6. Antitumor Activity: Impact of cassia fistula seed methanolic extract (ME) on Ehrlich ascites carcinoma growth (EAC) and on the lifespan of mice with tumors was investigated. In the EAC tumor hosts 37, ME therapy resulted in a longer survival time as well as a reduction in tumor volume and viable tumor cell count.³²

7. Hypolipidermic Activity: The50% ethanolic extract of the legume cassia fistula was found to dramatically lower serum total cholesterol, LDL, triglycerides, and phospholipids in rats fed cholesterol (U.C. Gupta et al., 2009). The extract demonstrated its hypolipidemic potential by improving the HDL/total cholesterol ratio and preventing lipid rise in a dose-dependent manner when given at a daily rate of 100–500 mg/kg for 90 days.³³

8. Hepatoprotective Activity: At 400 mg/kg, the n-heptane extract of cassia fistula leaves significantly decreased SGOT, SGPT, bilirubin, and ALP levels in CCl₄-induced toxic rats, demonstrating hepatoprotective action comparable to that of a conventional hepatoprotective drug.³⁴

9. Laxative Activity: A study estimated the anthraquinone glycoside content in Cassia fistula leaves, the active laxative component. The decoction extract contained 0.62–2.01% (average 1.52%) dry weight, while dried leaves showed 0.09–0.63% (average 0.36%) w/w, calculated as rein. Due to its anthraquinone content, the leaf decoction is often used as an alternative source in various laxative preparations.³⁵

10. Antidiabetic Activity:

Cassia fistula has strong anti-diabetic properties. In rats with alloxan-induced diabetes, ethyl acetate bark extract reduced blood glucose levels more than the entire alcoholic extract, which was on par with glibenclamide. Aqueous floral extracts and ethanolic stem bark showed antioxidant and antihyperglycemic properties. ^[36] While seed extracts were ineffective in rats with alloxan-induced diabetes, they had hypoglycemic activity in normal rats, indicating promise for managing diabetes and selective activity.³⁷

11. Anti-Fungal Activity: 4-hydroxy benzoic acid hydrate that was extracted from cassia fistula floral extracts (an ethnomedical plant) exhibited antifungal efficacy against Epidermophyton floccosum (MIC 0.5 mg/ml) and Richophyton mentagrophytes (MIC 0.5 mg/ml).³⁸

12. Antimicrobial Activity: Fruit pulp, stem bark, and leaves all exhibited antibacterial properties. In this regard, the apple pulp was the most effective. The activity may be because flavonoids are present. When compared to chloramphenicol, the activity of 1 gm of the fruit pulp solvent ether extract was found to be more than that of 100 g of chloramphenicol, indicating that this extract had the highest activity. ³⁹

13. Anti-leishmaniatic Activity: In treating cutaneous leishmaniasis, the study found that Cassia fistula fruit gel, including its boiled and hydroalcoholic extracts, improves the effectiveness of intralesional meglumine antimonate (Glucantime). For better management of acute cases, combination therapy with Cassia fistula gel and Glucantime is advised. ⁴⁰

14. Larvicidal and Ovicidal Activity: Methanolic leaf extract of Cassia fistula showed strong ovicidal and larvicidal activity against Culex quinquefasciatus and Anopheles stephensi, with LC₅₀ values of 17.97 and 20.57 mg/L, respectively, confirming its mosquito control potential.⁴¹

15. Central Nervous System Activities: In rats, methanol seed extract of Cassia fistula potentiated morphine- and pethidine-induced analgesia and markedly increased the sedative effects of CNS depressants, suggesting dose-dependent sedative and analgesic qualities. ⁴²

16. Anti-inflammatory Effect: Fruit methanolic extract prevents arachidonic acid free radical-induced lipid peroxidation mediated by 5-lipooxygenase and suppressed the formation of leukotrienes, which in turn reduces the production of prostaglandins via blocking inflammatory mediators. ⁴³

17. Antiparasitic Activity: The active isoflavone biochanin A was isolated by spectroscopic method34 after the dichloromethane extract of cassia fistula fruits (Leguminosae) was fractionated using guided antileishmanial activity.⁴⁴

18. Anti-itching activity: Eczema, also known as vicharchika, is a persistent skin condition for which there is now no cure. The most prevalent immunological indicator for eczema is an increase in serum IgE levels. According to this study, Argvadha significantly improves the eczema (Vicharchika) patients. ⁴⁵

19. Antiulcer activity: Cassia fistula Linn's ethanol leaf extract was tested for antiulcer properties against pylorus ligation-induced stomach ulcer number ⁴⁶

CONCLUSION:

Cassia fistula Linn.is a valuable medicinal plant with a rich history of use in traditional systems such as Ayurveda and Unani. It possesses a wide range of pharmacological activities, including antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, antidiabetic, and anticancer properties. These therapeutic effects are attributed to its diverse phytochemical constituents like flavonoids, tannins, glycosides, and anthraquinones. The plant’s widespread availability, safety profile, and broad-spectrum bioactivity highlight its potential as a source for developing novel herbal formulations and pharmaceutical agents. Further research, particularly clinical studies and compound isolation, is essential to fully validate its therapeutic applications and integrate it into modern medicine.

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Received on 04.02.2026 Revised on 15.03.2026

Accepted on 11.04.2026 Published on 21.04.2026

Available online from April 24, 2026

Res. J. Pharmacognosy and Phytochem. 2026; 18(2):212-216.

DOI: 10.52711/0975-4385.2026.00029

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