Azadirachta indica

Neem flowers
Image courtesy: Bishnu Sarangi

Synonyms: Neem, Veppu (Malayalam), Vepa (Telugu).

Scientific Classification
    Kingdom          : Plantae
    Order                : Sapindales
    Family              : Meliaceae
    Genus               : Azadirachta
    Species             : indica
    Binomial name : Azadirachta indica A. Juss.

Habitat:
         It is habitated in south-east Asia and tropical regions of Australia and Africa.

Plant morphology:

        Neem is an evergreen tree, 10-20 m high with a straight trunk and long spreading branches. Leaves are alternate and exstipulate. Leaflets are alternate or opposite. The petioles are short. The flowers are white and fragrant. The fruit is an ovoid, smooth drupe, green when young, yellow to brown when mature with a very scanty pulp and a hardy endocarp. The seed is solitary with a thick testa and embryo with foliaceous cotyledons in the axis of the scanty endosperm. 

Chemical Constituents: 

     The leaves contain nimbin, nimbinene, quercetin, 6-desacetylnimbinene, ascorbic acid, n-hexacosanol, nonacosane and β-sitosterol. The fruits contain azadirone, azadiradione, 7-deacetoxy-7α-hydroxygedunin, nimbiol and 17-epiazadiradione. The seeds contain azadirachtin and six tetranortriterpenoids. Kernels yield a greenish-yellow to brown, bitter fixed oil has a strong, disagreeable odour resembling garlic. 

Uses:

• Neem oil is stimulant and antiseptic which is used in rheumatism and skin diseases. It is also used in the manufacture of oleic acid stearic acids.
• The leaves are used as an insect repellent, anti-viral and anti-fungal. The paste of leaves is used externally in cases of smallpox.