Glycine max (L.) Merr.

Family: Fabaceae

Synonym:Phaseolus max L.

Bengali/Vernacular name: Soyabean, Garikalai.

English name: Soya bean.

Description of the plant: An annual herb. Stem stout, densely clothed with fine rusty hairs. Leaves 3-foliolate, long petioled, leaflets 5-10 cm long, ovate, acute. Flower in short, clustered, axillary raceme of 3-15 flowers, white. Fruit a pod, linear-oblong, densely pubescent, 3-4 seeded.

Plant parts used: Leaf, flower, seed, root.

Herbal uses: The fermented seed is used for the treatment of cold and fever.

Paste prepared from the leaves of the plant is applied to the biting place to treat snake bite.

A decoction prepared from the roots of the plant is used to stop the bleeding from cutting wound.

Flowers of the plant are used for the treatment of blindness and corneal opacities.

Soaked and germinated seeds of the plant are taken for the control of diabetes.

A paste made with the seeds of the plant is applied to the infected areas for the treatment of smallpox. 

Soy milk is taken to relief general weakness.

The seeds of the plant are used for the healthy functioning of bowels, heart, kidney, liver, and stomach.

Distribution: It is cultivated in many districts.

Is this plant misidentified? If yes, please tell us….