Ushba: Sarsaparilla or Anantmool? Two Roots, One Unani Name
Ushba is the Unani name for sarsaparilla root, and the catch is that two completely unrelated plants travel under it. The classical drug, ushba maghribi, is the root of Smilax, a climbing vine from Central America that reached the Muslim world through European trade. The root most pansaris in Pakistan and India actually hand over is ushba hindi, anantmool, the fragrant root of Hemidesmus indicus, a native creeper of the subcontinent. Both are sold for “khoon saaf” and skin. They look and smell different enough to tell apart in the shop, and this page does only that job, plus what the blood purifier tradition means in modern language and who should leave it alone. The majoon, arq and sharbat have their own pages.
Ushba at a glance
- English: sarsaparilla (Smilax); Indian sarsaparilla (Hemidesmus)
- Urdu/Hindi: ushba, ushba maghribi (western), ushba hindi (Indian), anantmool; sariva in Ayurveda
- Arabic/Unani: ushba; spellings usba, ushbah
- Scientific: Smilax ornata Lem. and related Smilax species, family Smilacaceae; Hemidesmus indicus (L.) R.Br., family Apocynaceae
- Part used: dried root, whole or powdered
- Traditional use: “blood purifier” for skin eruptions, boils and joint pain; a cooling summer drink
- Safety flag: Smilax saponins can upset the stomach and alter how other medicines are absorbed; Hemidesmus is gentler
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Two roots, one name: how did that happen?
Sarsaparilla came to Europe from the Spanish colonies in the 1500s as a treatment for syphilis and skin disease, and passed into Arabic and Persian medicine as ushba. The imported root was never cheap, so physicians in India reached for a local root with a similar reputation, the one Ayurveda already called sariva, and named it ushba hindi. Over time the substitute became the default. A pansari asked for ushba today will usually give you anantmool, and many commercial Unani products list Hemidesmus indicus under the ushba name. That is a recognised substitution, not fraud. But the two plants have different chemistry and different safety profiles, so it pays to know which one is in your hand.
The pansari’s check: smell the root
Hemidesmus (anantmool, ushba hindi) is unmistakable. Its root is thin, dark brown outside, with a woody core that separates from a softer bark, and it smells sweetly of vanilla with a hint of camphor. That scent is 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which makes up the great majority of the root’s volatile oil and also flavours the nannari sharbat of the south. Smilax (ushba maghribi) is thicker, pale greyish brown, fibrous, with a starchy white pith, and has almost no smell; a chewed sliver is faintly bitter and soapy from the saponins. Vanilla means Hemidesmus. No smell plus a thick starchy root means Smilax. Scentless powder sold as ushba could be either, or neither, and only a laboratory settles powder.
Where the two roots come from
Smilax ornata and its relatives climb through the forests of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, where the long thin roots are dug, dried and exported in bundles under grades that still carry the names Jamaica and Honduras gave them in the old trade, while Hemidesmus indicus is a slender twining plant found across India, Sri Lanka and into Pakistan on dry ground and forest edges. It is common. So the root is cheap.
What the tradition says, and what “khoon saaf” means
Unani texts classify ushba as hot and dry and call it a musaffi-e-khoon, a blood purifier, for chronic skin disease, boils, itching, syphilitic sores, joint pain and “heat” in the blood, given as a decoction, an arq, a sharbat or in Majoon Ushba. Ayurveda describes sariva as cooling and sweet, for skin disorders, fevers and burning urination. Opposite temperaments for the same reputation: a reminder that the two traditions were describing two different plants.
“Blood purifier” is not a mechanism. Blood is filtered by the kidneys and liver, and no root cleans it. The phrase describes an observed pattern: chronic eruptions, boils and itching that the old physicians linked to bad blood. In modern terms those are acne, folliculitis, eczema, fungal infection, scabies and, in the old syphilis cases, a bacterial infection that antibiotics now clear. Some settle on their own, which is how a cooling summer drink earns a reputation. Our page on khoon ki garmi: symptoms and real causes unpacks the idea.
What does the evidence say?
Reasonably established: the chemistry. Smilax roots contain steroidal saponins (sarsasapogenin, smilagenin and their glycosides), catalogued in detail; the Hemidesmus aroma compound has been measured by food chemists because of its use in drinks. Sarsaparilla saponins were once a laboratory starting material for making steroid hormones, which is where the myth that the root “contains testosterone” began. It does not.
Preliminary: laboratory and animal work on both plants for inflammation, microbes and skin cells, including activity of Smilax saponins against colon cancer cells in a dish. None of it has reached proper human trials.
Tradition only: the skin, joint and blood purifying uses. Germany’s Commission E reviewed sarsaparilla and declined to approve it because the claimed uses were not documented.
Unsupported or unsafe: “natural testosterone” and body building claims, and any product promising to clear psoriasis or “heat” in a set number of days.
How ushba is used
Hakeems give ushba as a decoction, as Arq-e-Ushba (a distillate), as Sharbat Ushba (a sweetened syrup) and in Majoon Ushba, usually alongside chobchini, itself a Smilax species. The practitioner or the pack sets the amount, and a course is usually judged over a few weeks. Our pages on Majoon Ushba for skin and joints and Majoon Chobchini cover those formulas.
As a food, Hemidesmus has a pleasant life of its own: nannari sharbat in Tamil Nadu and Andhra is a summer cordial of root, lemon and sugar served diluted over ice. Smilax gave old root beer and the original sarsaparilla sodas their taste. Drunk that way, as a flavouring in cold water, either root is an ordinary food ingredient.
Real vs fake
The main substitution is the one this page is about: Hemidesmus sold as ushba when the buyer expected Smilax, or the two mixed. Ayurvedic quality reviews also list other roots passed off as sariva, including Decalepis hamiltonii (which shares the vanilla smell and is itself scarce in the wild), Cryptolepis and Ichnocarpus. Buy whole pieces, use the smell test, and expect Smilax to cost noticeably more than anantmool. A cheap “ushba maghribi” is probably not Smilax.
Safety: who should avoid ushba?
- Stomach upset: Smilax saponins can irritate the gut, causing nausea, cramping or loose stools, especially on an empty stomach. Hemidesmus is generally well tolerated. If an ushba preparation upsets your stomach, stop.
- Other medicines: saponins can change how some drugs are absorbed, in both directions. Anyone on digoxin, lithium or any medicine with a narrow safety margin should not add sarsaparilla without the prescribing doctor’s knowledge, and nobody should stop, start or change a prescribed medicine on the strength of a herbal course.
- Kidney disease: traditional “diuretic” roots and sweet sharbats are a poor fit for fluid restrictions; ask the kidney team first.
- Diabetes: Sharbat Ushba and nannari sharbat are sugar syrups. Count a glass as a sweet drink.
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding: no safety data exist for medicinal use of either plant, so skip ushba preparations unless a qualified practitioner who knows you are pregnant has chosen them. A diluted nannari cordial is a different level of exposure.
- Children: no Unani compounds without a practitioner, and no sugar syrups as daily drinks under 2.
- Skin disease that spreads, weeps, blisters or comes with fever needs a doctor now, not a blood purifier.
Other roots with confusing names are sorted out in Unani & Herbal, Decoded.
Ushba: questions people ask
Ushba kya hoti hai?
Ushba is the Unani name for sarsaparilla root. The classical drug is the root of a Smilax vine from Central America (ushba maghribi); the root commonly sold in Pakistan and India is anantmool, Hemidesmus indicus (ushba hindi), a local substitute with a vanilla smell.
Ushba ka botanical name kya hai?
Two names, because two plants share the trade name. Western ushba is Smilax ornata and related Smilax species (Smilacaceae). Indian ushba or anantmool is Hemidesmus indicus (Apocynaceae).
Ushba aur anantmool ek hi hain?
In most shops, yes: the ushba you are sold is anantmool. Strictly they differ. Anantmool is Hemidesmus indicus, the Indian substitute; true ushba is imported Smilax. Anantmool smells of vanilla, Smilax of nothing.
What is ushba called in English?
Sarsaparilla. Hemidesmus indicus is called Indian sarsaparilla to distinguish it from the Smilax original; nannari is its Tamil name.
Ushba ke fayde kya hain?
Tradition uses ushba for chronic skin eruptions, boils, itching and joint pain as a blood purifier, and as a cooling drink. None of these uses has been confirmed in human trials; the chemistry of both roots is well described, the benefits are not.
Arq ushba ke fayde?
Arq-e-Ushba is the distilled water of ushba, given by hakeems for skin and “heat”. It carries the same traditional claims as the root with no separate evidence. The practitioner or the pack sets the amount.
Sharbat ushba kis kaam aata hai?
Sharbat Ushba is a sweetened syrup of the root, taken diluted as a cooling summer drink and for skin complaints in Unani practice. It is a sugar syrup, so people with diabetes should count it as a sweet drink.
Kya ushba khoon saaf karti hai?
No root cleans blood; the kidneys and liver do that. “Khoon saaf” describes the old belief that skin eruptions came from impure blood. The conditions behind them, such as acne, eczema, fungal infection and scabies, each need their own diagnosis.
Ushba ke nuksan kya hain?
Smilax can cause nausea, cramps and loose stools because of its saponins, and may change how some medicines are absorbed. Hemidesmus is gentler. Neither has safety data in pregnancy, and the sharbats add sugar.
Does sarsaparilla contain testosterone?
No. Its saponins were once used as raw material to synthesise steroid hormones in laboratories, which is where the myth began. The root contains no testosterone and does not raise it in the body.
How do I tell real sarsaparilla from anantmool?
Smell and shape. Anantmool is a thin dark root with a vanilla and camphor scent and a woody core. Smilax is thicker, pale, fibrous and starchy with no scent and a faintly soapy, bitter taste. Powder cannot be judged at home.
Bottom line
Ushba is a name, not a plant, and the plant you get is usually the Indian substitute, anantmool, rather than the Smilax the old texts meant. Both are well described chemically; neither is proven for the skin and joint uses tradition gives them. Anantmool is a gentle flavouring root, Smilax carries saponins that can upset the stomach and interfere with medicines, and the real risk is the delay: a skin problem that keeps coming back deserves a diagnosis, because “khoon saaf” describes the problem, not a solution.
Sources
- Nagarajan S et al. Determination of 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde in roots of Decalepis hamiltonii and Hemidesmus indicus. Journal of AOAC International, 2003 (PubMed)
- Challinor VL et al. Steroidal saponins from the roots of Smilax sp.: structure and bioactivity. Steroids, 2012 (PubMed)
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy: Hemidesmus indicus (L.) R.Br., Apocynaceae, accepted name
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy: Smilax ornata Lem., Smilacaceae, accepted name