Simarouba Leaves (Lakshmi Taru Leaf): What They Are, How They're Used, What to Check Before Buying
Simarouba glauca leaves — the bitter leaf sold in India as Lakshmi Taru. What the leaf actually is, its traditional uses, what the evidence supports, safety notes, and how to judge dried leaf before you buy.
The short answer
Simarouba leaves are the foliage of Simarouba glauca, the tree sold in India as Lakshmi Taru. They are intensely bitter — that bitterness is a family of compounds called quassinoids, present throughout the plant.
They have a genuine traditional use in Central America, where the plant's bark and leaves were used against dysentery, fever and malaria. In India they are mostly sold on the strength of cancer claims that the published evidence does not support.
We sell shade-dried leaf. We describe it as a bitter herbal leaf and nothing more. What the research actually shows →
We are a plant nursery, not a medical source. Nothing on this page is medical advice, a recommendation or a dosage. It reports what published sources say, names them, and leaves the decisions to you and your doctor. Last checked against the literature: 19 September 2026.
What the leaf actually is
Botanically: alternate, compound and imparipinnate, with 5–8 pairs of leaflets along a pale central rachis. Each leaflet is oblong and leathery, with a rounded or notched tip, glossy dark green above and distinctly paler underneath — that pale, glaucous underside is what gives the species its name, glauca. New flush comes in coppery-red.
In the hand: the leaf is tougher and more leathery than most herbal leaves. It dries well and holds its shape.
On the tongue: properly, genuinely bitter — not the mild bitterness of a tea leaf. This is the most reliable identification test there is. Bitterness is the whole plant's signature, and a Simarouba leaf that isn't bitter is worth questioning.
Where the traditional use comes from
The plant is native to Central America, and that is where its documented medicinal history sits. It was used against dysentery, fever and malaria — the English name "dysentery bark" records this directly.
The antiamoebic and antimalarial line of research on this genus is the older and better-established one. The anticancer interest, which is what drives Indian demand, is laboratory-stage work on isolated compounds. Those are very different bodies of evidence, and they are routinely blurred together by people selling the leaf.
Note that the traditional preparations were generally of the bark, and the Indian practice of using the leaf as a tea is a more recent adaptation.
What sellers claim, and what we say
Most Indian listings for this leaf claim or imply that it treats cancer. There is no clinical evidence that it treats cancer in humans. Laboratory studies show that quassinoids from this plant kill cancer cells in culture and slow tumours in mice, which is not the same thing and has never been shown to carry over to people.
We set this out in full, with sources, on a separate page — including why "kills cancer cells in a dish" means much less than it sounds like. Read it before you buy from anyone →
Advertising a cancer cure in India is also prohibited: cancer is entry 6 in the Schedule to the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, and that Act's definition of "advertisement" expressly includes a label or wrapper. A seller making the claim on a packet is not in a grey area.
Safety: what the sources record
These are published findings, not our advice. Take them to a doctor.
- Quassinoids are cytotoxic — documented as causing cell damage. That property is the entire basis of the anticancer interest, and it does not distinguish tidily between kinds of cells.
- Vomiting and stomach irritation. Supplement-safety references record that simarouba in large amounts causes vomiting, and that quassinoids in quantity irritate the stomach's mucous membrane.
- No established safe dose. We could find none published for leaf preparations, and reviews describe the evidence base as limited for demonstrating safe use as a herbal medicine.
- Pregnancy. Recorded as unsafe, and the plant has been used deliberately to cause abortion.
- Breastfeeding. The effect of quassinoids during lactation is recorded as not known; the standing advice in those references is to avoid the plant.
- Alongside other treatment. We found no interaction studies. That is an absence of evidence, not evidence of safety — and it is a question for a doctor, who should know about anything you are taking.
Judging dried leaf before you buy
Whoever you buy from, this is what separates good leaf from filler.
Shade-dried, not sun-dried. Sun-drying bleaches the leaf and degrades it. Good material stays a deep green-brown, not a pale straw colour.
Whole leaf beats powder. Whole leaflets can be identified — you can see the shape, the leathery texture, the pale underside. Powder can be anything, and adulteration is invisible once something is milled. Buy whole leaf unless you have a reason not to.
It must be bitter. Taste a fragment. If it isn't strongly bitter, question what you have been sent.
Ask when it was dried. Leaf is not improved by age.
No claims on the packet. A seller printing "cures cancer" on a label is both misinforming you and breaking the law. That tells you what their quality control is likely to be worth.
If you have your own tree
You do not need to buy leaf at all if you have a mature tree.
Take healthy mature leaves — not the coppery new flush, not old yellowing ones. Wash and drain them. Dry in shade with good airflow, never in direct sun, spread in a single layer and turned so nothing stays damp. They are dry when a leaflet snaps rather than bends. Store airtight, away from light.
Anyone telling you the leaf must come from a particular source, at a particular price, to work, is selling you something.
What we sell
Shade-dried Simarouba (Lakshmi Taru) leaf, whole leaf and cut, from our own block — sold as a bitter herbal leaf, with these same safety notes attached and no health claims whatsoever.
Ask for a rate — we quote by phone or email, because rates move with season and quantity. Nothing is charged on this site.
Frequently asked questions
What are Simarouba leaves used for? Traditionally, in Central America, against dysentery, fever and malaria. In India they are mostly sold on cancer claims, which the published evidence does not support. We sell the leaf as a bitter herbal leaf and make no health claims.
Are Lakshmi Taru leaves bitter? Yes, strongly. The bitterness comes from quassinoids present throughout the plant, and it is the most reliable way to tell you have the real thing.
Do Simarouba leaves cure cancer? No. There is no clinical evidence that they treat or cure cancer in humans. Laboratory studies show activity against cancer cells in culture, which does not establish a treatment. The full picture →
Are Simarouba leaves safe? Safety is not established in the published literature. They contain cytotoxic quassinoids, no safe dose has been set, and vomiting and stomach irritation are recorded at higher amounts. The plant is recorded as unsafe in pregnancy. Ask a doctor.
Whole leaf or powder? Whole leaf, generally. You can identify whole leaflets by shape, texture and the pale underside; powder can be anything.
How should Simarouba leaves be dried? In shade with good airflow, spread thin and turned, never in direct sun. They are dry when a leaflet snaps rather than bends.
Where do Simarouba leaves come from? From Simarouba glauca, an evergreen tree introduced to India in 1966 and now grown across Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Odisha. About the species →
Every statement on this page was checked against published sources on 19 September 2026. The page reports what those sources say and offers no medical advice, recommendation or dosage. It has not been reviewed by a clinician. If you are qualified and think something here is wrong, please write to hi@agri.net.in — we will correct it.