Botanical name: Azadirachta Indica
Family Name:     Meliaceae
Common Name:  Lilac, Margosa Tree, Neem, Neem Chal.

Parts Used: Leaves, Flower, Oil, Seed.

Origin of Herbs
Native to East India and Burma, it grows in much of South-East Asia and West Africa.

The neem tree is fast growing (up to twenty feet in three years) tropical evergreen related to mahogany. Outdoors, in location where temperatures don’t drop much below freezing, it may reach up to fifty feet tall. It will grow where rainfall is as little as 457 mm per year and thrives in areas that experience extreme heat of up to 120 degrees F. They are reported to live for upto 200 years.

The tree is often covered in delicate flowers in the early summer. It has a semi-sweet, olive-sized fruit. The seed inside is rich in oil with tremendous medicinal and botanical properties. The oil is easily obtained by pressing the kernels in a juicer. It generally begins bearing fruit at three to five years, and can produce up to 110 lbs. of fruit annually when mature.

Neem is a tropical tree; it must be protected from hard freezes. In northern climates it may be grown in pots with the care and appearance of the more-common ficus tree. Neem makes an ideal indoor plant because it grows well with a minimum of maintenance. For optimum growth, Neem should be placed near a sunny window during the winter and moved outside during summer months. However, they will survive indoors even if they don't receive any natural light at all. Its blooms are small, white flowers with a very sweet, jasmine-like scent. They are relatively heavy feeders, responding to organic fertilizers such as fish emulsion, bone meal and kelp with lush new growth.

Healing Power

All the parts of the plant and active principles and extracts possess a lot of significant pharmacological properties. Neem is bitter and alterative. It is used as a poultice in boils, is antiseptic, demulcent, a tonic in catarrhal affections, stomachic, stimulant. It is useful in snake bite, scorpion sting, hypoglycemic, in rheumatism, as an analgesic, antipyretic, sedative, antibacterial, antiprotozoal, antiviral, anthelmintic and in skin diseases. The tree stem, root and bark possess astringent, tonic, and antiperiodic properties. The bark is beneficial in malarial fever and useful in cutaneous diseases.

Acne

Neem effectively kills the bacteria that cause Acne and studies prove that Neem will reduce inflammation, even the inflammation produced by acne.

Skin problems in general

Dry skin, wrinkles, dandruff, itchy scalp, skin ulcers and warts are other conditions that can be effectively resolved by the use of soaps, lotions and creams, containing neem leaf extracts and oil.

Other Uses

Neem has been used to treat a wide range of ailments, including wounds, burns, sprains, bruises, earache, headache, fever, sore throat, food poisoning, shingles, colds, flu, hepatitis, mononucleosis, fungal infections, yeast infections, sexually transmitted diseases, acne, skin diseases, heart diseases, blood disorders, kidney problems, digestive problems, ulcers, periodontal diseases, nerve disorders, malaria, fatigue, and a host of others. It is being closely studied for use in battling AIDS, cancer, diabetes, allergies, and as birth control for both men and women. It is anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-septic, and strengthens the body’s overall immune responses.

Ayurvedic supplements that contains Neem