Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Darunaj Aqrabi is the dried root of a mountain daisy called Doronicum hookeri. Persian and Unani healers gave it as a heart tonic and a mood lifter. They also gave it after a scorpion sting, which is how it got its name.
It is sold today as a dried root or a fine powder. It also turns up inside old Unani heart pastes and blends. Other names for it are Scorpion-root and Leopard's bane.
Long use in tradition is not the same as proof of effect. No human trials support any of these uses. The plant also sits in a group that can hold liver-harming chemicals, so treat it with care.
The honest answer is that no one knows.
Unani texts explain it in the older language of humours. They call the root hot and dry, and say it warms a cold, weak heart and lifts the spirits. That is a system of ideas, not a tested mechanism.
No study has shown what this root does inside the human body. Any claim about how it acts on the heart, the brain or on venom is guesswork at this stage.
You will most often meet it in these forms:
Whole dried root, sold by weight in Unani shops.
Root powder, called safoof, taken with water, honey or milk.
Compound Unani pastes and jams, such as khamira and majun blends, where it is one herb among many.
Rarely, a tincture (a liquid made by soaking the root in alcohol).
The name darunaj appears in classical Persian medical writing over a thousand years ago. Avicenna and later authors listed it among heart-strengthening roots.
The drug passed from Persian practice into Unani medicine in India and Pakistan. There it stayed as a named single herb and as part of heart blends.
Its second name, aqrabi, points to the scorpion. Some say the root looks like a scorpion's tail. Others link it to its old use after stings.
Some reactions to Darunaj Aqrabi need urgent care. Call your local emergency number or go to an emergency department straight away — do not wait to see whether it passes.
Call emergency services if you have been stung by a scorpion, or if you have chest pain, fainting or trouble breathing.
Stop the herb and see a doctor the same week if your skin or the whites of your eyes turn yellow, your pee turns dark, your belly hurts on the right side, or you feel unusually tired.
See a doctor before you start if you are on any regular medicine, or if your heartbeat often races or flutters.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
Reviewed by the HealisticMD editorial team How we grade evidence →
The published evidence for Darunaj Aqrabi is weak or absent. That usually means no controlled trial has tested it, not that a trial found it ineffective — the two are different, and we grade only what has been published.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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