● Product Type: Whole/TBC/Powder
● English/Common Name: Catechu, Cutch Tree
● Botanical Name: Acacia catechu
● Indian Names: Katha, Khair
● Origin: India
Faint, woody, and highly astringent.
A fine, dense powder.
A light reddish-brown to dark brown powder.
Catechu is a dried, water-based extract derived from the heartwood of the Acacia Catechu (Khair) tree. The heartwood is boiled in water, and the resulting decoction is evaporated, leaving behind a crystalline residue known as Katha. This extract is rich in tannins, which are responsible for its powerful astringent and antioxidant effects.
● French: Cachou
● German: Katechu
● Chinese: Ér chá (儿茶)
● Arabic: و (Catechu)
● Spanish: Catecú
● Russian: Катеху (Katekhu)
● Japanese: カテキュー (Katekyū)
Katha is a powerful astringent herb in Ayurveda, best known as a key ingredient in the traditional Indian mouth freshener, paan. It is used to support oral health, strengthen gums, and manage mouth sores. Its potent Kashaya (astringent) and Rakta Stambhak (stops bleeding) properties also make it highly effective for skin care, helping to soothe acne and rashes. In hair care, it is used with Henna to create beautiful brown and brunette tones.
● For Brunette Hair Tones: Mix Katha powder with SUPHERB® Henna powder (e.g., a 1:3 ratio of Katha to Henna) to help achieve rich, chocolatey brown shades. The final color will depend on the base hair color.
● For Oral Health: A very weak decoction of the powder can be used as a mouth rinse to help tighten gums and freshen breath.
● For Skin Care: A paste made with the powder can be applied topically to acne or skin irritations to help dry them out and soothe inflammation.
Our Katha is prepared from the heartwood of mature Khair trees sourced from the forests of India.
We follow the traditional method of aqueous extraction to produce a pure, potent Catechu extract, which is then ground into a fine powder for ease of use.
