Description
Withania coagulans, the Indian rennet plant, is a small perennial shrub of the family Solanaceae, native to the arid and semi-arid scrublands of northwestern India — particularly Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana — and Pakistan and Afghanistan. Related to Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), it is distinguished by its yellow-orange berry fruits that contain withanolide glycosides with documented milk-coagulating (rennet-like) enzymatic activity — from which the vernacular name Paneer Dodi (paneer = Indian cheese) derives. In classical Ayurveda, the plant is known as Rishyagandha and is documented in formulations for Prameha (urinary and metabolic disorders, including diabetes). Documented in both Ayurvedic and Unani texts, the dried fruits have attracted phytochemical research interest for their withanolide content and antidiabetic properties in recent decades.
