A Literature Review of Luk Maghsool (Lac)

Luk Maghsool (Lac) is the resinous secretion of a number of species of lac insects, of which the most commonly cultivated is Kerria lacca. Cultivation begins when a farmer gets a stick that contains eggs ready to hatch and ties it to the tree to be infested.1 Thousands of lac insects colonize the branches of the host trees and secrete the resinous pigment. The coated branches of the host trees are cut and harvested as sticklac. The harvested sticklac is crushed and sieved to remove impurities. The sieved material is then repeatedly washed to remove insect parts and other material. The resulting product is known as seedlac. The prefix seed refers to its pellet shape. Seedlac, which still contains 3–5% impurity, is processed into shellac by heat treatment or solvent extraction. The use of lac since ancient times in different alternative system of medicine like Unani, Ayurveda etc. for the treatment of Obesity (Saman-e-Mufrat), Dyslipidaemia (Fart-eTadassum-Fid-Dum), Liver disease (Amraz-e-Jigar), Anti-helminthic (Deedan-e-meda wa ama) etc. Several studies have been carried out for the therapeutic evaluation of its efficacy and safety. So, I want to compile and summarized all the literature at one space.