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Botany
Alugbati is a succulent, branched,
smooth, twining herbaceous vine, several meters in length. Stems are
purplish or green. Leaves are somewhat fleshy, ovate or heart-shaped, 5 to 12
centimeters long, stalked, tapering to a pointed tip with a cordate base. Spikes
are axillary, solitary, 5 to 29 centimeters long. Flowers are pink, about 4 millimeters long. Fruit is fleshy, stalkless, ovoid
or nearly spherical, 5 to 6 millimeters long, and purple when mature.
Distribution
- Found in settled areas, in hedges, old cultivated areas, etc., throughout the Philippines.
- Often cultivated.
- Prehistoric introduction.
- Also occurs in tropical Asia, Africa, and Malaya.
Constituents
• Study isolated Basellasaponins A, B, C, and D, oleanane-type triterpenes
oligoglycosides, together with betavulgaroside 1, spinacoside C, and momordins IIb and IIc, from fresh aerial parts.
• Leaves yield saponin, vitamin A and B.
• Fruit yields mucilage and iron.
 Properties
• Demulcent, diuretic, emollient,
laxative, rubefacient.
• Mucilaginous when cooked.
Uses
Edibility / Nutrition
- Common market product,
a popular leafy and stew vegetable, and a good substitute for spinach.
- The green and purple cultivated varieties are preferable to the wild
ones.
- Both the young shoots and stems are eaten.
- Excellent source of calcium and iron; good source of vitamins A, B,
and C, with a high roughage value.
Folkloric
Roots are employed as
rubefacient.
Poultice of leaves used to reduce local swelling.
Sap is applied to acne eruptions to reduce inflammation.
Decoction of leaves used for its mild laxative effects.
Pulped leaves applied to boils and ulcers to hasten suppuration.
Sugared juice of leaves useful for catarrhal afflictions in children.
Leaf-juice, mixed with butter, is soothing and cooling when applied
to burns and scalds.
Mucilaginous liquid obtained from the leaves and tender stalks used for habitual headaches.
In Ayurveda, used for
hemorrhages, skin diseases, sexual weakness, ulcers and as laxative
in children and pregnant women.
In Nigeria, use for fertility
enhancement in women.
In Antilles leaves considered good maturative as cataplasm.
Others
Cosmetic: Fruit used by women as rouge for cheeks and lips; also as a dye.
Dye: With the anthocyanin content, it makes for a natural food colorant.
Studies
• Anthocyanins
/ Natural Food Colorant : Study
of pigment extracted from fruits of spinach vine (B. rubra) showed good
stability with a potential as a natural food color.
• Antifungal: Study yielded two
antifungal peptides with potent antivity against Botrytis cinerea, Mycosphaerella
arachidicola and Fusarium oxysporum.
• Antimicrobial: A study of the aqueous, ethanolic and petroleum ether extracts of the leaves of Basella rubra exhibited antimicrobial activity against all test organisms except P aeruginosa. The ethanolic extract showed maximum effect against E coli. Further studies are needed to isolate the active compound responsible for the antimicrobial effect.
• Hypoglycemic : A study of STZ-induced diabetic rats fed with Basella rubra showed the leaf pulp of B. rubra possesses a strong hypoglycemic effect.
• Volatile Flavor Components: Study identified volatile flavor components. The major components from the volatile oil were: 1-methoxypropane, (Z)-3-hexen-l-ol, 3-methoxyphenyl acetate, acetophenone, 4-vinylguaiacol, isophytol, and phytol.
• Dyestuff / Microbiological Stain: Studt showed the anthocyanin extracted from Basella rubra berries produced a stain comparable with synthetic stains like crystal violet and safranin, and can be used as an alternative microbiological stain.
Availability
Cultivated vegetable
market produce.
Wildcrafted.
Seeds in the cybermarket.
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