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Botany
Bali-bali is an erect.
smooth, somewhat fleshy shrub or small tree, 2 to 5 meters high, growing
to 30 feet in the wild. Branches are green, somewhat fleshy, cylindric, clustered or
scattered, about 5 millimeters thick. There are no leaves except for a few, small, linear-oblong ones
which are about 1 centimeter long or less, soon disappearing to leave the stems smooth and cylindrical,
glossy green and pencil-thick. Involucres are shortly-stalked, clustered in the
forks of the smaller branches, small, and turbinate. Each cell has a solitary seed.
Distribution
- Found from norther
Luzon to Mindanao.
- Nowhere spontaneous.
- Occasionally garden hedge.
Constituents
• Euphorbon
isolated from the needles, with 4 percent caoutchouc.
• A latex analysis yielded 75 to 82 percent resin, and 14 to 15 percent caoutchouc.
• Studies show the latex to be rich in terpenes, including ingenol
and phorbol esters, the latter, highly irritating and shown to be tumor-promoting.
• Study isolated six terpenes: (1) cyclotirucaneol (2) cycloeuphordenol
(3) tirucalicine (4) tirucaligine (5) euphorginol (6) euphorcinol.
• Latex showed great similarity in composition and activity to
the highly poisonous croton seed oil from Croton tiglium.
• Phytochemical screening yielded alkaloid, coumarins, polyphenols and tannins, and triterpenes.
Properties
- Latex considered an energetic revulsive.
- Juice also used as vesicatory.
- Milky juice in small doses considered purgative; in large doses, emetic and an acrid irritant.
Parts utilized
· Roots, stems,
latex.
Uses
 Folkloric
· In the Philippines, the first report of use came from Father de Sta. Maria: Heated root scraping
mixed with coconut oil are applied externally to the stomach to relieve
pain.
· Poultices of stems used for healing of fractures of bones.
· Latex used for wound healing.
· The milky juice, in small doses, is purgative; in large doses,
emetic.
· Milky juice also applied to itches and insect bites. Also used
for ear aches, whooping cough, asthma. Also, used to remove warts.
· Latex employed as a cure for wounds. Contact with eyes may cause blindness.
· Decoction of the branches for colic and stomach pains.
· The latex may cause eye irritation or blindness.
· Externally, a warm rubefacient remedy for toothaches, rheumatism,
· Milky juice used to raise blisters, especially in syphilitic nodes.
· Juice, given with butter, said to cure affections of the spleen and acts as a purgative in colic and bowel complaints.
· Juice used as drops for earaches.
· Latex applied to various skin lesions: wounds, warts, swollen glands, earaches, and tumors of the nose.
· Roots used for treatment of schistosomiasis and sexually transmitted diseases.
· Latex used for sexual impotency and sterility.
· Latex used to promote breast enlargement.
· Latex boiled in milk used as antidote for poisoning and snake bites.
· Decoction of tender branches or roots used for colic and gastralgia.
· In Java bark is applied to fractures.
· Fresh, acrid juice used as vesicatory; also used to remove warts.
· Infusion of roots given for bone pains.
· Poultice of root or leaves used for ulcerations of the nose and for hemorrhoids.
· Decoction of wood applied on skin in leprosy and paralysis of the hands and feet following childbirth.
· Decoction of roots used to relieve pains in the abdomen; also used as purgative.
· In Africa, root used for snakebites; the latex for skin tumors, syphilitic ulcers;
seeds and latex for intestinal parasites; decoctions of the wood for
bacterial infections.
· In Malaysia, stems are pounded
and used for swellings. Also used for hemorrhoids.
· In the Amazon, Madagascar and South Africa, latex used as application to warts, rheumatism, neuralgia and toothaches. Bark of plant used to treat fractures.
· In Dutch Indies, poultice of pounded
stems are used to extract thorns.
· Root infusion for aching bones.
· In India, latex used for asthma,
cough, earache, neuralgia, rheumatism, toothache and warts. Paste of fresh leaves and latex diluted with water used for cancer.
· In Peru, used for abscesses, asthma,
cancer, stomachaches and toothaches.
Others
· Repellent: In Africa, used as insect repellant.
· Poison: In the Philippines, latex used as fish poison. In the Congo, a variety of the species used as criminal poison.
Biodiesel
• With little effort
the poisonous latex can be converted to the equivalent of alcohol and
has led chemist Melvin Calvin to propose its exploitation for producing
oil. Milk bush grows on land not suitable for other crops, and is estimated
to produce 10-50 barrels of oil per acre.
• Bali-bali is included in the list of oils with a potential for
biodiesel: Algae Oil,
Artichoke Oil, Canola Oil, Castor Oil, Coconut Oil, Corn, Cottonseed
Oil, Flaxseed Oil, Hemp Oil, Jatropha Oil, Jojoba Oil, Karanj Oil, Kukui
Nut Oil, Milk Bush, Pencil
Bush Oil, Mustard Oil, Neem Oil, Olive Oil, Palm Oil, Peanut Oil, Radish
Oil, Rapeseed Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Safflower Oil, Sesame Oil, Soybean
Oil,Sunflower Oil, Tung Oil.
Studies
• Traditional
use of the latex from Euphorbia tirucalli in the treatment of cancer
in South Brazil: The study concludes that cancer management with
E. tirucalli has no scientific basis and its esters have already presented
a tumor-promoting ability. There are also endemic cancers in places where
E. tirucalli is widely distributed and folklorically used.
• Developmental Toxicity: Toxicological
screening in rats suggests that the latex aqueous solution of E. tirucalli
did not interfere with embryo development or implantation, but seems
to alter the placenta morphology.
• New highly irritant euphorbia factors
from latex of Euphorbia tirucalli L.: 5 new euphorbia factors
were isolated from the latex, all of which are highly sensitive to autoxidation.
• Anti-Tumor Activity: Study of ET
in tumor-bearing mice showed a modulatory effect on myelopoietic response
and levels of PGE2 possibly through regulation of granulocyte and macrophage
production and expression of functional activities.
• Tumor-Promoting: • Although touted folklorically for treating
cancers, studies on its esters show tumor-promoting activity. The latex
has been documented to promote tumor growth and/or trigger certain cancers.
Some studies consider it an environmental risk factor for Burkitt's
lymphoma.
• Anti-Arthritic: Study of a biopolymeric
fraction from ET showed dose-dependent anti-arthritic activity and in
vivo immunomodulatory capacity as a major component in inhibiting arthritis.
• Hepatoprotective / Antioxidant: Study of aqueous extract of E tirucalli exhibited significant hepatoprotective effect, decreasing serum enzymes, bilirubin, cholesterol and tissue lipid peroxidation and increasing levels of tissue GSH. The hepatoprotective effect may be due to its antioxidant potential.
• Antibacterial / Antifungal: E. coli and P. aeruginosa were most sensitive to a leaf extract. Stem bark extract exhibited significant activity against P. vulgaris, K. pneumonia. Leaf extract showed maximum antifungal activity with A. fumigatus. Low MIC exhibited by an extract against S. aureus presents a potential alternative to orthodox antibiotics.
• Inganen Diterpenes: The prevalent constituents of the plant latex are diterpenes of the Inganen types (ingenol esters), as well as tigliane (phorbol esters). Study data has shown that Inganen as well as colchicene have an inhibitory effect on tubulin polymerization, instable of MT nucleation and formation. Neurons exposed to Inganen initiate a cellular process than can lead to cell death - Inganen-induced apoptosis.
• Pesticidal: Like all other pest remedies, E. tirucalli extracts vary in efficacy. High efficacy was observed with Anopheles spp. larvae, B. brassicae, R. similis, H. multicinctus, and P. goodeyi.
• Anti-Inflammatory / Analgesic: Latex extract of E. tirucalli showed moderate analgesic activity in the tail immersion and acetic acid induced writhing test possibly through the suppression of prostaglandin and bradykinin formation. Results suggest both a central and peripheral analgesic activity. The analgesic activity may be due to the presence of flavonoids in the latex extracts.
• Biogas Production :
The results of a laboratory study on biogas production from Euphorbia tirucalli showed a maximum biogas yield of 298 liters per kg dry matter after mesophilic digestion (at 35 degrees Celsius) with bacteria from domestic waste water treatment for 21 days. Results showed E. tirucalli as a good feedstock for biogas production under laboratory conditions, with biogas production ranging from 218 to 293 liters/kg dry matter. Results provide a very interesting potential source of bioenergy in tropical countries.
Toxicity / Concerns
Toxicity, immune suppression, tumor-promoting,
and cancer concerns
Latex is rich in terpenes,
including phorbol and ingenol esters. Studies have shown the latex to
be toxic. Phorbol esters are highly irritating and has been documented
to promote tumors. One phorbol has been shown to enhance Epstein-Barr
virus (EBV) infection, cause DNA damage to immune cells and cause suppression
of the immune system. An extract has also been shown to decrease the
ability of T-cells to kill EBV.
• Although touted folklorically for treating
cancers, studies on its esters show tumor-promoting activity. The latex
has been documented to promote tumor growth and/or trigger certain cancers.
Some studies consider it an environmental risk factor for Burkitt's
lymphoma.
Contact Irritant / Uveitis / Keratoconjunctivitis: Latex skin contact causes burning and irritation.
Ingestion causes burning and irritation of the mouth, nausea, vomiting
or diarrhea. Several deaths have been attributed to the use of E. tirucalli
for medicinal purposes. Reports have been made of chemical eye injury
(keratoconjunctivitis) from exposure to the latex of ET.
• Many reports of mortality and morbidity with ingestion of the latex:
vomiting, perforation of the stomach, intestines and kidney. In rats,
it showed rapid severe inflammation, an oxytocin response, pro-convulsive
and anti-convulsive effects,
• The triterpene esters are all highly inflammatory with carcinogenic
activities.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
Cultivated. |
