Botany
Boton is an erect, smooth or hairy, annual, slender or rather stout herb 0.3 to 1 meter in height. Leaves are thin, opposite, the upper ones alternate, oblong to broadly ovate, and 5 to 15 centimeters long, with a pointed apex, and entire or scalloped margins. Inflorescence is lax, the heads 5 to 7 milimeters in diameter. Flowers are very small and white, with the corolla hairy near the mouth. Fruit is an achene, rough or covered with wrinkles, crowned by a glandular ring bearing 3 to 5 club-shaped, short lobes.
Distribution
- In open, wet places along streams, in forests and thickets, from sea level to an altitude of 1,800 meters, in the Babuyan Islands; in Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, Abra, Benguet, Bontoc, Nueva Viscaya, Zambales, Bulacan, Bataan, Quezon and Laguna Provinces in Luzaon; and in Mindoro, Culion, Catanduanes, Camiguin de Misamis, and Mindanao.
- Also reported in China, Indo=China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Micronesia, and Polynesia..
Constituents
- Study of volatile oil extracted from the aerial parts identified 35 chemical compounds accounting for 99.56% of the volatile oil. The main components were: α-cubebene (32.62%), caryophyllene (24.97%) and γ-elemen (5.53%). Other monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes were α-caryophyllene, α-chamigrene, bicyclo [4,3,0]-7-methylene-2,4,4-trimethyl-2-vinyl nonane, γ-terpinen, d-limonene, α-pinene and 2-carene.
Properties
Considered antispasmodic, antidiarrheal.
Parts used
Leaves, roots, juice.
Uses
Folkloric
- In the Philippines, leaf preparation used as antispasmodic and the leaf juice as stimulant.
- In La Reunion, leaves are used as antispasmodic; the fresh juice as stimulant and sternutatory.
- The Malays use the plant for poultices to apply to the head and ulcerations of the nose; also used in diarrhea.
- In Malacca, decoction of roots used for stomachaches.
- In the Dutch Indies, lotion of leaves used to arrest baldness; paste of leaves used as poultice for sun-burned skin; scorched leaves are applied to ulcers and to help ripen boils.
- Juice of the plant used for dysentery; along with Centella asiatica and Phyllanthus niruri, used for colic.
- Leaf chewed with a little areca nut and some lime to treat coughs.
- Leaves used in washing hair to prevent falling hair.
- Salted leaves used for sore throats.
- Root or the plant is chewed to stop diarrhea.
- In Taiwan folk medicine, used for treating lung congestion, edema, pneumonia, and inflammation.
Others
- Dye: A. viscosum used in the preparation of indigo dye.
Studies
• Kaurane-type Diterpenes / Cytotoxicity: Study yielded ten 11-oxygenated kauran-19-oic acids and their nine glycosides, paniculosides II and III and adenostemmosides A-G. ent-11α-Hydroxy-15-oxo-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid and adenostemmoic acid B showed cytotoxic activity against L-5178Y cultured cell and prolonged the survival of mice.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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