Botany
The plant is an evergreen glabrous shrub with many branches, growing to a height of 1.5 meters. Leaves are alternate, simple, dark green, leathery, elliptic lanceolate or oblanceolate with crenate or undulate margins. Flowers are small, white or pink. Fruit is a drupe, coral red and single-seeded.
 Distribution
Cultivated in gardens for its decorative red fruits.
A popular pot plant.
Parts
utilized
Roots
Uses
Folkloric
• No folkloric medicinal use in the Philippines.
• Elsewhere, root isconsidered anodyne, depurative, febrifuge; used to stimulate blood circulation.
Others
• Provides a dense canopy.
Studies
• Triterpenoid Saponins / Ardisiacrenoside / Cytotoxicity:
(1) Study isolated two novel triterpenoid saponins – ardisicrenoside A and adrisicrenoside B – and two known triterpenoid saponins, ardisicrispins A and B. (2) Ardisiacrenoside, a new triterpenoid pentasaccharide was isolated from A crenata with five closely related triterpenoid saponins. Their cytotoxic activities were evaluated againszt human tumor cell lines.
• Potential Source of Therapeutic Agents:
There are more than 500 species of Ardisia throughout the tropical and subtropical regions, several used as ornamentals, food and medicines. Species of Ardisia are rich in novel and biologically potent phytochemical compounds such as bergenin and ardisin. The report presents the potential of the genus as a source of therapeutic agents.
• Bergenin / Pharmacologic Activities:
(1) Study isolated a new bergenin derivative from the root of A crenata – 11-o-syringylbergenin. Other compounds identified were spinasterol, fatty acids, beta-sitosterol-beta-D-glucoside, norgergenin and sucrose. (2) Studies have shown bergenin to possess a wide range of biological activities: antiulcer, hepatoprotective, antiviral, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, among others.
• Ardisiacrispin A and B / Pro-Apoptotic / Anticancer:
Study investigating the anticancer activity of ardisiacrispin A+B on several human cancer lines showed it could inhibit the proliferation of Bel-7402 cells by inducing apoptosis and dissembling microtubule.
• Anti-Thrombin Activity:
In a study of 30 plants from central Florida for its antithrombin activity, Ardisia crenata was one of seven that demonstrated activity of 80% or higher in a chromogenic bioassay system.
Availability
Wild-crafted. |
