Botany
Kalit-kalit is a perennial vine, climbing by means of tendrils found opposite the leaves. Leaves are trifoliolate with petioles 2 to 3 centimeters long. Leaflets are ovate to oblong-ovate, 2 to 8 centimeters long, 1.5 to 5 centimeters wide, pointed at the tip, and coarsely toothed at the margins. Flowers are small, greenish white, borne on axillary and solitary cymes. Fruit is a berry, fleshy, juicy, dark purple or black, subglobose, and about 1 centimeter in diameter.

Distribution
- Throughout the Philippines, in thickets at low altitudes.
- Also reported in China, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

Constituents
- Plant yields a yellow waxy oil, carbohydrates, steroids, terpenoids, flavonoids and tannins.
- Yield kaempferol, myricetin, quercetin, triterpenes, and epifriedelanol.
- Plant leaf yields steroids, tannins, flavonoids, fatty acid, and terpenoids.
- Leaves yield stilbenes (piceid, reveratrol, viniferin, ampelopsin) and flavonoids (cyanidins).
- Stems, leaves, roots reported to yield hydrocyanic acid and delphinidin.

Properties
- In India, plant is considered astringent, antibacterial, antiscorbutic, antitumor, hypoglycemic, and rubefacient.
- Root considered astringent.

Parts used
Root and leaves.

Uses
Culinary
In India, Vitis trifolia is a nutritious and edible wild weed.
Folkloric
- Leaves in decoction considered antiscorbutic.
- Sap of the leaves also antiscorbutic.
- Root, ground with black pepper, is applied to boils.
- Root also used as astringent medicine.
- In India, roots are grounded with black pepper and applied as poultice on boils.
- Infusion of seeds with extract of tubers used for diabetes.
- Paste of tubers applied to snake bites.
- Whole plant used as diuretic; also for tumors, neuralgia and splenic afflictions.
Others
- Veterinary: In India, climbers are wrapped around the neck of franctic bullock. Poultice of leaves used for yoke sores of bullock.

Studies
• Antioxidant: Study of two weeds, Chenopodium album and Vitis trifolia, showed significant reducing power and free radical scavenging effect on DPPH, hydroxyl, superoxide, hydrogen peroxide radicals.
• Anti-Tumor / Epifriedelanol: Study isolated epifriedelanol from V. trifolia, which exhibited antitumor activity in a potato disc bioassay.

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
ANTIOXIDANT AND FREE RADICAL SCAVENGING ACTIVITIES OF EDIBLE WEEDS / Kumar S and D Kumar / AJFAND, Volume 9 No. 5 2009, August 2009
(2)
Antitumor activity of epifriedelanol from Vitis trifolia / J.K. Kundu, A.S.S. Rouf, Md. Nazmul Hossain, C.M. Hasan, M.A. Rashid / Fitoterapia, Vol 71, No 5, 1 Sept 2000, Pages 577-579 / doi:10.1016/S0367-326X(00)00191-X
(3)
Pharmacognostic Evaluation of Cayratia trifolia (Linn.) Leaf / Dinesh Kumar, Jyoti Gupta, Sunil Kumar et al / Asian Pacific Journal of Tropivcal Biomedicine, 2012, 1-4