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Botany
Kamunig is a small, smooth tree,
growing from 3 to 8 meters in height, and having a very hard wood. Leaves are 8 to 15 centimeters long, with usually 7 to 9 leaflets on each
side, oblong to ovate, elliptic or subrhomboid, and 2 to 7 centimeters. Stems are hairy. Flowers are few, white, very fragrant, 1.5 to 2 centimeters long, and borne on short, terminal or axillary cymes. Fruits is fleshy, red when ripe, pointed or oval-shaped, 1 to 1.5 centimeters long.
Distribution
- Common in thickets and secondary
forests at low and medium altitudes throughout the Philippines.
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It is often cultivated.
- Also occurs in India to Malaya.
- Now pantropic.
Constituents
- Leaves yield a volatile oil, 0.01%, with
cadinene and sesquiterpene.
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Flowers yield murrayin (glucoside), murrayetin,
and indol.
- Study yielded alkaloids, tannins, cardiac glycosides and saponins.
- Study yielded eight highlty oxygenated flavones, identified as gardenin
A, gardenin C, gardenin E, 5-O-desmethylnobiletin, umhengerin, 5,3--dihydroxy-6,7,4'5'--tetramethoxyflavone
and new compound, 5,3',5'-trihydroxy-6,7,4'-trimethoxyflavone.
- Study reported nine coumarins from the aerial parts of the plant. Of these three – murrmeranzin, 1'2'-O-isopropylidene murrangatin and murralonginal are new; one, pranferin was reported for the first time from the plant.
Properties
Considered anti-herpetic, anti-diarrheal, aromatic, refrigerant, tonic and stomachic.
Leaves are stimulant and astringent.
Leaves and flowers considered tonic and stomachic.
Parts
utilized
· Leaves, roots.
Uses
Folkloric
· Decoction of dried material
(3 - 9 gms) or 0.3 - 0.9 gm of pulverized material by mouth with water:
Used for gas pains. swelling pain due to sprain and contusions, rheumatic
bone pain and poisonous snake bites.
· Poultice of fresh leaves used for swelling due to sprain and
contusions; poisonouse snake bites.
· Infusion of leaves used as tonic; also used for diarrhea and
dysentery.
· Decoction of leaves also used as mouthwash for toothaches.
· Infusion of leaves and flowers is tonic and stomachic.
· Leaves and root bark used for rheumatism, cough, and hysteria.
· Used for abscesses, cellulits, tapeworm disease, rheumatic fever, coughs, giddiness, hysteria, thirst, and burning of the skin.
· Infusion used for herpes of the stomach, and the sediment applied externally.
· In Yi medicine
in China, used for common
colds, fever, cough, sore throat, influenza.
· In the Gujarat region of India, used to regulate fertility.
· In Singapore, leaves are ingredient of a tonic given for irregularities in the regenerative organs of young women. Also similarly used in Java.
· In China, plant is widely us4d for stomachaches, toothaches, rheumatism, paralysis, and diabetes.
Others
· Wood: Most useful part of the tree is the yellow wood, in demand for making canes. Also used for making kris handles.
· Crafts: Top branches, with the leaves, used for making wreaths and in giving body to boquets.
· Cosmetic: In Thailand and Burma, powdered bark and root used as cosmetic. Flowers are sometimes put in the hair for their pleasant smell. In Java, flowers are used in making cosmetics.
Studies
• Antiplatelet Aggregation:
Study isolated two coumarins-minumicroline
acetonide and epimurpaniculol senecioate, both active in the platelet
aggregation assay.
• Antiamoebic Activity: The
anti-amoebic activity of some medicinal plants used by AIDS patients
in southern Thailand: 12 Thai medicinal plants were screened against
a Entamoeba histolitica strain. Murraya paniculata extracts were classifed
as "moderately active."
• Anti-Giardial
Activity: The in vitro anti-giardial activity of extracts
from plants that are used for self-medication by AIDS patients in southern
Thailand: Of 39 medicinal plant extracts studied, the chloroform
extract from Murraya paniculata was "moderately active."
• Insecticidal Activity:
Leaf-derived petroleum ether fraction was found more toxic
than ethyl acetate fractions were evaluated against adult male and female
Callosobruchus maculatus. Males were more susceptible than females.
It suggests further study for its potential as an insect-control agent.
• Essential Oil Composition: Oil of M. paniculata contained 58 compounds – caryophyllene oxide, ß-caryophyllene, spathulenol, ß-elemene, germacrene D, cyclooctene, 4-methylene-6-(propenylidene) among others.
• Antinociceptive / Bioactivity: Study of the ethanol extract of leaves showed a profound nociceptive dose-dependent effect. The extract also showed considerable brine shrimp toxicity.
• Antidiabetic / Antioxidant: Study of the ethanol extract of leaves on STZ-induced diabetci rats showed significant reduction of blood glucose, serum cholesterol, serum triglycerides. Study also showed significant reduction of TBARS, lipid peroxidation and increase in GSH. Results showed significant antidiabetic acitivity along with potent antioxidant potential in diabetic conditions. Supplementation of MP extracts may be beneficial in correcting hyperglycemia and preventing diabetic complications.
• Antifungal: Study showed activity against C. albicans, C tropicalis and C luteolus.
• Antibacterial / Antioxidant: M. paniculata showed antibacterial activity against E. coli, P. mirabilis, S. typhi, E. aerogenes, and S. flexneri. Ethanol extract demonstrated antioxidant activity.
• Analgesic: Extract of bark showed significant dose-dependent reduction in acetic acid induced writhing. The reduced writing may be through the same mechanism of action as aminopyrine. The analgesic activity in radiant heat method was attributed to a central anti-nociceptive activity like that of morphine.
• 2ʹ-O-ethylmurrangatin / Lipoxygenase and Respiratory Burst Inibition: Study yielded a secondary metabolite, 2ʹ-O-ethylmurrangatin, from the leaves of M. paniculata. It exhibited significant activity against lipoxygenase enzyme and moderate respiratory burst activity.
• Antifertiity: Murraya paniculata showed a prominent effect in preventing implantation, terminating early pregnancy and mid-pregnancy of mice, but could not prevent ova transport. Of the plant parts, the cortex of the root and stem was the most effective.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
Cultivated for fragrant flowers.
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