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 Botany
Malaulasiman is a slender, erect or spreading, branched, annual herb, 20 to 50 cm in length. Leaves are stalkless, linear-oblanceolate to linear-oblong, and 1.5 to 3 cm long. Flowers occur in axillary, peduncled, 2- to 5-flowered umbels, with slender peduncles which are 5 to 10 mm long; the pedicels are half as long or less; and solitary flowers are often intermixed. Corolla is small and white. Capsules are shaped like a top, about 2 mm long, and do not protrude beyond the short, acuminate, calyx-lobes.
Note:
This plant closely resembles H. diffusa, differentiated mainly by the
2- to 7-flowered inflorescence (in H. diffusa, there is only 1 flower
subtended per pedicel) and moreover, by the longer pedicel.
Distribution
Found throughout the Philippines,
common in and about towns, in open waste places, grasslands,
etc.
Properties
• The pharmacological properties
of this species is fundamentally identical with that of H. diffusa,
however, with reference to its anticancer actions, H. diffusa (Ulasiman
kalat) is regarded as a more powerful drug than H. corymbosa.
• Considered cooling, febrifuge, pectoral, digestive, diuretic, depurative, diaphoretic, stomachic.
Constituents
• Thai study isolated ten compounds, among them: geniposide, 6a-hydroxygeniposide, scandoside methyl ester.
• Study isolated three new iridoid glycosides, nine iridoid and lignan glucosides and rutin.
Uses
Nutrition
• Edible.
• Rich source of ascorbic acid (vitamin C)
Folkloric
• Decoction of plant used for
fevers and stomach aches.
• A cooling medicine used in remittent fevers with gastric irritability and nervous depression caused by deranged air and bile.
• In Konkan, juice is applied for burning of the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. For burning at the pit of the stomach, the juice is taken with a little milk and sugar.
• In Martinique,
tincture of roots used as vermifuge.
• In the Antiles,
used as a vermifuge.
• In India, plant
juice mixed with sugar and milk for stomach burning.
• In India,
used for jaundice and liver problems, giddiness, dyspepsia, flatulence, colic, constipation, helminthiasis, leprosy, bronchitis.
• In the Congo,
used for facilitation of childbirth.
•In Chinese medicine used for viral infections, cancer, acne, boils, appendicitis, hepatitis, eye problems and bleeding.
Studies
• Hepatoprotective: Study on the effect
of methanolic extract of HC against paracetamol overdose-induced liver
damage in Wistar rats showed significant hepatoprotective effects evidenced by decreased enzme activities and an almost normal histological architecture.
• Antimicrobial: Screening
method for the identification of plants possessing anti-microbial activity
and tolerance to abiotic stresses: In a study of 50 species,
Datura metel and Oldenlandia corymbosa exhibited the highest antimicrobial
activity.
• Anti-Malarial: Study of A paniculata and Hedyotis corymbosa, both known for their hepatoprotective and fever-reducing abilities, showed inhibitory activity in the ring stage of the parasite without invivo toxicity, with increased invivo potency when used in combination and with curcumin.
• Immunocompetent Activity: Study showed prior administraion of J corymbosa and H diffusa ameliorated the leukopenia and splenic cellular decrease associated with sublethal irradiation.
• Oxytocic Activity / Antimicrobial: O affinis is one of many plants used in the Congo and Central Africa regions for the facilitation of childbirth. Study isolated uterotonic substances - cyclic peptides (kalata-peptides) and a main peptide, B1. The kalata-peptide B1 have also shown to hold antimicrobial activity and presents a potential for the design of new peptide antibiotics.
• Ascorbic Acid Content: Study of fresh and dried leaves of two edible plants - O corymbosa and D rotundifolia - found them to be rich sources of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) when compared to some common garden fruits and vegetables, more in the fresh than in the dried leaves.
• Antioxidant / Radical Scavenging Activities: (1) Study on the antioxidant and radical scavenging activities of three traditional Chinese medicines – HD (H. diffusa), HC (Hedyotis corymbosa) and MP (M. pentaphylla), showed HD had the strongest inhibition of lipid peroxidation, followed by HC, while H corymbosa had the highest radical scavenging activity. The differences may explain the variation in therapeutic properties when the herbal medicines are used interchangeably in medicinal preparations. (2) Study showed marked antioxidant activity of the HC extract, attributed to the presence of total phenolic and total flavonoid contents..
• Peh-Hue-Juwa-Chi-Cao / Anti-Tumor / Radioprotective Activity: A study was done on three different crude drugs that take the same name (Peh-Hue-Juwa-Chi-Chao) as an antitumor agent and evaluated for its antitumor activity against malignant implanted subcutaneous tumors and protective effect against radiation-induced hematopoeitic damage. Results showed the three kinds of Peh-Hue-Juwa-Chi-Cao drugs all showed similar antitumor effects and protection from radiation damage.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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