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 Gen info
Name derives from the Greek work helios, meaning sun; and anthos, for flower.
Botany
Mirasol is a coarse, stout and erect annual plant, up to 1-3 meters high. Stems are straight, rarely branched. Leaves are opposite at the lower part of the stem, alternate above, ovate, rough, hairy, with toothed margins, long-stalked, 10-25 cm long. Flower heads are solitary or in clusters, up to 40 cm across; disk flowers are yellow to brown, with tubular, 5-limbed corolla. Ray flowers are yellow and spreading. The involucral bracts are ovate or oblong.
Distribution
Introduced to the Philippines during the Spanish times.
Cultivated for ornamental purposes.
Profuse seasonal growth in certain places, like the Mountain
Province.
Parts
used and preparation
Seeds, flowers,
roots, bark.
Constituents
Plant contains an oleic acid and triacyl glycerol, alkaloids, cyanogenic
glycosides, saponins, cardiac glycosides, tannins, fixed oils, phenolics.
Oil contains 44-72% linoleic acid.
Leaves contain a glucoside, C11H19N2)4.
Flowers contain quercimeritrin, C21H20O12, a monoglucoside of quercetin; anthocyanin; and abundant amount of cholin and betain.
Seeds contain 45 to 48 percent fixed oil.
Properties
Seed
considered diuretic and expectorant.
Seeds and flowers considered febrifuge and stomachic.
Also considered as aphrodisiac, emollient, anti-malarial and anti-cancer.
Uses
Edible
Flower, seed, stem.
Seeds, raw or cooked; difficult to use because of small size.
Roasted seed used as coffee or chocolate substitute.
The oil is low in cholesterol, considere3d olive-oil quality and used for salds and cooking.
Disk of the flower-head can be eaten like an artichoke.
Folkloric
Tea from flowers, dried
or fresh leaves is used for facilitating expectoration, relieving coughs,
colds.
For whooping cough, an infusion of the brown seeds, drink the tea 4
to 5 times daily.
For asthma, an infusion of the leaves.
Decoction of seeds used as diuretic and expectorant; used for bronchial and pulmonary affections, coughs and colds.
An infusion of oven-browned seeds used for whooping cough.
For diabetes, tea from decocted roots (10 gms to half a glass of water).
When flowers and leaves are mixed with oil, let stand for 5-10 days
before using.
Seeds are diuretic, used to increase the flow of urine.
The bark (boiled) and flowers (steeped) used for fevers, 3- 4 tbsp 3-4
times daily.
Poultice of leaves used for sores, insect bites and snake bites.
Elsewhere, flower decoction used for malaria and lung problems.
Boiled flower heads were once used by Amerindians for pulmonary affections.
Tincture of flowers and leaves mixed with balsamics used for bronchiectasis.
In China, seeds used for dysentery.
Tincture prepared from seeds, rectified with wine, used for fevers and ague, in lieu of quinine.
In Brazil, leaves used as substitute for Datura stramonium for treatment of asthma.
Infusion of roots used for diabetes.
Tincture of bark and flowers employed for intermittent fevers resistent to quinine.
Others
A purple dye is obtained from some varieties.
Outer part of the stem has a litte fiber, when freed from the pith can be made into paper.
Used for making botting paper.
Dried stems and empty seed receptables make excellent kindling.
Seeds are used for bird food.
Oil mixed with a drying oil (as linseed) to make soap, candles, varnishes, paint, etc.
Studies
• Antimicrobial:
Antimicrobial activity of some medicinal plants against some
Gram positive, Gram negative and fungi: Study showed the methanol
extracts of HA showed low activity against B subtilis and pronounced
activity against Proteus vulgaris.
• Antiasthma:
Study of the aqueous extract of Helianthus annuus seed on an in vivo anti-asthmatic model showed a decrease of CD4 cells, IL-4/IL-13 expression and IgE secretion levels in the lung. Results suggest the HAS extract has considerable potential in reducing asthma-like symptoms in a mouse model and suggests further purification of the extract to determine the factors responsible for antiasthmatic activity.
• Allergenic Potential / Occupational Allergy:
Study showed that sunflower pollen has high allergenic potential, especially with close contact, as in workplace exposure which can result in impairment of lung function.
• Antioxidant:
Study showed high antioxidant capacity in the aqueous exgtract of the sunflower seed and suggests a potential for preventing in vivo oxidative reactions involved in diseases, such as cancer.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
Cultivated for ornamental use.
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