 Botany
Pingot is a plant that usually forms circular, dense, matted tufts of finely striate stems, 30 to 90 cm high, soft and pithy. Base of the stalk is surrounded by short, sheathing leaves. Inflorescence is very variable, lax and pendulous, with slender branches and distant flowers, or globose and sessile with densely packed flowers. Sepals are lanceolate, exceeding the length of the obovoid brownish capsules. Seeds are minute, yellow, and very obstuse at each end.
Distribution
In open, swampy places at all altitudes from 1,400 to 2,300 meters in the Mountain Province area.
Constituents
- Study isolated 13 compounds from the medullae - juncusyl ester A and B, 5-a spinasterol, B-sitosterol, effusol, p-coumaric acid, nobiletin, quercetin, rutinose, among others.
- Study isolated a new cycloartanelactone glucoside, Juncoside I.
Properties
Considered antilithic, antiphlogistic, depurative, diuretic, descutient, febrifuge, pectoral and sedative.
Parts used
Pith.
Uses
Folkloric
Pith is used for keeping open fistulous sores.
Malays used the pith for urinary troubles.
Decoction used as antilithic, pectoral and descutient.
In traditional Chinese medicine, used for painful urination, insomnia and sleep restlessness, sore throat.
Cherokees use the herb as an herbal constituent in emetic preparations; also, used as cathartic.
Others
• Basketry / Weaving: Stem piths used for basketry, weaving mats, and for making lamp wicks. Dried stems used for making rope.
• Paper: Fiber from stems used for making paper.
Studies
• Phenolic Contents: (1) Ethanolic extract of the dry stem of J effusus yielded six phenolic constituents. Compounds 5 and 6, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde and luteolin-5-3'-dimethyl ester were reported for the first time. (2) Study yielded a novel diterpene, effusenone A, and three novel phenolic compounds from the stem of J. effusus.
• Dihydrodibenzoxepin / Cytotoxicity: Study isolated a novel dihydrodibenzoxepin and preliminary bine shrimp lethality assay showed it to be cytotoxic.
• Sedative / Hypnotic Effect: Study of extracts of JE showed influcences on autonomic activity and sleeping time with pentobarbital sodium. The ethyl acetate extract showed to be the effective sedative and hypnotic fraction.
• Dehydroeffusol / Anxiolytic / Sedative: Study isolated a novel phenanthrene chemical, dehydroeffusol, which showed anxiolytic and sedative properties.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
Powders, pellets and extracts in the cybermarket.
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