 Botany
Tambalisa is a gray, hairy shrub. Leaves are alternate, pinnately compound, about 15 to 30 centimeters in length, with 11 to 17 leaflets which are oval, 2.5 to 4 centimeters in length and extremely hairy. Flowers are bright yellow, about 1 centimeter long, borne on terminal racemes about 15 centimeters long. Pods are 10 to 15 centimeters in length, containing 6 to 8 seeds. Pods are characteristically rounded where the seeds occur, very narrow in the portions between the seeds.
Distribution
- Abundant along the seashore throughout the Philippines.
- Pantropic strand plant.
Constituents
- Contains an alkaloid, sophorine, identical to cytisine from Cytisus laburnum and ulexine from Ulex europaeus. Cytisine resembles nicotine in its action.
- Study yielded a thick, red-brown fluid from the seeds, physiologically resembling the alkaloid cytisine from C laburnum seeds. Study also showed both ulexine and sophorine to be identical to cytisine. (Q)
- Study isolated two flavonoid compounds, sophoraisoflavanone A and sophoraflavanone B, together with sophoronol, isosophoranone and isobavachin from the aerial parts.
- Study of fresh leaves yielded three lupin alkaloids: (−)-epilamprolobine, (+)-epilamprolobine N-oxide and 5-(3′-methoxycarbonylbutyroyl)aminomethyl-trans-quinolizidine N-oxide, along with (+)-matrine, (+)-matrine N-oxide, (+)-sophocarpine N-oxide, (−)-anagyrine, (−)- baptifoline, (−)-cytisine, (−)-N-methylcytisine, (−)-N-formylcytisine, (−)-N-acetylcytisine and (±)-ammodendrine.
 Properties
- Roots are yellow.
- Bark is bitter; the seeds more so.
- Plant considered diuretic, stomachich, sudorific, purgative, febrifuge.
- Seeds considered anticholeric, purgative, febrifuge, stomachic.
- Seeds are dangerously emetocathartic due to the cytisine-like alkaloid that is released.
Parts used
Oil, roots, stems, seeds.
Uses
Folkloric
- In the Philippines, plant used as a common remedy for stomach disorders; seeds used for stomach affections.
 - Decoction of root, stem or seeds considered anticholeric. Seeds considered purgative; as little as two seeds may provide a drastic purgative action.
- Seeds used as febrifuge and stomachic.
- Oil from seeds applied externally for bones aches associated with colds. Also, used as expectorant.
- In New South Wales, seeds are used for bilious sickness.
- In Eastern Malaysia, plant used for cholera and diarrhea; also, as antidote for eating poisonous fish and other marine animals.
- Powdered seeds used by the Malays as astringent for diarrhea; leaves and roots also so employed.
Studies
• Pterocarpans / Weigteone / Antifungal: Studies yielded two pterocarpans, sophoracarpans A and B, with three known isoflavonoids, eighteone (erythrinin B), sophoraisoflavanone A and I-maackianin. Wighteone is a known antifungal phytoalexin in several genera of leguminous plants.
• Phenylflavanones / Antimicrobial / Anti-Tumor: (1) Prenylflavanones from S tomentosa exhibited tumor-specific cytotoxicity and antimicrobial activity. (2) Study was done on the biologic activity of ten phenylflavanones purified from S tomentosa and S moorcroftiana. Some of the compounds showed tumor-specific cytotoxic activity, antimicrobial activity, and anti-HIV activity, radical generation and O2-scavenging activity.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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