MALABAR NUT SHRUB - POTENTIAL SOURCE OF NEW DRUGS: TRADITIONAL HEALTH BENEFITS OF MALABAR NUT SHRUB

MALABAR NUT, JUSTICIA ADHATODA

The Malabar nut plant is an evergreen shrub, which is native to the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka. As a member of the Acanthaceae family it is related to the marsh barbell and to bear’sbreeches or the oyster plant. All parts of the plant are used in traditional medicine systems in Asia and it has also been used in Europe for centuries.

  The flowers on this plant look like those of bear’s breeches, but are more reminiscent of foxglove flowers than those of the snapdragon. The flowers contain an impressive array of flavonoids (among them apigenin, kaempferol and quercetin), which give them antioxidant properties and these flowers are used for colds, asthma, bronchitis, coughs, as an antispasmodic, for fevers and gonorrhoea. They also have antiseptic properties and are used to improve blood circulation.                                       

  The root decoction of the plant is used to treat T.B., diphtheria, malaria, leucorrhoea, eye problems and gonorrhoea. An extract of the root is also used for liver problems, especially for jaundice, for diabetes, and coughs.

 Preparations include a paste, and powder as well as the root decoction.

  Chewing the leaf bud, either alone or with a little ginger root is said to clear the respiratory passages, and is used by yogis before a rigorous exercise programme is undertaken.

  The fruit or the ‘Malabar nut’ is used for colds, as an antispasmodic, for bronchitis, jaundice, diarrhoea and dysentery, fever and as a laxative.

  The leaves are a rich source of vitamin C, and also contain carotene and essential oil and are used in various ways. In parts of India they are used to induce an abortion and are given after childbirth to help staunch bleeding and to tone the uterus. They should not be used during pregnancy or by breast-feeding mothers. Powdered leaves are a counter-irritant for inflamed swellings and are also used on fresh wounds and for neuralgia.

  The dried leaves are sometimes smoked in the treatment of asthma. The fresh sap from the leaves is used for bleeding gums, diarrhoea and dysentery, glandular tumours, and T.B. When burnt, they have insect repellant or insecticidal properties.

  The leaves are also given to lower high blood pressure, and in Germany they are used for their expectorant and antispasmodic properties in coughs colds and so on. 

In Sweden they are categorized as a natural remedy and can be found with other natural ingredients in cough medicines.

  The leaf powder boiled in sesame oil, is used to staunch bleeding and is used as ear drops for ear aches. The warmed leaves are used as poultices for the pains of rheumatism and dislocated joints.

  The plant contains quinasoline alkaloids including vasicine and vasicone, and these are currently under investigation to discover their properties and potential for new drugs.

  In “A review of Justicia adhatoda: A potential source of natural medicine” Sandeep Dhankhar et al. African Journal of Plant Science, Vol. 5 (4) pp. 620-627, it is suggested that “extract of J. adhatoda could form one of the best options for developing novel natural medicines”.

(Adhatoda is said to mean “goats don’t touch” in Malayalam, as they avoid this plant allegedly.)

 

AMERICAN MOUNTAIN MINT, THREATENED SPECIES NOW: HISTORY OF USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS

AMERICAN MOUNTAIN MINT, PYCNANTHEMUM PILOSUM

American mountain mint was once used by Native Americans for fevers, indigestion and to regulate a woman’s menstrual flow. It is a native of eastern North America, but is threatened now in some states so is legally protected, and seems to be extinct in Michigan where it once flourished; it has not been formally documented there since 1952.

 It is a member of the mint of Lamiaceae or Labiatae family, although assigned to a separate genus than the mints such as peppermint and spearmint which are in the Mentha genus.                                                                                                

  It is therefore related to calamint, sage, Jupiter’s sage, horehound, self-heal, the chaste tree and the small-flowered Chaste tree, ground ivy, the teak tree, yellow, purple and white dead nettles, motherwort, fragrant premna, common germander, Cretan dittany, bugle, Scarlet Bee Balm, thyme, Mother of Thyme, and marsh woundwort, oregano and other culinary herbs, as well as to other plants.

  It can grow to heights of around five feet and is identified by its clumping together and the flower heads. It flowers in August and September, with seeds ripening in September and October. Another name for this plant is Hairy Mountain Mint.The genus name Pycnanthemum means dense (pyknos in Greek) flowers (anthemom) while pilosum means hairy; the hairs are on the leaves of the plant.

  The leaves may be eaten raw and added to salads, and generally used as you would use peppermint. The leaves may be used fresh or dried to make a tisane, which has a delicious menthol taste, and is good with a splash of fresh lemon juice. The flower buds are also edible and it is said that the Native Americans used them to tenderize buffalo meat.

  The leaves can be dried and used in a pot pourri and have been used as incense; burning them helps to repel unwelcome insects. They are also used as an ingredient in natural insecticides.

 They contain a volatile oil whose main constituents are limonene, meothone and pulegone according to a study carried out in the late 1940s.

WILD LIQUORICE: HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF WILD LIQUORICE

WILD LIQUORICE, GLYCYRRHIZA ECHINATA

Wild liquorice is native to southern Europe and south west Asia, and is a relative of the liquorice that has been regarded as the official “sweet root” (the meaning of glycyrrhiza), Glychyrrhiza glabra. The wild liquorice is also called German liquorice as this is the official one used in medicine in Germany.

 It is also called Russian liquorice and the Latin name echinata means hedgehog, so it is sometimes called hedgehog liquorice.             o                                                                                

  It is a member of the Fabaceae or Leguminosae family of plants making it a relative of peas, green beans, borlotti beans, chickpeas, soya beans, lupins, field restharrow, the Monkey Pod tree, carob, kudzu or pueraria, indigo, alfalfa, broom, Dyer’s broom, lentils, to the pongam tree, the cancer bush (Sutherlandia frutescans)the lead tree or ipil-ipil, the Indian Coral tree, the tree from which we get Gum Tragacanth or gond katira, jhand the mesquite tree, dhak or Flame of the Forest tree, the Pacific teak tree, the ashoka tree (Saraca indica), amaltas (golden shower tree), European laburnum, the Burmese rosewood tree, melilot or sweet clover, milk vetch, the hyacinth bean, the butterfly pea, and many more.

  The plant can grow to heights of just over three feet and in the wild likes muddy places near rivers.

  It has been mixed with linseed (flax seed oil) as an infusion for sore throats, irritable coughs, laryngitis and other ailments. Powdered along with senna and fennel it was used as a mild laxative. It is mixed with other herbs partially because it makes the medicine taste better and often because of its own medicinal properties.

  It is believed that the ancient Greeks learned about the uses of the liquorice root from th4 Scythians and it was known to Theophrastus in the third century BC who believed it to be a thirst quencher (as it is) - chew the root for yourself! He also commented on the different tastes of the different liquorice roots he was familiar with. Dioscorides used it in the first century AD and is believed the first to have written the name “sweet root” for this plant.                                    

    Ancient Roman writers called it Radix dulcis, or sweet root, just as it is in Greek. In the 11^th century AD it was a well-known medicine in Germany and was cultivated in England. John Gerard had it in his garden in 1592, as did other herbalists of his time. Writing a century later, Nicholas Culpeper says that it grew “in divers place” in England “and thereof is good profit made.” He has this to say about how liquorice in general was used in medicine in the 17^th century:

“It is under the dominion of Mercury. Liquorice boiled in fair water, with some Maiden-hair and figs, makes a good drink for those that have a dry cough or hoarseness, wheezing or shortness of breath, and for all the griefs of the breast and lungs, phthisic or consumptions caused by the distillation of salt humours on them.

It is also good in all pains of the reins, the stranguary, and heat of urine. The fine powder of Liquorice blown through a quill into the eyes that have a pin and web (as they call it) or rheumatic distillations in them, doth cleanse and help them. The juice of Liquorice is as effectual in all the diseases of the breast and lungs, the reins and bladder, as the decoction. The juice distilled in Rose-water, with some Gum Tragacanth, is a fine licking medicine for hoarseness, wheezing, &c.”

  The liquorice root may have liver protective qualities, and may help allergy sufferers. It may also help protect against the development of piles and can be useful as an antibacterial agent (the essential oil). Research is underway to discover how it inhibits the growth of tumours and cancer cells. Liquorice has antibacterial, antifungal, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Because of its natural antioxidant properties it can be safely added to food.

  The glycyrrhizin in the root is said to be fifty times sweeter than sugar. The dried root was given to infants to help with teething problems.

  

MEXICAN MINT MARIGOLD - PLANT OF THE AZTECS: HISTORY, HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF MEXICAN MINT MARIGOLD

MEXICAN MINT MARIGOLD, TAGETES LUCIDA

The Mexican mint marigold is native to Mexico and Central America to Guatemala. The 16^th Century Spanish explorers called it “cloud plant” and it has since acquired many other names such as sweet mace, yerba anis, Spanish tarragon, and it is substituted for French tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) in cooking. It is a member of the Asteraceae or Compositae family so is related to that tarragon as well as to the common wormwood, southernwood, daisy, sunflower, pellitory or Roman chamomile, marigolds, bur marigolds, purple goat’s beard (salsify), yellow goat’s beard, the Sea Aster or Sea starwort, michaelmas daisies, elecampane, the ox-eye daisy, holy thistles, costmary, tansy, feverfew, groundsel, fleabane and yarrow, just to list a few of its relatives.                                                                                                                

  It was a herb much used by the ancient Aztecs, who, so legend has it administered it to their sacrificial victims before they were killed. It was believed to have sedative an psychotropic effects.

  In medicine it was used for all manner of ailments, including the common cold, colic, malaria and intermittent fevers, and a poultice of the leaves was applied to snake bites. They also used the herb for gout, swellings, digestive problems and so on.

  The plant can help to repel worms in a garden, and also slugs, but to a lesser extent; it exudes a substance from its roots that protects it from weeds such as couch-grass and this also repels bugs.

  The dried plant was burnt as incense and also when burnt it repels insects and is considered an effective insecticide.

  The plant grows to heights of around three feet by one and a half feet, and blooms in August and September. It was used as one of the flavourings in the Aztecs cocoa-based drink, chocolatl, and both the petals and leaves are edible.                                                                                                            

  The Aztecs rubbed the flowers and leaves into their hands and then washed them, leaving their hands smelling sweet. The leaves are used to make a tisane which tastes like liquorice and anise mixed.

  Extracts of the plant have been found to have antimicrobial, antifungal and antibacterial properties as well as antioxidant ones.  The whole plant can help with digestion, and is a diuretic, and used to bring down the temperature in fevers. It depresses the Central Nervous system, and is reputed to lower blood pressure and to be a narcotic and sedative. However its narcotic and hallucinogenic effects have yet to be scientifically explained.

  The Huichol people smoke it with Nicotiana rustica a wild tobacco, for the psychotropic effects it has been reported. Methyl eugenol has been extracted from the plant and this has a slightly narcotic effect. Anethole, also present in it has similar effects to adrenaline which the body produces naturally, and this can be a mild stimulant.

  The tisane from the leaves or a stronger decoction is taken to relieve diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting, hiccups and fevers. It tastes very pleasant and can be sweetened with honey if required.                                                            

  The plant can be made into garlands and can be harvested when still in flower and dried for later use. The flowers produce a yellow dye, and it figures prominently in the Day of the Dead celebrations, when it is place on the graves of deceased family members.

  The genus name Tagetes is believed to have come from the myth of the Etruscan god, Tages who was supposed to be the grandson of Jupiter, a boy who sprang or was ploughed up from the earth, and who had the wisdom of a sage despite his youth. “Lucida” means clear and bright and either refers to the visions one has if one uses the plant for it psychotropic effects, or to the brightness of the flowers which may have reminded people of the brightness of the sun.