 Botany
Banag is a climbing woody vine reaching a height of several meters witrh stems armed with few to many stout spines. Leaves are elliptic ovate, 8 to 13 cm long, the base broadly rounded or slightly cordate, and the apex shortly and abruptly acuminate. Umbels are many flowered, about 2 cm in diameter. Flowers are fragrant, greenish-yellow, and about 5 mm long. Berries are globose, 5 to 8 mm in diameter, black when mature.
Distribution
In thickets and secondary forests at low and medium altitudes in Benguet, Pangasinan, Bulacan, Rizal, Bataan, Laguna and Quezon Provinces in Luzon.
Constituents
- Methanolic extract from rhizomes yielded six new phenolic compounds: (2S,3S)-5-O-β-d-glucopyranosyloxy-6-methyl-3‘-methoxy-3,7,3‘-trihydroxyflavan, (2S,3S)-5-O-β-d-glucopyranosyloxy-6-methyl-4‘-methoxy-3,7,4‘-trihydroxyflavan, 3β-(3‘,5‘-dihydroxyphenyl) 2α-(4‘‘-hydroxyphenyl)dihydrobenzofuran-5-carbaldehyde, (1-p-O-coumaroyl-6-O-feruroyl)-β-d-fructofuranosyl-α-d-glucopyranoside, (1-p-O-coumaroyl-3,6-di-O-feruroyl)-β-d-fructofuranosyl-α-d-glucopyranoside, and (6-O-feruroyl)-β-d-fructofuranosyl-(6-O-acetyl)-α-d-glucopyranoside.
Properties
Depurative, emmenagogue.
Parts used
Rhizomes, roots.
Uses
Folkloric
In the Visayas, decoction of fresh or dry rhizomes used as emmenagogue.
Rhizomes and roots considered depurative in the form of decoction.
Studies
• Phenolic Compounds: Study of methanol extract of Smilax bracteana rhizomes yielded six new phenolic compounds with five other known compounds.
• Antioxidant / Radical Scavenging Activity: Ethanolic extract yielded six phenylpropanoid glycosides - smilasides G-L along with four known phenylpropanoid compounds and 14 known phenolic compounds. Compounds 1-6 exhibited moderate scavenging activities against DPPH radicals.
Availability
Wild-crafted. |
