 Botany
Botobotonisan is a more or less hairy or nearly smooth, rather coarse, erect or spreading, branched herb less than 1 meter in height. Stems and branches are prominently winged with three thin, wide longitudinal structures which are the extension of the leaf blades. Leaves are obovate to oblong-obovate, 4 to 13 cm long, without stalks, and finely toothed at the margins. Heads are numerous, borne in dense, rounded clusters about 1 cm in diameter, and occur singly at the ends of erect, winged stalks. Flowers are greenish-white.
Distribution
- In open, rather damp waste places in and about towns at low and medium altitudes throughout the Philippines.
- Occurs inn tropical Africa, and Asia throughout Malaya to Australia.
Constituents
Study yielded seven compounds: stigmasterol, chrysophenol D, 3,7-dimethoxy-4',5,6-trihydroxyflavone, chrysophenol C, 3alpha, 5beta-diangeloxoyloxy-7-hydroxycarvotanacetone, l-angeloxoyloxy-3-[4'-angeloxoyloxy-3'-methoxy]-2-propene and 1-angeloxoyloxy-3-[4'-isopentanoloxoyloxy-3'-methoxy]-2-propene.
- Flowers contains a volatile oil.
Properties
Anthelmintic, stomach tonic and stimulant, antiblenorrhagic.
Bitter, aromatic, vermifuge, diuretic, emollient, resolvent.
Has the drug odor of terebenthine which is transmitted to the urine and sweat.
Parts used
Leaf juice, leaves, tops.
Uses
Folkloric
- Used as anthelmintic, as powder, 2 to 4 gms, with a little molasses or syrup.
- Bitter and aromatic, used for diseases of the stomach and intestines for tonic and stimulant effect.
- Decoction of leaves and tops used as stomach tonic and also employed as antiblenorrhagic.
- In Ayurveda, plant pacifies vitiated vata, pitta epilepsy, migraine, jaundice, fever, cough, hemorrhoids, helminthiasis, skin diseases.
- In Bengal, plant used as tonic, vermifuge, and diuretic.
- In Indo-China, used as emollient and resolvent; applied as poultice to any ailing body part.
- Juice of leaves used as gargle in inflammation of the throat.
Others
• Aphrodisiac: Plant considered to have aphrodisiac potential.
Studies
• Free Radical Scavenging Activity / Cytotoxicity: Study of ethanolic crude extract of whole plant exhibited free radical scavenging activity and cytotoxicity against various carcinoma cell lines.
• Carvotanacetone Derivatives / Antibacterial / Antifungal: Dichlormethane extract of air-dried leaves of Sphaeranthus africanus yielded four new carvotanacetone derivatives. Some compounds showed antibacterial activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa and antifungal activity against C. albicans, T. mentagrophytes and A. niger.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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