Botany
Laguan is an erect, tough, unarmed shrub about 0.5 to 1.5 meters high. Leaves are alternate, smooth, long-petioled, and odd-pinnate, with 3 to 5 leaflets which are oblong, 10 to 15 centimeters in length, oftehn rounded at the base and pointed at the tip. Flowers are borne in considerable numbers in simple, peduncled, axillary racemes. Corolla is white, about 1.25 centimeters long or twice the length of the calyx. Pods are oblong, 1 to 2 centimeters long, and very turgid, purplish black when mature, and contain a single, large seed.

Distribution
- Of local occurrence on the higher mountains from northern Luzon to Mindanao.
- Also occurs in India to the Riu Kiu Islands from Formosa southward to Java.

Constituents
- Seeds contain cytisine.
- Study isolated two new prenylflavanones, euchrenones a7 and a8 from the roots and stems.

Properties
Seeds are bitter and poisonous.

Parts used
Roots, seeds.

Uses
Folkloric
In the Philippines, roots are chewed as a cure for snake bites.
Seeds are used for diseases of the chest.
Although considered poisonous, used as a tonic and aphrodisiac.

Studies
• Hypolipidemic: Study of EH fruit extracts showed significant PPARa activation, increased PPARa target gene expression and regulated protein expression for lipid metabolism. Results indicate that E. horsfieldii shows potential as a natural lipid-lowering agent.

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Euchresta horsfieldii Benn. activates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α and regulates expression of genes involved in fatty acid metabolism in human HepG2 cells / Kim J H, Kim D, Kim J, Hwang JK / J Ethnopharmacol. 2011 Jan 7;133(1):244-7. Epub 2010 Oct 20.
(2)
Two flavanones from Euchresta horsfieldii / Mizuo Mizuno, Toshiyuki Tanaka, Nobuyasu Matsiuura et al / Phytochemistry, Vol 29, No 8, 1990, Pp 2738-2740 / doi:10.1016/0031-9422(90)85236-9 |