 Botany
Moras is a coarse, erect, tufted perennial, growing 1 to 2 meters high. Roots are fibrous and fragrant. Leaves are arranged in two rows, about 1 meter long, 1 cm or less in width, and folded. Panicles are terminal, erect, purple or greenish, about 20 cm long; the branches are slender, whorled, spreading or ascending, 5 to 12 cm long. Sessile spikelets are about 4 mm long and muricate; the awn of the fourth glume is very short or absent.
Distribution
Widely distributed in the settled regions.
Commonly planted on dikes of rice paddies and on river banks to prevent erosion.
Pantropic.
Constituents
Yields an oil known as vetiver oil; also, as cuscus.
Vetiver oil yields various substances: vetivenes, vetivenol, vetivenic acid, vetivenyl acetate and other similar compounds.
Properties
Root reported as cooling, diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, refrigerant, tonic, stomachic.
Parts used
Roots.
Uses
Culinary
Oil sometimes used to flavor sherbets.
Folkloric
Roots used for tonic baths.
Roots taken internally as a lithotripic - to dissolve or break kidney stones.
Roots used for thirst, inflammation, acne, stomach irritability.
Weak infusion of roots used for fever.
Root decoction taken internally for nervous and circulatory problems. Externally, used for tonic baths, muscle pains and treating lice.
Others
Weaving: Roots used for weaving fans and making fragrant mats. Flower stalks are used in making mats, and occasionally, brooms. Leaves sometimes made into awnings and sunshades.
Perfume: Prized for its agreeable odor, akin to that of sandal wood. Dried roots used to perfume clothes. Shavings used for filling sachet bags.In
Oil: Vetiver oil is a constituent of high-grade perfumes. Oil is also used to flavor sherbets.
Studies
• Antihypertensive / Antispasmodic: Study of aqueous-methanolic crude extract of A muricatus showed a cardiodepressant effedt on the rate and force of spontaneous contractions. In isolated rabbit jejunal preparations, it showed a relaxation of spontaneous and high K-induced contractions, suggesting a spasmolytic effect mediated possibly through calcium channel-blockade. Phytochemical screening yielded phenols, saponins, tannins, andn terpenes, which may be responsible for the cardiodepressant, vasodilator and antispasmodic effects.
• Anti-Inflammatory: Study showed that A. muricatus extract possesses anti-inflammatory property by inhibiting serotonin, histamin and prostaglandin biosynthesis.
• Termite Repellent and Toxicant / Nootkatone: Study isolated nootkatone which was found to be a significant repellent and toxicant of termites. Nootkatone is an effective repellent or toxicant either alone or as an addition to other substrates, including mulches made from vetiver grass roots or other wood products. It is non-toxic to humans and environmentally safe.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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