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Botany
· Erect, somewhat
branched, smooth, half-woody herb or shrubby plant, 0.8 to 1.5 m high.
· Leaves: pinnate and about 20 cm long. Rachis with a large gland
at the base. Leaflets rank-smelling, occurring in 5 pairs, oblong-lanceolate,
4 to 9 cm long, and somewhat pointed at the base and tapering gradually
to a fine, pointed tip.
· Flowers: yellow and 2 cm long and borne on axillary and terminal
racemes. Calyx tube short, sepals imbricate; petals 5, subequal. Stamens
10, rarely all perfect, 3 to 5 being reduced to staminodes or sometimes
absent; anthers mostly basifixed opening by terminal pores or with the
slit more or less continued downward. Ovary sessile or stalked.
· Fruits: pods, about 10 cm long, 9 mm wide and thickened and
containing about 40 seeds.
Distribution
At low and medium
altitudes, as a weed in waste places, in and about towns throughout
the Philippines.
Part utilized
Entire plant– roots,
leaves and seeds.
Constituents
and properties
• Considered antiinflammatory, antibacfterial, antifungal, antiparasitic,
antispasmodic, vasoconstrictor, antioxidant, laxative, insecticidal
and antidote.
• Toxic components: anthraquinones, emodin glycosides, toxalbumins
and alkaloids.
Uses
Edible
Seeds can be roasted and
made into a coffee-like drink.
Leaves and flowers, cooked, are edible.
Folkloric
· Poisonous snake
and insect bites.
· Chronic gastroenteritis, constipation, indigestion, gastric
pains.
· Asthma, fever.
· Dosage: 9 to 16 gms dried material in decoction. For snakebites,
use pounded fresh material applied as poultice.
· In Peru, decoction of roots used
for fevers; seeds brewed for asthma.
· In Brazil, roots are used as tonic,
febrifuge and diuretic; used for fevers, menstrual problems, tuberculosis.
· In Panama, leaf decoction used
for stomach colic; poulitce of crushed leaves as antiinflammatory; and
fresh crushed leaves to expel intestinal worms.
· Used as abortifacient.
Studies
· Hepatoprotective:
Effect of Hygrophila spinosa and Cassia occidentalis
on Carbon Tetrachloride-induced Liver Damage in Experimental Rats:
The study concludes that the antioxidant content of Cassia occidentalis
might play a major role in hepatoprotection and controlling tissue damage
caused by reactive oxygen species.
• Protective effect of Cassia occidentalis
L. on cyclophosphamide-induced suppression of humoral immunity in mice:
C. occidentalis possesses antimutagenic activity against cyclophosphamide-induced
mutagenicity in mice. The study suggests that through the modulation
of hepatic drug metabolizing enzymes, C. occidentalis may be influencing
the hematotoxic and immunotoxic responses of cyclophosphamide.
• Antimicrobial:
Antimicrobial screening of Cassia occidentalis L. in vivo and in vitro:
Ethanol extracts of C. occidentalis and metabolite-rich fractions (anthraquinones,
sennosides and flavonoids) of leaves, pods and flowers were tested against
human pathogenic bacteria and fungi. The anthraquinones were found to
be more active against E. coli and S. aureus.
• Antihepatotoxic Activity of Cassia occidentalis:
An ethanol extract of leaves of Cassia occidentalis was evaluated
for antihepatotoxic activity against carbon tetrachloride and thioacetamide
as hepatotoxins.
• Antimutagenic: Study of the
aqueous extract of CO on its mutagenic potential against chromosomal
aberrations showed antimutagenic activity by modulating the xenobiotic
activation and detoxification mechanisms.
• Antibacrterial: In an Argentinian
study of 132 water extracts from 54 plant families, C occidentalis was
one of those that showed greater antibacterial activity against Salmoenlla
typhi.
Caution
Slightly toxic, poisonous when taken in considerable
amounts by domesticated animals, known to cause deaths in cows, horses
and goats. The seeds contain Emodin, mucilage, proteins, tannic acid,
fatty acids and essential oils.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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