|
Botany
Balatong aso is an erect, somewhat
branched, smooth, half-woody herb or shrubby plant, 0.8 to 1.5 meters high. Leaves are pinnate and about 20 centimeters long. Rachis has a large gland
at the base. Leaflets are rank-smelling, occurring in 5 pairs, oblong-lanceolate,
4 to 9 centimeters long, and somewhat pointed at the base and tapering gradually
to a fine, pointed tip. Flowers are yellow, 2 centimeters long, and borne on axillary and terminal
racemes. Calyx tube is short, sepals imbricate; petals are 5, subequal. Stamens
are 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 is sessile or stalked. Fruits are pods, about 10 centimeters long, 9 millimeters wide, thickened and
containing about 40 seeds.
Distribution
- Throughout the Philippines at low and medium
altitudes, as a weed in waste places in and about towns.
- Native of tropical America.
- Now pantropic.
Constituents
• Seeds yield fatty matter (olein and margarine), 4.9; tannic acid, 0.8; sugar, 2.1; gun, 28.8; starch, 2.0; cellulose, 34.0; water, 7.0; calcium sulphate and phosphate; chrysophanic acid, 0.9; malic acid, sodium chloride, magnesium sulphate, irn, and silica, together, 5.4; and achrosine (coloring matter), 13.58 parts in 100.
• Stem yields considerable alkaloid.
• Leaves yield cathartin, a coloring matter.
• Roots yield a resin - a bitter, nonalkaloidal principle.
• Oxymethylanthraquinone is isolated from the plant; traces of it from the leaf; 0.25% from the fruit; and 0.3% from the root.
• Toxic components are anthraquinones, emodin glycosides, toxalbumins
and alkaloids.
• Phytochemical screening yielded anthraquinones, carbohydrates, glycosides, cardiac glycosides, steroids, flavanoids, saponins, phytosterols, gums and mucilages.
Properties
• Roots are very bitter.
• Considered antiinflammatory, antibacfterial, antifungal, antiparasitic,
antispasmodic, vasoconstrictor, antioxidant, laxative, insecticidal
and antidote.
• As domestic medicine, considered tonic, diuretic, stomachic, febrifuge.
• Seeds considered antiperiodic, analogous to quinine.
Part utilized
Entire plant– roots,
leaves and seeds.
 Uses
Edible
Seeds can be roasted and
sometimes substituted for coffee.
In Senegal and the Antilles, seeds used as a substitute for coffee.
Leaves and flowers, cooked, are edible.
Folkloric
· Seeds used as emeto-cathartic. Also, employed as febrifuge, usually as an infusion in coffee.
· Used for chronic gastroenteritis, constipation, indigestion, gastric
pains, asthma and fever, poisonous snake
and insect bites.
· Pounded fresh material applied as poultice for snakebites.
· Plant used for dropsy, rheumatism, fevers and venereal diseases.
· Ointment used for ringworm, eczema and variety of skin diseases.
· Roots used for gonorrhea, black-water fever, malaria, and dysentery.
· In Peru, decoction of roots used
for fevers; seeds brewed for asthma.
· In Brazil, roots are used as tonic,
febrifuge, diuretic and anthelmintic; also used for fevers, menstrual problems, tuberculosis.
· Infusion of roots and bark used for malaria and hematuria.
· Infusion of bark used for diabetes.
· Leaves used as purgative and antiherpetic.
· Poultice of leaves used for skin irritation and eczema.
· In Lagos, leaf infusion used as specific for black-water fever.
· In Lagos and Liberia, infusion of leaves used as purgative.
· In Dahomey, decoction of leaves used as febrifuge.
· In the Dutch Indies, poultice of leaves used for toothache.
· In the French colonies of western Africa, infusion of leaves used for yellow fever.
· In Malaya, poultice of leaves used for headache.
· In the West Indies, root used as diuretic.
· 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.
· In India, used for fever, menstrual problems, tuberculosis, anemia, sore eyes, rheumatism, hematuria. Bark infusion used in diabetes.
Studies
· Hepatoprotective:
(1) Study evaluating the effects of Cassia occidentalis
on carbon tetrachloride-induced liver damage in rats concludes that the antioxidant content of Cassia occidentalis
might play a major role in hepatoprotection and controlling tissue damage
caused by reactive oxygen species. (2) Aqueous extract of the seeds of CO on paracetamol-induced rat liver damage produced significant hepatoprotection.
• 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:
(1) 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. (2) Preliminary screening showed anthraquinones, carbohydrates, glycosides, cardiac glycosides, sterols, flavanoids, saponins, phytosterols, gums and micilages. (2) In a study of various extracts, methanol and aqueous extracts showed significant antimicrobial activity against seven human bacterial pathogens and two fungal strains. The most susceptible organism was P. aeruginosa followed by P. mirabilis and C. albicans.
• 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.
• Antimalarial: (1) The antimalarial activity of C occidentalis has been confirmed. The plant showed more than 60% inhibition of parasite growth in vitro. (2) In a study of the extracts of 3 medicinal plants for antimalarial activity, M morindoides and P niruri showed 74 and 72% suppression, while C occidentalis was slightly less active at 60% chemosuppression of Plasmodium berghei in mice.
• Antibacterial: 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.
• Antidiabetic: Ethanolic extract of C. occidentalis exhibited significant antidiabetic activity in normal and alloxan-induced diabetic rats, with improvement in parameters of body weight, lipid profiels and histopathologic changes showing regeneration of pancreatic B-cells.
• Antimicrobial / Phytochemicals: Preliminary screening showed anthraquinones, carbohydrates, glycosides, cardiac glycosides, sterols, flavanoids, saponins, phytosterols, gums and micilages. Of the extracts studied, the methanol and aqueous extracts showed significant antimicrobial activity against tested organisms, esp: P aeruginosa, P mirabilis and Candida albicans.
• Toxicological Reproductive Study: In the rainforests and other tropical regions of South America, CO is considered a potent abortifacient. Results of this study showed no statistically significant difference between the control and treated groups in many of the observed parameters. However, there was the presence of dead fetuses registered in both doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg of CO. Further studies are needed and its use is not recommended in pregnancy.
• Poisoning / Hepatomyoencephalopathy: Recurrent outbreats of an acute encepalopathy illness to in India, earlier attributed to a viral encephalitis, were probably caused by the consumption of C. occidentalis beans with its phytotoxins. causing a multisystem disease - a hepatomyoencephalopathy syndrome. Public education has the potential to prevent future outbreaks.
• Wound healing: Study showed the topical application of a methanol extract of C. occidentalis and a pure compound Chrysophanol, an anthraquinone derivative, promoted wound healing activity in excision, incision and dead space models in rats.
• Anti-Allergy / Anti-Inflammatory / Anti-Lipid Peroxidation : Study showed CO inhibited mast cell degranulation, stabilized HRBC membrane thereby alleviating immediate hypersensitivity besides showing antioxidant activity.
• Cytotoxicity / Antibacterial: Study showed dose-dependent in vitro cytotoxicity against human cancer lines and antibacterial potential activity against B subtilis.
• Relaxant Effect / Antihypertensive: Study of the relaxant effects in rat aortic rings of an aqueous extract of the leaf of C occidentalis showed dose-dependent inhibition of contraction elicited by noradrenaline and potassium chloride. Results suggest the effect may be due to a direct relaxant effect and may justify its extensive use in folk medicine as an antihypertensive agent.
• Analgesic / Antipyretic: Ethanol and water extracts of Cassia occidentalis showed significant dose-dependent antinociceptive and antipyretic properties. Results provide a rationale for the use of the plant in pain and inflammatory disorders.
• Seed Gum / Mucilage: The seeds are a rich source of galactomannan gum and the gums derived from the seed endosperm can be used in industries to replace conventional gums. Study showed the carboxymethyl gum exhibited relatively high viscosity and stability.
Caution / Toxicity
General info: 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. There are many anthraquinone derivatives and alkaloids in CO, and no single principle toxin has been identified. Toxicity seems to occur with seasonality, when the beans become palatable with the taste of raw edible beans.
Animals: Plant causes poisoning in different plant species. all parts are toxic, but with differing levels of toxicity. Most poisoning in animals come from pods and beans. In cattle, it is reported to cause severe muscle degeneration, liver degeneration and death. The toxic effects can be rapidly fatal.
Vet clinical signs: Toxicity manifestations include lethargy, recumbency, jerky respiration, tremors, diarrhea, ataxia, hyperpnea, incoordination. Death may occur within 24 hours.
Children: The beans may be an object of use in the games, playing house, play-cooking and accidental ingestions. Pica, an abnormal craving for food as a manifestation of disease or iron deficiency, can be a risk for poisoning in children.Case-fatality rate in acute severe poisoning is 75-80 percent in children.
• Poisoning / Hepatomyoencephalopathy: In India, cases of acute encepalopathy were subsequently attributed to consumption of C. occidentalis beans causing a multisystem disease - a hepatomyoencephalopathy syndrome. Public education has the potential to prevent future outbreaks.
• Clinical & Patho Features of Toxicity: The toxic effects in large animals, rodents and chickens are on skeletal muscle, liver, kidney and heart. Patho findings are necrosis of skeletal muscle fibers and hepatic centrilobular necrosis; renal tubular necrosis is less frequent. Toxicity is attributed to various anthraquinones, derivatives and alkaloids. The clinical spectrum and histopath are similar in animals and children.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
Leaf powder, extracts, products in the cybermarket. |
