| Botany
A climbing or trailing
vine, 4 to 6 m long, with a smooth, usually purple stem. Leaves are
long stalkd, with 3 inequilateral leaflets, each about 4 to 10 cm long.
Flowers are in clusters, white to purple in color, along an erect inflorescence
stalk. The pods are purple-margined, flat, and elongated with a prominent
beak, about 7.5 cm long and 2.5 cm wide.
Distribution
Commonly cultivated
throughout the settled areas in the Philippines.
Properties
Emmenagogue
(flowers); tonic and carminative (boiled ripe seeds); febrifuge,
stomachic, antispasmodic.
Propagation
Propagation
by seeds. Cultivated for market produce. Pods are harvested about
4 months after planting.
Parts used
and preparation
Bean, root.
Uses
Folkloric
Infusion of leaves used
for gonorrhea.
Poultice of leaves for snake bites.
Leaves used for menorrhagia and leucorrhea.
Juice of the leaves mixed with lime, applied to tumors and abscesses.
Salted juice from the pods used for ear inflammation and sore throat.
The Malays
make of poultice of the leaves mixed with rice-flowers and tumeric used
for eczema.
In Indo-China,
Infusion of leaves for colic.
Seeds are considered aphrodisiac; also used to stop nose bleeds.
Nutritional
Tender pods, seeds and
young leaves used as vegetable.
Young leaves and pods are good sources of calcium, iron, vitaminn C,
and other minerals.
Studies
• Stem Cell Preservation
Factor: Stem
cell preservation factor FRIL (Flt3 receptor-interacting lectin), a
plant lectin extracted from Dolichos lablas was found to preserve hematopoietic
stems cells in vitro for a month.
• Hypocholesterolemic:
Diet supplemented with D. lablab seeds showed a hypocholesterolemic
effect.
• Cholecystokinin Secretion:
A peptide derived from dolicholin, a phaseolin-like protein from D lablab
potently stimulated cholecystokinin secretion from enteroendocrine STC-1
cells.and suppressed food intake.
Availability
Cultivated for market
produce.
Wildcrafted
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