|
Botany
· Erect, slender, branched
perennial, hairy and aromatic herb, 15 to 80 cm in height, hi Fresh
plant with characteristic aromatic odor when crushed.
· Leaves: stalked, alternate, ovate, 4-11 cm long, and 1 to 5
cm wide, with the tip and base somewhat pointed, and with round toothed
margins, hispidly hairy.
· Flowers: flowering heads numerous, small, about 5 mm across,
and borne in dense terminal corymbs. Ray flowers many, pale blue, purple
or white. Disk flowers absent.
· Fruits: achenes, black, with 5 pappus scales which are awned
and often toothed or serrate below.
Distribution
A common weed flowering year-round, from sea level to an altitude of
2,000 m. The seeds are light, easily dispersed and disseminated by wind.
Parts utilized
Leaves, young stems and flowering tops; collect from April to September.
Chemical constituents
and properties
• Yields mono and sesquiterpenes, chromene, chromone benzofuran
and coumarin, flavonoids, triterpene and sterosls, and alkaloids.
• Considered analgesic, antispasmodic, febrifuge, tonic, , laxative.
• Considered antioxidant, antibacterial, antiinflammatory.
Uses
Folkloric
The whole plant has been used as a decoction for cough, colds, fever,
skin disease, and high blood pressure. Bleeding due to external wounds.
Furuncle, eczema, carbuncle. Poultices for headaches.
Preparation
Dosage: 15 to 30 gms dried material in decoction. Pounded fresh material
may be applied as poultice to afflicted areas. Squeezed juice from fresh
material when dropped inside the ears treats otitis media.
Used for fever, cough and colds; hepatitis, dysentery; neurasthenia,
sbaje bites, dizziness.
In Brazil, leaf infusion used for colics,
fever, diarrhea, rheumatism, spasms.
In Africa, used for fever, headache, rheumatism,
pneumonia, and healing of burn wounds.
In India, used for leprosy and oil lotion
for purulent ophthalmia.
In Vietnam, used for gynecologic disease.
In Congo and Cameroon,
used for fever, rheumatism, headache and colic.
Studies
• Antibacterial / Phytochemicals:
Phytochemical testing of dried leaves yielded resins, alkaloids, saponins, tannins, glycosides and flavonoids while dried stems shoswed resins, saponins, tannins, glycosides and flavonoids. In vitro studies of AC extracts activity against
S aureus, Y enterocolitica, S gallinarum, and E coli, suggesting a potential
source for development of new antibacterials.
• Antiulcerogenic / Gastroprotective:
Study documents the beneficial cytoprotective effects of the plant extract
against ethanol-induced gastric ulcers in rats.
• Analgesic / Antiinflammatory:
Study results suggested that AC extract exhibited antinociceptive effect
and inhibition of inflammatory reactions induced by neutrophil mobilizing
stimuli.
• Antimicrobial:
Crude extract studies demonstrated antimicrobial properties on S aureus
and Methicillin-resistant S aureus and possible usefulness in skin and
wound infections.
• Hemostatic:
Study yielded tannins, saponins and flavonoids and confirmed the hemostatic
activity of the leaf extract through vasoconstriction and formation
of an "articifical clot" to arrest the small vessel bleeding.
• Radioprotective:
Study of AC extract showed it to be non-toxic at its highest dose and
exhibiting a radioprotective activity in part attributed to the scavenging
of reactive oxygen species induced by ionizing radiation.
• Wound Healing:
Extract study showed wound healing effect better than normal saline
treated controls, an effect attributed to the antimicbrobial properties
of AC.
• Blood Glucose Lowering:
(1) Study
of aqueous extracts of leaves of Ageratum conyzoides in nomoglycemic and STZ-induced diabetic rats showed significant reduction of blood glucose levels. (2) Study of aqueous extracts of leaves of Ageratum conyzoides in normoglycemic and STZ-induced diabetic rats confirmed the hypoglycemic properties of the leaves of A conyzoides.
• Anti-Inflammatory / Toxicity Study:
Study confirmed the anti-iinflammatory properties of A conyzoides with no apparent hepatotoxicity.
• Anti-Cancer / Radical Scavenging Activity:
Various extracts of A conyzoides were screened in some cancer lines including Human non-small cell lung CA, human colon adenoCA, human gastric CA, and human breast CA among others.
Results showedd A conyzoides possessed anticancer and antiradical properties.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
Tinctures and extracts in the cybermarket. |
