| Botany
An erect, smooth shrub or
small tree, 1.5 to 5 meters high. The branches are armed with a few
scattered spines. Leaves are bipinnate, 4-8 pairs, 6 to 12 cm long.
Leaflets are stalkless, 7 to 11 pairs, elliptic, and 1 ro 2 cm long.
Flowers are red and yellow, borne on terminal racemes, about 4 cm in
diameter. Petals are crisp and clawed. The pod is nearly straight, flat,
smooth, 5-8 cm long and 1.5 cm wide, containing 6-8 seeds.
Distribution
Cultivated for ornamental
use.
Constituents
and chemical properties
• Leaves contain gallic
acid, gum, tannin, resin, benzoic acid, and salts.
• The odor of the plant resembles savin.
• Antiinflammatory, antiviral.
• Leaves reported to be purgative and emmenagogue.
• Flowers are reported to be tonic, purgative, febrifuge, and emmenagogue.
• Seeds, flowers and roots are reported to be abortifacient.
• Study isolated five flavonoids: 5,7-dimethoxyflavanone, 5,7-dimethoxy-3,4'-methylenedioxyflavanone, isobonducellin, 2'-hydroxy-2,3,4'-6'-tetramethoxychalcone and bonducellin, all with anti-inflammatory activities.
• Study isolated from the stems, a cassane-type diterpene ester, pulcherralpin.
Parts
utilized
Roots, leaves, flowers, seeds
and bark.
Uses
Folkloric
Decoction of roots used for
fevers.
Infusion of the bark used as wash for the teeth and gums.
Infusion of leaves used for colds, fevers, skin ailments and purging.
Reported to be abortifacient.
Decoction of leaves used as mouth wash and gargle for mouth ulcers.
Decoction of flowers used for erysipelas and inflammation of the eyes.
Powdered flowers used as insecticide.
Fruit is astringent and used for diarrhea and dysentery.
In the Amazon, leaf juice used for fevers;
the flower juice for sores.
Seeds used for cough, chest pains, breathing difficulty.
Roots used to induce first trimester abortion.
Leaves are purgative; used for renal stones, malaria, bronchitis.
In Ayurvedic medicine, used for fever,
jaundice, colic, flatulence, malignant tumors.
In Nicaragua, astringent infusion of the
bark is used as a wash for teeth and gums.
In the West Indies, decoction used for
fevers.
In the Antilles, the leaves are used as
emmenagogue and abortifacient.
In Jamaica, plant is used as a purgative.
Studies
• Antimicrobial: (1) Antimicrobial
activity of Caesalpinia pulcherrima, Euphorbia hirta and Asystasia gangeticum:
Studies on the ethanolic extracts of the dry fruits of C. pulcherrima
showed a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against E. coli (enteropathogen),
Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. (2) Study on the antibacterial effects of selected Indian medicinal plants was evaluated on strains of B cereus, S aureus, E aerogenes, E coli and K pneumonia. The most active antibacterial plant was Caesalpinia pucherrima.
• Antiviral: In vitro antiviral activities of Caesalpinia
pulcherrima and its related flavonoids: A study showed a potential
for use in the treatment of infection caused by two viruses: herpesviruses
and adenoviruses. The aqueous extract of CP and its flavonoid quercetin showed a broad spectrum of antiviral activity.
• Anti-inflammatory: The study showed anti-inflammatory activity attributed to flavonoids. Results support the
use of Caesalpinia pulcherrima for the treatment of inflammatory conditions
in traditional medicine.
• Furanoid Diterpenes / Antibacterial /
Antifungal : Study
isolated four new cassane-type furanoditerpenoids from the leaves of
CP. Antimicrobial testing showed activity against bacteria (S aureus,
E coli, P aeruginosa and B subtilis) and fungia ( C albicans and T mentagrophytes).
•
Nutrient studies of CP Seeds: Study
suggests C pulcherrima could be a good source of low cost plant protein,
a good source of iron and calcium; the whole seeds more nutrient-rich
than the seed nuts.
•
Flavonoids / Antiinflammatory: Study
isolated five flavonoids from CP which significantly and dose-dependently
inhibited inflammatory mediators, NO, cytokines (TNF and IL-12).
•
Antifungal: Study
of methanol extract of 9 Indian medicinal plants showed C pulcherrima
with good antifungal activity against C albicans.
• Antioxidant / Cytotoxic: Study on the methanolic and aqueous extracts of C pulcherrima showed both exhibiting strong antioxidant activity. Testing for cytotoxicity, the aqueous extract was relatively toxic. Results of antioxidant and cytotoxic activities were attributed total phenolic content of the wood.
• Analgesic: Study on the chloroform extract of Caesalpinia pulcherrima showed significant analgesic activity through a peripheral mechanism.
Availability
Ornamental cultivation.
Wildcrafted.
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