 Botany
Busbusi is a creeping, minutely strigose herb. Stems extend from 15 to 30 centimeters, much branched and rooting at the nodes. Leaves are numerous, nearly without stalks, obovate, 1 to 2.5 centimeters long, with blunt or rounded tip and wedged-shaped base; margins on the upper half are sharply toothed. Flowers are very small, pink or white, crowded in ovoid or cylindric spikes, 1 to 2.5 centimeters long and about 6 millimeters in diameter. Corolla consists of a slender and cylindric tube, about 3 millimeters long, with a limb 2.5 millimeters wide, opening at the apex as it lengthens. Spikes appear at the ends of stalks, growing singly from the axils of the leaves.
Distribution
- A common weed throughout the Philippines, in open, waste places at low and medium altitudes.
- Pantropic in distribution.
Properties
- Bitter, anodyne, antibacterial, carminative, deobstruent, diuretic, emmenagogue, parasiticide and refrigerant.
- Considered analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, nociceptive, antimicrobial, antipyretic, antitumor, lipid peroxide scavenging and free radical scavenging.
Constituents
- Plant yields triterpenoids, flavonoids, phenols, and steroids.
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From the aerial parts were isolated new triterpenoid lippiacin and a benzofuranone rengyolone (halleridone), flavonoids, flavone aglycones, and flavone sulphates.
- Ethanolic extract of dried plant yielded two glucosidic coloring matters - nodiflorin A and nodiflorin B.
- Aqueous extract yielded free lactose, maltose, glucose, fructose, and xylose.
- Yields flavone, nodifloretin, a mixture of glucosides of ß-sitosterol and stigmasterol, two flavone glycosides (lippiflorin A and lippiflorin B), nepetin and batatilfolin.
- Flowers yield flavone glycosides, nepetin and batalifolin.
- Dried powdered leaves yielded hallerione and hallerone.
- Study of essential oil of leaves yielded nodifloretin, ß-sitosterol glucoside, stigmasterol glucoside, nodifloridin A, and nodifloridin B.
Parts used
Leaves
Uses
Edibility
- In the Philippines, fresh leaves used as tea substitute; hence referred to as "chachahan."
Folkloric
- In the Philippines, Infusion of leaves and tops used as carminative and diuretic.
- In India, used as demulcent in gonorrhea. Also, paste of leaves applied to swellings and wounds.
- Toasted tender stalks and leaves, in infusion, used for children's indigestion.
- Juice of roots used for gastric problems.
- Used for treatment of hookworms.
- Used as by women after childbirth.
- Hindus used it for fever and as diuretic. Applied as paste to promote suppuration.
- Infusion used in colds with fever; also as diuretic and for lithiasis.
- Poultice of fresh plant used to hasten ripening of boils.
- Used for asthma, bronchitis, diseases of the heart, blood, and eyes.
- Paste or poultice of plant applied to swollen cervical glands, erysipelas and to chronic indolent ulcers.
Studies
• Antioxidant / Free Radical Scavenging: Study on the methanol extract of Lippia nodiflora exhibited potent total antioxidant activity increasing with concentration. It has effective reducing power, free radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging and concentration dependent total phenolic content.
• Antifungal / Elemental Composition: Study on the antifungal activity of various extracts of L nodiflora was tested against human pathogenic fungi – A flavus A niger, P varioti, M gypseum and T rubrum. All the extracts showed high activity against the test organisms; the ethanol and aqueous extracts showed the best activity. Concentrations of Al, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, P, S and Zn were studied and showed considerable amounts of elements which are important components of skin care formulations.
• Diuretic Potential / Phytochemicals: Study yielded steroids, alkaloids, carbohydrates, flavonoids, essential oil, tannins and potassium salts. The methanol and aqueous extracts exhibited significant increase in urine volume and electrolyte excretion. Both extracts showed significant diuretic activity.
• Antidiabetic / Hypolipidemic / y-Sitosterol: Study screened y-sitosterol isolated from L. nodiflora for anti-diabetic activity in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Results showed a significant decrease in blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin with a significant increase in insulin level, body weight, and food intake. There was also an antihyperlipidemic effect with decrease in total cholesterol, LDL, and triglycerides with an increase in HDL.
• Neuropharmacological: Ethanolic and chloroform extracts showed central inhibitory (sedative) activity , anticonvulsant, and anxiolytic effects in mice. The central inhibitory effect was attributed to flavonoids.
• Hepatoprotective / Antioxidant: Study on a methanol extract of Lippia nodiflora in rats with acute experimental injury induced by paracetamol showed good hepatoprotective activity probably through antioxidant activity on the hepatocytes.
• Antiurolithiatic: An ethanol extract of the whole plant was studied for antiurolithiatic activity against most common types of renal stones. The extract significantly prevented calcium oxalate stone formation and also dissolved pre-formed calcium oxalate stones in the kidney along with significant effect on both in vitro and in vivo antioxidant parameters.
• Antibacterial / Seeds: A methanol extract of seeds was screened for in-vitro antibacterial activity against gram positive and gram negative bacteria by cup-plate method. The seed extract significantly inhibited growth of bacteria as compared to standard bactericide Streptomycin.
• In Vitro Antimicrobial: Chloroform leaf extract showed activity against E. coli, and an ethyl acetate extract was effective against Salmonella typhi.
• Antitumor Activity/ Seeds: Study evaluated the antitumor activity of a methanolic extract against Erlich's ascites carcinoma on Swiss albino mice. Results showed antitumor activity with significant decrease in tumor volume, packed cell volume, increase in life span of tumor bearing mice, etc. The activity was attributed to increased antioxidant activity.
• Anti-Inflammatory / Cyclo-Pentano Phenanthrenol: Study evaluated the anti-inflammatory potential of cyclo-pentano phenanthrenol isolated from L. nodiflora. Results showed anti-inflammatory activity via inhibition of MAPK phosphorylation and NF-kB translocation.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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