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Botany
· An erect, branched, usually more or less hairy herb,
0.2 to 1.5 m high.
· Leaves: 1- to 2-pinnatifid and 15 cm more or less, the
upper one being usually much smaller; segments ovate-lanceolate,
2 to 5 cm long and toothed.
· Flowers: disc flowers brown, yellowish or nearly white.
Inner involucral bracts with broad, scarious margins. Flowering
head about 8 mm long.
· Fruits: achenes black, long and slender, linear, 1 to
1.5 cm long and characterized by four projections at the apex.
Distribution
In waste places, chiefly at medium altitudes, ascending to 2,200
meters from Batanes and Babuyan Islands and Northern Luzon to
Mindanao.
Parts
utilized
· Entire plant.
· Collect before flower opens, rinse, sun-dry, section
into pieces or compress.
Constituents
and properties
Plant contains iodine; the leaves,
tanin and aponin; the flowers, suflur.
Antibacterial, antidysenteric, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial,
antimalarial, diuretic, hepato-protective, antipyretic, antifungal.
Sweet tasting, mildly refrigerant.
Uses
Folkloric
· Used as preventive for influenza or cold, used for treatment
of swelling pain at the throat, fever among infants, fear of cold weather.
· Used for poisonous insects and snake bite.
· For enteritis, flatulence, diarrhea, appendicitis.
· For sprains, contusions, chronic ulcers.
· Used to stop wound bleeding.
· Leaves used for treatment of thrush and candida.
· For piles, chronic ulcers, various skin diseases.
· Dosage: use 30 to 60 gms of dried material or 90 to 150 gms
fresh material in decoction. Fresh materials may be pounded and applied
as poultice or boiled in water and applied as external wash.
· In Uganda, the
sap from crushed leaves is used to speed up blood clotting in fresh
wounds. Leaf decoction used for headaches. Plant sap is used for ear
infections. Decoction of leaf powder for kidney ailments. Plant decoction
used for flatulence.
· In southern Africa,
used for malaria.
· In Zimbabwe,
used for stomach and mouth ulcers, diarrhea and hangovers.
· In Peru, leaves
are balled up and applied to toothaches.
· In the Amazon,
used for hepatitis, angina, sore throat.
· In the Congo,
plant used as poison antidote and to facilitate child delivery.
· In Nigeria, the
powder or seed ash is used as a local anesthetic for cuts.
· In Brazil, the
plant is traditionally used for conditions related to cancer.
Note: This plant closely resembles Bidens
tripartita which may be differentiated on the shape of the leaves, however
the medicinal function of this plant is identical with Bidens pilosa
and hence may be used as a substitute.
Nutrition
• In sub-Saharan Africa,
fresh or dried tender shoots and young leaves are eaten as vegetable
in times of scarcity.
• In Uganda, leaves
are boiled in sour milk.
• Leaves are added to salads and stews.
• Young shoots used to make tea.
Others
• Fodder for pigs.
• Seeds for chicken feed.
• Leaves used as stimulant alternative to tea.
• In Kenya, used for the extraction of natural dyes.
• In the Congo, roots are washed, dried and used as painting brush.
Studies
• B. pilosa has been studied
for antitumor activity. Some reports suggest antileukemic actions. Polyacetylenes from B. pilosa suggest antimicrobial activity. Some flavonoids have anti-inflammatory. Other studies have shown it to possess antibacterial, antidysenteric, antiinflammatory, antimalarial, diuretid, hepatoprotedtive and hypotensive effects.
• Hepatoprotective: Study of water extract from B pilosa on Wistar rats showed phytotherapeutic activity in hepatic damage induced by chronic obstructive cholestasis by hepatoprotective effects on liver function, decrease of rate of necrosis and liver fibrosis.
• Studies of anticancer and antipyretic
activity of Bidens pilosa whole plant: Extracts from
B. pilosa were tested for anticancer and antipyretic activity. Extracts
were showed a significant cytotoxic effect against Hela cells
by in vitro method and showed a comparable antipyretic activity.
• Anti-Tumor: (1) Study of an in vitro cytotoxicity using Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cell line assay, the chloroform extract showed the best antitumor activity.
• Anti-Malarial Activity: (1) New evidences of antimalarial
activity of Bidens pilosa roots extract correlated with polyacetylene
and flavonoids: The results showed the in vivo activity
of the ethanol extract depends on polyacetylene and flavonoids. (2) Study showed the presence of flanonoid compounds believed to be responsible for the antimalarial activity. Its proven activity against P falcifarum drug-resistant parasites in vitro and in rodent malaria in vivo, suggests it a good candidate for further testing as a phytotherapeutic agent.
• Immunomodulation:
(1) Study yielded flavanoids – centaurein and centaureidin, which
stimulated IFN-gamma expression. (2) Study showed the butanol fraction of B pilosa has a dichotomous effect on helper T cell-mediated immune disorders, possibly through modulation of T cell differentiation.
• Anti-Herpes:
Study showed the hot water extract of Bidens pilosa inhibited replication
of the HSV.
• Antiinflammatory
/ Antiallergic: Results of studies on suspension and
boiling water extract of dried powder from the aerial parts of B pilosa
L var radiata Scherff inibited histamine release and production of IgE,
suggesting it may be clinically useful in the prevention of type 1 allergic
disease.
•
Anti-Diabetic: Results
of study on water extract of B pilosa suggests it ameliorates type 2
diabetes in mice through regulation of insulin secretion and islet protection.
•
Anti-leukemic: Study of
hot water extracts showed inhibition of leukemic cell lines and suggests
it may be a useful medicinal plant for treating leukemia.
•
Flavonoids / Hepatoprotective:
Study in carbon tetrachloride-induced liver injury in mice and rats
showed the total flavonoids of Bidens pilosa had a protective and therapeutic
effect on animal liver injiury and could be associated with its antioxidant
properties and inhibition of NF-kB activation.
• Oxytocic: Study to validate the claimed uses of Bidens pilosa and Luffa cylindrica inducing labor during childbirth showed the aqueous leafy extracts of Bp and Lc increased rat uterine motility suggesting oxytocic activity and validates their therapeutic herbal uses in childbirth.
• Mutagenic Potential: A study to evaluate the capacity of teas of B pilosa and Mikania glomerata to induce DNA damages and mutagenic effects showed dose-dependent and preparation-form effects and suggests caution in the phytotherapeutic use of the plants.
• Vasodilating / Calcium Antagonist: Study showed the vasodilating properties of the neutral extract of B pilosa and indicate a potential as a calcium antagonist.
• Cytopiloyne / T Helper Cell Modulator / Anti-Diabetes: Study yielded a novel bioactive polyacetylenic glucoside, cytopiloyne. Results showed it functions as a T cell modulator, an activity that may directly contribute to its ethnopharmacologic effect on precenting diabetes.
• Anti-COX-2 / Anti-PGE2 / Anti-Inflammatory: In a study of interleukin-1ß induced inflammation in normal human dermal fibroblasts, B pilosa inhibited the phosphorylation of MAPKs, COX-2 expression and subsequently PGE2 production.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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