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Family Urticaceae
Dalunot
Pipturus arborescens (Link) C.B. Rob.

Luo wei mu

Scientific names Common names
Pipturus arborescens (Link) C.B.Rob. Agandaong (Ilk.)
Pipturus asper Wedd. Agdalamai (Tag.)
Pipturus fauriei Yamam. Alañgisi (Bis.)
Urtica arborescens Link Alalatang (Ap.)
  Aludig (Ilk.)
  Añgañgeu (Bon.)
  Aramai (Iv.)
  Arandong (Ilk.)
  Dalonot (Tag.)
  Dalonotan (Bis.)
  Dalunot (Tag.)
  Damaian (Ig.)
  Dañget (Bon.)
  Duai (Ig.)
  Gimas-gimas (P. Bis.)
  Gunoi (Mag.)
  Gutgutu (If.)
  Handalamay (C. Bis.)
  Himaramai (Bis.)
  Hindalumai (Bis.)
  Hindaramai (C. Bis.)
  Kandamai (Tagb.)
  Lai (Bon.)
  Lamai (Mbo., Sub.)
  Moliungol (Ig.)
  Ñgaliugutgutu (If.)
  Ñgungoi (Ig.)
  Samai (Sul.)
  Takop-takop (Ilk.)
  Taktakop (Ilk.)
Pipturus arborescens (Link) C.B. Rob. is an accepted name The Plant List

Other vernacular names
CHINESE: Luo wei mu.
HAWAIIAN: Mamake, Mamaki.
JAPANESE: O-iwa-ga-ne.

Botany
Dalunot is a dioecious shrub or small tree attaining a height of 3 to 5 meters. Leaves are ovate, 7 to 8 centimeters long, 3 to 10 centimeters wide, with the tip tapering to a point and the base rounded or somewhat heart-shaped, the margins toothed, the upper surface green, slightly hairy and a little rough, the lower surface pale and rather densely covered with soft hairs. Male flowers are borne in dense, axillary fascicles, with greenish-white and exerted styles. Female flowers are small and greenish, in dense, axillary, hemispheric heads, 5 to 6 millimeters in diameter, with long-exerted styles. Fruit is white, very soft and fleshy, depressed, nearly spherical, about 1 centimeter in diameter, and consists of many small achenes immersed in the fleshy perianths.

Distribution
- Very common and widely distributed species.
- In thickets and secondary forests at low and medium altitudes from the Batan Island to Mindanao and Palawan.
- In Benguet, Luzon it ascends to an altitude of 2,000 meters.

- Also occurs in Borneo and Botel Tobago. 

Constituents
- Phytochemical screening of crude methanol extracts yielded anthrones, flavonoids, glycosidic flavonoids, phenolic compounds, steroids, tannins, triterpenes, anthraquinones, and coumarins, with an absence of alkaloids. (see study below)
(1)
- Dichlormethane extracts yielded ursolic acid (1), oleanolic acid (2), friedelin (3), ß-sitosterol (4), and stigmasterol (5) from the twigs. Leaves yielded 4,5, squalene (6), chlorophyll a (7), and polyphenol (8).
(4)
- Methanol extract of air-dried leaves yielded a long-chain alkene (1-hexacosene) and a terpene. (see study below) (5)
- Fractionation of a hexane extract of leaves yielded three pure compounds, two were were triterpenes, and the third, a sterol. (see study below) (6)
- Study of dichlormethane extract of P. arborescens yielded triterpenes, squalene (1), friedelin (2), and a mixture of ursolic acid (3a) and oleanic acid (3b) in a 2:3 ratio, and a mixture of sitosterol (4a) and stigmasterol (4b) in a 2:1 ratio. (see study below) (9)

- Study of a hexane extract of Pipturus arborescens leaves isolated three pure compounds characterized as triterpenes from mass spectral and NMR data. The triterpenes were identified as glutinon, friedelin and glutinol. A mixture of common plant sterols of campesterol, stigmasterol, and sitosterol were identified by GC-MS. (see study below) ) (10)

Properties
- Studies have suggested radical scavenging, antiproliferative, antimicrobial properties.

Parts used
Bark, leaves.

Uses

Edibility
- Fruits are edible.
Folkloric
- In the Philippines bark scraping used externally as a cataplasm for boils.
- Leaves used for treating herpes simplex and skin diseases.
(1)
- Mansaka people of Mindanao apply scraped and pounded bark or pulp on wounds to enhance healing. (7)

Others
- Fibers:
Bark fiber used in making rope. (8)

Studies
Radical Scavenging Activity / Cytotoxicity:
In a study of four Philippine medicinal plants, Pipturus arborescens gave the second lowest LC50 and EC50 values for brine shrimp lethality assay and DPPH radical scavenging activity. Extracts of the plant also showed to be active against HeLa cells. Extract also showed 100% mortality in the Brine Shrimp lethality assay. (1)
Cytotoxic Alkene and Terpene / Leaves: Study isolated a long-chain alkene (1-hexacosene) and a terpene from a methanol extract of air dried leaves. The isolated compounds showed moderate cytotoxicity against brine shrimp Artemia salina. (5)
Antimicrobial / Leaves: Study evaluated the antimicrobial potential of methanolic crude extract of leaves of Pipturus arborescens. Fractionation of a hexane extract isolated three pure compounds, two were triterpenes, and the third, a sterol. Triterpene PA was found active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa at 50 µg/ml. (6)
• Antiproliferative Against Human Cancer Cell Lines / Triterpenes: Study triterpenes isolated from dichlormethane extract for antiproliferative activities against three human cancer cell lines viz., breast (MCF-7), colon (HT-29 and HCT-116). The HCT-116 cell line was most susceptible to the compounds and mixtures tested. Triterpene 1 was most cytotoxic against HCT-116 and MCF-7 with IC50s of 4.21 and 5.92 µg/mL, respectively.
Other triterpenes and mixtures showed varying degrees of cytotoxicity against the cancer cell lines. (see constituents above) (9)
• Anti-Pseudomanal Potential / Triterpenes / Glutinone / Leaves: Study of a hexane extract of Pipturus arborescens leaves isolated three pure compounds characterized as triterpenes from mass spectral and NMR data. The triterpenes were identified as glutinon, friedelin and glutinol. A mixture of common plant sterols of campesterol, stigmasterol, and sitosterol were identified by GC-MS. Glutinone at 50 µg/ml showed significant activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a multidrug resistant microorganism. Infections caused by the organism are often malignant and resistant to treatment It also showed weaker activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. (10)
• Cytotoxicity / Antibacterial / Leaves: Study evaluated extracts of P. arborescens for cytotoxicity and antibacterial activities. Three extracts showed low to moderate cytotoxicity in Brine Shrimp Lethality shrimp Assay. Both chloroform and ethanolic extracts were active against Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus. The ethyl acetate extract was active against B. subtilis only. (11)

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Updated March 2022 / September 2018 / October 2015

PHOTOS / ILLUSTRATIONS
IMAGE SOURCE: Public Domain / File:Pipturus arborescens Blanco2.371-original.png / Plate from book / Flora de Filipinas / 1880 - 1883 / Francisco Manuel Blanco (O.S.A) / Wikimedia Commons
OTHER IMAGE SOURCE: / Pipturus arborescens (Link) C. Robinson / Lanyu (Orchid Island), Tatung County, Taiwan / Bettaman / Creative Commons-Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic / Click on image to go to source page / flickr

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Antioxidant and cytotoxic activities and phytochemical screening of four Philippine medicinal plants / Nonita Peteros and Mylene Uy / Journal of MDOI: https://doi.org/edicinal Plants Research, 4 Mar 2010; 4(5): pp 407-414 / Art No: 6A2786415864 / DOI: https://doi.org/10.5897/JMPR.9000213
/(2)
Pipturus arborescens (Link) C. B. Rob. / Chinese names / Catalogue of Life, China
(3)
Pipturus arborescens (Link) C.B. Rob. / Synonyms / The Plant List
(4)
Chemical constituents of Pipturus arborescens (Link) C.B. Rob / Consolacion Y. Ragasa, Vincent Antonio S. Ng, Virgilio D. Ebajo Jr., Mariquit M. De Los Reyes, Emelina H. Mandia, and Chien-Chang Shen / Der Pharmacia Lettre, 2014, 6 (6):35-42
(5)
Cytotoxic Long-chain Alkene and Terpene Isolated from the Methanol Extract of the Air-dried Leaves of Pipturus arborescens C.B. Rob / Charlie A. Lavilla, Jr., Mylene M. Uy, Shinji Ohta / J Multidisciplinary Studies Vol. 3, No. 1, Aug 2014 / doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7828/jmds.v3i1.624
(6)
Antimicrobial constituents of Pipturus arborescens. / Ontengco, Delia; Paano, Anamy Ma; Gabona, Marissa / Proceedings: International Symposium on Developments. . . Dec 6-8, 1999
(7)
Ethnomedical documentation of and community health education for selected Philippine ethnolinguistic groups: The Mansaka people of Pantukan and Maragusan Valley, Compostela Valley Province, Mindanao, Philippines / A collaborative project of Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care;
University of the Philippines Manila, Ermita, Manila; University of the Philippines Mindanao

(8)
Pipturus arborescens / Useful Tropical Plants
(9)
Cytotoxic Triterpenes and Sterols from Pipturus arborescens (Link) C.B. Rob.  / Mariquit M. De Los Reyes, Glenn G. Oyong, Virgilio D. Ebajo Jr., Vincent Antonio S. Ng, Chien-Chang Shen, Consolacion Y. Ragasa / J App Pharm Sci., 2015; 5(11): pp 23-30 / doi: 10.7324/JAPS.2015.501104
(10)
Triterpenoids and other metabolites from the hexane extract of Pipturus arborescens / Marisssa G Gabona / Master thesis:2000 / ANIMO Repository: Accession No TG03004
(11)
Bioassay-guided isolation and elucidation of some metabolites from Pipturus arborescens / Rebecca B Rosal / Master thesis: 1995 / Master of Science in Chemistry / Animo Repository: Accessio No TG02393

DOI: It is not uncommon for links on studies/sources to change. Copying and pasting the information on the search window or using the DOI (if available) will often redirect to the new link page. (Citing and Using a (DOI) Digital Object Identifier)

                                                            List of Understudied Philippine Medicinal Plants

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