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Botany:
· An erect, branched shrub 0.6 to 2.5 m high. Exceedingly
variable and more or less hairy. Stem often with reddish branches.
· Leaves: pale beneath, ovate to suborbicular, 3 to 9
cm long, heart-shaped at the base, more or less toothed or somewhat
lobed or angled, the lobes not exceeding beyond the middle of
the leaf and the sinuses being usually broad and acute.
· Flowers: pink or purplish, about 1.7 mm in diameter
and borne singly in the axil of the leaves, or somewhat in panicles.
Petals 5, free above, connate below and adnate to staminal tube;
staminal tube truncate or minutely toothed, anthers many, Ovary
5-celled, branches of stigma 10.
· Fruits: rounded by flattened and about 7 mm in diameter,
with the 5 carpels covered with short, barbed spines.
Distribution
In open places, thickets, etc., at low and medium altitudes,
ascending to 1,600 m.
Parts
utilized
· Roots, leaves; preferably fresh.
· Collect the year round.
Properties
Sweet tasting, slightly cooling.
Antirheumatic, antipyretic, stomacic.
Uses
Folkloric
· Decoction of 30-60 gms of dried roots used for enteritis and
dysentery, rheumatic pains, tonsilitis.
· Poultice of fresh leaves for snake bites, sprains, and bruises.
· In Malaysia,
extracts of leaves and roots used to treat abdominal colic, malaria,
gonorrhea, fever, wounds, toothaches and rheumatism.
· In Malaysia,
used for intestinal inflammation and as an emollient.
Livestock
· In the Congo, part of a herbal concoction used for abdominal inflation associated with schistosomiasis, dysentery and diarrhea. For alopecia, skin lesions and dermatoses, rubbed with the ground leaves of Lantana camara on the body.
Others
· A fiber plant, Aramina fiber and Congo jute are produced in
Brazil from the Urena
lobata.
· In Africa, leaves
and flowers are eaten as famine food.
Studies
• Antioxidant: Effects
of Irvingia grandifolia, Urena lobata and Carica papaya on the Oxidative
Status of Normal Rabbits: With recognized therapeutic effects, the plants
were studied for toxic side-effects. Results showed no evidence of oxidative
damage on liver and pancreatic MDA levels on rabbits, and even seemd
to provide protection against lipid peroxidation.
• Phytochemical / Antioxidant /
Antimicrobial: The study of UL leaf extract isolated
3 compounds: kaempferol, quercetin and tiliroside which showed strong
antimicrobial activity against E. coli, Bacilus subtilis and Klebsiella
pneumonia. The study supports the traditional use of the plant for treatment
of infectious diseases.
• Antidiarrheal: A
study reports the antidiarrheal potential of L dealbata and Urena lobata
used in the traditional medicine by the Naga tribes of India. Both plants
showed significant inhibitory activity against castor oil-induced diarrhea
and PGE2-induced intrafluid accumulation. Both showed significant reduction
in gastrointestinal motility with no signs of toxicity. Results help
explain it traditional use as an antidiarrheal agent.
• Antibacterial: A
study of the methanol extract of UL showed a broad spectrum of antibacterial
activity.
• Immunomodulatory: A
study of the methanolic extract of Urena lobata showed plagocytosis and intracellular killing potency of human neutrophils. Study concludes that U lobata possesses immunomodulatory property.
• Phytochemical / Imperatorin: Studies have previously yielded mangiferin and quercetin from the aerial parts of the plant. This study isolated imperatorin, a furocoumarin, from the roots.
Availability
Wild-crafted. |
