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 Botany
Gogo is a very large, woody climber (liana). Stems are thick as a man's
arm, angled, and much twisted. Bark is dark brown and
rough. Leaves are tripinnate, the common petioles usually ending
in a long, tough tendril. Pinnae are stalked, usually 4 in number. Leaflets
are oblong or obovate, 2.5 to 5 cm long, rigidly leathery and smooth. Flowers are 2 to 3 mm long, yellowish white, either crowded
in long slender spikes from the axils of the upper leaves or
arranged in terminal panicles. Pods, few, pendant, 30 to 100 cm long and 7
to 10 cm wide, somewhat curved, slightly constricted between
the seeds. Seeds are hard, and circular, with their sides flattened, about 5 cm across, and chocolate brown.
Distribution
In forests at low and medium altitudes, from Northern
Luzon (Cagayan) to Mindanao and Palawan.
Pantropic.
Parts
utilized
- Bark,
seeds and vines.
- Vines and seeds. The vines may be collected during any
time of the year, rinse, section into slices, steam, and sundry.
- The seeds may be collected from January to April. Remove
seed coat, roast in a frying pan, sun-dry and pulverize.
- Cultivation: Use seeds and layering for propagation.
Constituents
Saponin; fixed
oil, 18%; traces of an alkaloid; sapogenin, oleanolic acid.
Study reported saponin to be abundant in the bark, less so in the wood, plentiful in the seeds, and absent from the leaves.
Properties
Slightly bitter-acrid tasting, mildly cooling natured.
Antirheumatic,
relieves gastrointestinal disorders, aids circulation.
Juice from the bark reportedly irritating to the eyes, causing conjunctivitis.
Uses
Edibility
In the Dutch Indies, young leaves are eaten, raw or cooked.
In Bali and Sumatra, the seeds after certain treatment, are eaten.
In South Africa, pod and seeds are used as coffee substitute.
Folkloric
- For rheumatic lumbar and leg pains, sprains, contusions: use
dried vine materials, 15 to 30 gms in decoction.
- For jaundice, edema due to malnutrition: use powdered seeds,
3 to 9 gms taken orally with water.
- Abdominal pains and colic: Pound the kernels of the seeds,
mix with oil and apply as poultice onto affected area.
- Counterirritant: Make a paste of the seeds and apply to glandular
swellings in the axilla, loins and joints, and swollen hands and feet.
- Used as hair growth stimulant.
- For skin itches, the affected part is washed with a decoction of the bark.
- Stem, macerated in cold water, makes a cleansing soap; also, used as an emetic.
- Seeds used as emetic. Also, used as febrifuge.
- In South Africa, seeds used by infants to bite on during their teething period. Also, used as remedy for cerebral hemorrhage.
Others
Hair: Used extensively in the Philippines and other oriental countries for washing the hair. Also, an ingredient of hair tonics. The bark is soaked in water until soft; the fibers are then spread, the juice is then expressed by rubbing the fibers against each other until it lathers, which is then used to cleanse the scalp. Seeds also used as hair wash.
Poison: Used as a fish poison.
Wood: Bark is used as cordage. In Europe, used for tinder and for making match boxes.
Plaything: Large pods and seeds used by children as playthings.
Illuminant: In the Sunda Islands, a fatty oil extracted from the seeds used as illuminant.
Snuff: In Europe, seeds reportedly used for snuff.
Studies
• Anti-Inflammatory / Entadamides: (1) Synthesis of entadamide A and entadamide
B isolated from Entada phaseoloides and their inhibitory effects on
5-lipoxygenase: Two
sulfur-containing amides, entadamide A and entadamide B, were isolated
from the seeds of e. phaseoloides. The study suggests that the entadamides
may be a new type of antiinflammatory drug. (2) A study isolated entadamie C, a thrid new sulphur-containing amide, from the leaves of Entada phaseoloides, together with entadamide A.
•
Antiulcer: ANTIULCER ACTIVITY OF THE SEEDS OF ENTADA PHASEOLOIDES:
The study indicates that Entada paseoloides
possess antiulcer activity. It is possible that entadamide A<B and
C and phaseoloides may be responsible for the effect.
• Genotoxicity: In a study of 138 medicinal plant preparations examined for genotoxicity, Entada phaseoloides was one of 12 that exhibited detectable genotoxicity in any system.
• Chemical and Nutritional Evaluation of Raw Seeds: Study of raw seeds of Parkia roxburghii and Entada phaseoloides showed crude proteins and crude lipid (more in P roxburghii). Both seeds were rich in potassium and iron. E phaseoloides seeds were rich a sourdce of minerals such as magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and manganese. Fatty acids such as oleic and linoleic acides were relatively high in both.
• Saponins / Pursaethosides A-E: Study isolated firve new triterpenoid saponins, pursaethosides A-E from the extract of seed kernels, along with the known phaseoloidin.
Note: The infusion of
the cortex (bark) of the gogo vines in water contains saponin
which has an emetic effect and also a strongly stimulant effect.
Accidental contact with the eye may cause conjunctivitis.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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