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Botany
Olasiman is an annual, prostrate or spreading, succulent, branched,
smooth, often purplish herb, with the stems 10 to 50 centimeters long.
Nodes are without appendages. Leaves are fleshy, flat, oblong-obovate, 1 to 2.5 centimeter long, with
obtuse apex and wedge-shaped base. Flowers are yellow, stalkless, axillary
and terminal few-flowered heads. Heads are solitary or cymose with
compressed buds. Petals are five and yellow, about
as long as the sepals and notched at the tip. Flowers open only
for a few hours in the morning. Fruits are capsules which dehisce horizontally containing
many minute, dark brown, heart-shaped seeds.
 Distribution
- A very common weed found throughout the Philippines in settled areas.
- Now occurring in all warm countries.
Constituents
- Contains large amounts of l-norepinephrine, a neurohormone with vasopressor and antihypotensive activities.
- High in nutrients, including vitamins (A, B, B2, C, niacinamide, nicotinic acid, a-tocopherol, B-carotene), minerals, fatty acids (esp omega-3), glutathione, glutamic acid and aspartic acid. Also contains flavonoids, aklaloids, saponins and urea.
- Plant contains urea, vitamin C, ash (1.6%), and fat (4%).
- Study of fresh aerial parts isolated ß-sitosterol, ß-sitosterol-glucoside, N,N'-dicyclohexylurea, and allantoin.
Properties
- Considered antihemorrhagic, antipyretic, diuretic,
vulnerary, antiscorbic, refrigerant, tonic, febrifuge, anthelmintic.
- Leaves are succulent and acid.
Parts
utilized
· Whole plant.
· Harvest when the vegetative parts are well-developed.
· Cut off the roots, steam, sun-dry.
· May also be used fresh.
Uses
Edibility / Nutrition / Culinary
- Leaves are succulent; used as a vegetable component in salads.
- Condiment for fish and meat.
-
Excellent source of calcium
and iron; also, vitamin C and ash.
- Used as alterative pot herb, particularly as an article of diet for scurvy and liver diseases.
Folkloric
· Pounded leaves and stems for tumors, swellings, bruises, gout
and erysipelas.
· Decoction of leaves used as a wash for skin diseases.
· Poultice of leaves and tops used as anti-hemorrhagic, also used for burns, cuts and wounds.
· Juice used for dysmenorrhea, dysuria, dysentery, and for expelling
worms.
· Leaves are used for poulticing tumors, bad wounds and ulcers;
also for blennorhagia and leucorrhea.
· The seeds have also been used as antihelmenthic; also used for dysentery and mucous diarrhea.
In Punjab, used as vermifuge.
· Infusion of leaves and tops used as diuretic beverage.
· Decoction of seeds used as diuretic.
· For diarrhea: boil dried drug 20 to 40 gms in a cup of water
to a concentrated solution and drink; fresh materials, use 40 to 100
gms.
· Poisonous bites or snake bites: get the fresh plant, wash thoroughly,
add salt and crush, then cover the affected part with the preparation.
· Eczema: put crushed plant with its juice over the sensitive
area.
· Acute gastroenteritis, bacillary dysentery, orchitis, nephritis,
beriberi, edema: use 30 to 60 gms of dried material in decoction.
· Pulmonary tuberculosis, whooping cough: use 24 to 30 gms dried
material in decoction.
· Furuncle infections: aside from treatment taking drug orally,
external administration may also be applied in the form of poultice.
· In China used an emollient.
· In West Tropical Africa used for local applications to swellings, bruises, whitlow, etc. Also used as drops for earaches and toothaches.
· Applied to the forehead and temple to allay excessive heat and pain; applied to the eyes to relieve inflammation. Applied to gout to allay the pain.
· Expressed juice of the plant used for prickly heat, as well as burning discomfort of hands and feet.
· Used for scorpion stings.
· In Jamaica juice prescribed for spitting up of blood; also used as cooling mediciine for fevers.
· In Chiina leaves used for poulticing tumors, wounds, ulcers and edematous swellings; also for blenorrhagia and leucorrhea.
· In Nigeria applied topically to swellings.
· In Cochin-China and the West Indies seed is used as stomachic and to promote menses; also used as diuretic and emollient.
· Tamil practitioners used the bruised leaves as application in erysipelas; an infusion is used as diuretic in dysuria.
· In Guadalupe plant is used as tonic and febrifuge.
· In Siberia used as a gastric sedative.
· In Indo-China decoction of leaves used for dysentery.
· In the Gold Coast leaves are ground, mixed with oil, and tied on boils to bring them to a head; also, eaten with tiger nuts (Cyperus esculentus) as a remedy for skin diseases; also, macerated in cold water and drunk as heart tonic and diuretic, and for palpitations.
· In Columbia used as emollient, and applied to tumors and callosities.
· In Pakistan, used for kidney, liver,
urinary bladder and lung problems.
· In Iranian folk medicine, used to treat abnomal uterine bleeding.
 Studies
• Anti-Ulcer / Gastroprotective: Study in mice showed inhibition of gastric lesions induced by HCl or absolute alcohol, with dose-dependent reduction in ulcer severity. The highest dose of extracts were similar to sucralfate in activity. Results suggest that P. oleracea has gastroprotective action and support
its use in folk medicine for gastrointestinal diseases.
• Anti-Tumor: Study
in mice showed inhibition and/or suppression of gastric tumor cell growth in vitro and in vivo. An aqueous extract showed tumoricidal activity against a human gastric carcinoma cell and humn colon adenoma cell line.
• Wound Healing: Study of the fresh homogenized crude aerial parts of Portulaca oleracea applied topically on excision wound surface showed acceleration of the wound healing process with increase in tensile strength and decrease in wound surface area.
• Analgesic / Anti-Inflammatory: Ethanol extract of aerial parts showed significant anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects with intraperitoneal application but not with oral administration. Results support some of the claimed traditional
uses for relief of pain and inflammation.
• Bronchodilatory effect / Asthma: Study showed
P. oleracea has a relatively potent but transient bronchodilatory effect
on asthmatic airways.
• Anti-Diabetic / Decreased Insulin Resistance: Study suggests P. oleracea could improve insulin resistance in rats
with T2DM, the mechanism possibly related to its actions in improving lipid metabolism
and decreasing free fatty acids.
• Antitussive
Effect :
Study in guinea pigs showed antitussive effects
of Portulaca oleracea comparable to codeine.
• Antifungal activity: Extract study showed a specific and marked activity of P. oleracea against
dermatophytes of genera Tricophyton.
• Treatment of Abnormal Uterine Bleeding: Study using seed powder showed that purslane seeds could be effective and safe in the treatment of abnormal uterine bleeding.
• Hypoxic Neuroprotective Effect: Study showed Portulaca oleracea extracts enhanced the EPO mRNA and protein expression in mouse cortices. Histological analysis showed the extracts lessened the inflammation damage of the mouse brain and the PO extracts or the herb-containing serum raised the viability of cells under hypoxic conditions. Results demonstrated protective effects on hypoxic nerve tissue.
• Nephroprotective: Study results suggest that P oleracea extract may protect against cisplastin-induced renal toxicity and may serve as a novel combination with cisplastin to limit renal injury.
• Antimicrobial: Study showed the methanolic extract of P oleracea seeds to be active against S aureus, B bronchiseptica and Bacillus cereus. Study has also shown the extract of PO to have antifungal properties against Aspergilus niger and C albicans.
• Ulcerative Colitis: Study showed decoction of Portulaca oleracea exhibited benefits on the ulcerative colitis in mice with regards general condition, body weight, colonic mucosal pathology.
• Hepatoprotective: Study of hepatoprotective activity of hydroalcoholic extract of the stems and leaves of Portulaca oleracea against Rifampicin-induced hepatotoxicity inn rat showed significant hepatoprotective activity, close to silymarin, a well-known hepatoprotective agent.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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