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 Botany:
Harañgan is a prostrate or ascending, slender, leafy herb, somewhat wooly or nearly smooth, with numerous branches spreading from the root, and 8 to 20 cm long. Leaves are oblong-obovate to oblanceolate,
1 cm long or less, and with few coarse teeth on the margins. Heads are stalkless, rounded, 3 to 4 mm in diameter, many
flowered, and borne singly in the axils of the leaves. Achenes are about 1 mm long, tipped with the persistent style, and bristly on the angles.
Distribution
- In open waste places, rice
paddies, etc. at low and medium altitudes.
- In Cagayan, Nueva Viscaya, Pampanga, Rizal and Laguna Provinces in Luzon; in Lanao, Mindanao.
-
Also reported from eastern Asia to China through Malaya to tropical Australia.
Parts
utilized
Entire plant.
Collect from February to July.
Rinse and sun-dry.
Constituents
• Yields an amorphous volatile oil and a bitter principle, myriogynin.
• Contains an alkaloid, a glucoside and traces of saponin.
• Study yielded three antibacterial
sesquiterpene lactones.
• Study yielded two monoterpedoids together with five known
thymol derivatives. (Link)
Properties
• Considered anodye, antiphlogistic,
anticontusion, antitussive, diuretic, depurative, antiinfectious, antirheumatic.
• Pungent-warming, clears out nose, ear cavity, invigorates blood
circulation, relieves gastrointestinal disorders
Uses
Folkloric
• In the Philippines, squeezed between the fingers and inhaled, clearing the head by provoking sneezing.
• Used for rheumatic lumbar and leg pains.
• Powdered herb and minute seeds used as sternutatory.
• Infusion of plant used for purulent ophthalmia.
• Used as hot and dry medicine for paralysis, joint pains and worms.
• Rhinitis: Ointment made dried
pulverized material with camphor or yerba buena (Mentha arvensis) to
make a 10% valenine ointment) applied to the nose for rhinitis.
• Sprains, bone fractures, poisonous snake bites, furuncle.
• Dosage: use 3 to 9 gms dried material or 9 to 15 gms fresh material
in decoction.
• Poultice used for sprains, contusions and snake bites.
• In India, used
as snuff for treatment of head colds.
• The Mundas of Chota Nagpur sniff the crushed plant for fevers and colds. In Punjab, herb is boiled to a pasted and applied to the cheeks for toothache.
• In Nepal, used
to treat sinus infections.
• In China, used
for nasopharyngeal cancers. Also, the plant used as a kind of snuff for ophthalmia, causing the eyes to water.
Studies
•
Antibacterial:
(1) Antibacterial constituents of the Nepalese
medicinal herb, Centipeda minima:
Study yielded three antibacterial sesquiterpene lactones which showed
activity against Bacilus subtilis and Staph aureus. (2) Study isolated two new monoterpenoids with five known thymol derivatives. All the agents tested exhibited antibacterial effects against all the bacteria investigated. Thymol, as a component of volatile oils, has been shown to possess antimicrobial activities. Results suggest C. minima could be a potential source for antibacterial substances for food preservation.
• Antimicrobial / Chemical Composition:
Study showed the extract to have a broad spectrum of antimicrobial acitivity
against all tested strains, esp Enterobacter aerogenes, Klebsiella pneumonia,
Staph aureus and Yersinia enterocolitica. Twenty three compounds were
identified. Results show the extract to be a good antimicrobial agent
with a potential for public health applications.
•
Allergic Rhinitis: Treatment
with active extract in in an allergic-rhinitic animal model induced
by ragweed pollen showed significantly decreased pathologic changes,
with decreased infiltration of eosinophils and mast cells in the connective
tissue. Results conclude that Cm is effective in treating allergic rhinitis.
•
Antiinflammatory:
Study showed the volatile oil of Centipeda
minima to have a protective effect on acute pleural effusion in rats
induced by an intrapleural injection of Car.
•
Anti-Protozoal:
Study isolated a sesquiterpene lactone,
brevilin A, which was found to have antigiardial activity and similarly
active in vitro against Entamoeba histolytica and against Plasmodium
falcifarum. Three falvonoids were isolated: quercetin, quercetin 3-methyl
ether and kaempferol 7-glucosylrhamnoside.
•
Antiproliferative:
Study isolated a sesquiterpene lactone,
IF (2B-(isobutylryloxy)florilenalin that showed a significant dose-
and time-dependent inhibition on the growth of human nasophayngeal carcinoma
epithelial cells. Overall, Cm showed potent antiproliferative effect
on NPC cells and suggests further investigation of its medicinal potential.
• Antiasthmatic: Study on the essential oil of Centipeda minima showed a good therapeutic effect with significant prolongation asthma latency and gasping on a guinea pig model of spray-induced asthma.
• Molluscicidal Effect: Study of water and ethanol extracts against Oncomelania hupensis showed a molluscicidal effect, the aqueous extract higher than the ethanol extract. The main components were sesquiterpenes lactones and sterols.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
Extracts and supplements in the cybermarkets. |
