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Botany:
· Erect or climbing shrub, 1.5 to 3 m height.
· Leaves: oblong to oblong-ovate, 8 to 15 cm long, pointed at
the tip and rounded at the base and nearly smooth.
· Flowers: yellowish white, solitary on a 2 to 5 cm long peduncle,
borne opposite or nearly opposite to leaflets. Calyx 3, ovate, 3 to
5 mm long. Corolla 6, fixed, arranged in 2 whorls, oblong or oblong-lanceolate,
3 to 4 c m long. Outer whorl bigger than the inner one; stamens numerous.
Peduncle extra-axillary, about 5 cm long with one flower. Sepals ovate-lanceolate,
about 1.5 cm long. Petals somewhat hairy, yellow, fragrant, 4 to 5 cm
long.
· Fruits: dehiscent, peduncled, arranged in dense cluster, length
2 to 5 cm long, 1 to 7 seeded.
Distribution
In thickets and forests at
low and medium altitudes in Palawan, Basilan, Mindanao (Zamboanga).
Parts
utilized
· Roots, leaves.
· Collect the whole year round.
· Rinse, macerate, and sun-dry.
Properties
Pungent tasting,
Stomachic.
Chemical constituents
• A new cytotoxic fatty acid,
desmosic acid, was isolated from Desmos cochinchinensis. (LINK)
• Desmosflavone - 5-Hydroxy-7-methoxy-6,8-di-C-methylflavone ((Link)
• Study yielded eleven compounds: lawimal, desmosal, desmethoxymatteucinol,
unonal , isounonla, desmoflavone, allantoic acid, succinic acid, daucosterol,
beta-sitosterol and stearic acid.
Uses
Folkloric
· Decoction of 15-30 g of dried
leaves: Used for gastrointestinal distention, indigestion, nephritis-edema,
bronchitis.
· Decoction of dried roots (15-30 g): Used for rheumatic muscular
pain.
· In Chinese folk
medicine, used for malaria.
· In Vietnam, used
as antimalarial, insecticidal, antirhumatic and analgesic. Also, leaves are used for constipation.
Studies
• Anti-Malaria:
Study isolated three flavonoids from the petroleum extract of the root
of Desmos cochinchinensis. Pharmacologic study exhibited anti-malarial
activity.
• Anti-Microbial :
Study on the crude extracts of DC leaves showed strong antibacterial
activity against S. aureus, S epidermis and B subtilis and strong inhibition
against all dermatophytes
• Cytotoxic Fatty Acid:
Study yielded desmosic acid, a novel cytotoxic fatty acid.
• Cytotoxic Cycloartane Triterpenoids:
Study isolated desmosinal, a novel cycloartane triterpenoid from the stem of Desmos cochinchinensis Lour.
• Phenolic Compounds / NFAT Transcription
Inhibiton : Study yielded six phenolic compounds from
the methanolic extract of the dried leaves of Dc. Of these, compounds
2 (negletein) and 3 (2',3'-dihydroxy-4',6'-dimethoxydihydrochalcone
exhibited potent inhibitory activity against nuclear factor of activated
T cells (NFAT) transcription factor.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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