Botany
Laurel is an erect or spreading, more or less branched,
hearbaceous or half-woody plant, 1.5 meters or less in height. Leaves
are ovate to oblong-ovate, 8 to 13 centimeters long, smooth, slightly drooping, with entire, undulate or wavy
margins, with a pointed or blunt tip and a pointed base. Spikes are 15 to 30 centimeters long. Calyx is tubular,
8 to 10 millimeters long, covered with stalked, sticky glands. Corolla is bright red, tube is slender, about 2.5 centimeters long, and the spreading limb, about 3 centimeters in diameter.
 Distribution
- Cultivated throughout the Philippines for ornamental
purposes for its showy red flowers.
- Also occurs in tropical Asia and Malaya.
Constituents
- Contains plumbagin, sitosterol
glucoside.
- Roots are the highest source of plumbagin, a naphthoquinone.
Properties
- Considered vesicant, stimulant, sialagogue, sudorific.
- Roots considered abortifacient and antifertility.
- Juice of the root is acridly pungent to taste, producing a severe, lancinating pain the tongue.
- Juice of the root is blistering to the skin.
- Leaves and stems are pungent in taste, but not as virulent as the root.
-
Bark considered antidyspeptic.
Parts used
and preparation
Roots, bark.
Uses
Folkloric
- Poultice of bark scrappings
used as poultice for headaches.
- Bark used as blistering plaster; also applied to spine for fevers; antidyspeptic.
- Juice distinctly blisters the skin.
- In india, root is used as abortifacient and antifertility medicine; root is used as irritant, introduced into the vagina and applied directly to the neck of the uterus.
- Taken internally, root is poisonous and acts on the stomach as an acro-narcotic or narcotico-irritant poison. Taken internally or applied to the genital organs, it acts as an abortifacient.
-
In India, juice of root considered a powerful sudorific.
- Juice of leaves and roots, alone or mixed with oil, used as application for rheumatism and paralysis, bubos, glandular swellings, and leprosy.
- Roots also used for dyspepsia, piles, diarrhea, and to improve the appetite.
- In Myanmar, used for leprosy and syphilis.
 Studies
• Fetotoxic
/ Abortifacient: (1)
Uterotrophic, Fetotoxic and Abortifacient Effect of Malaysian Variety
of Plumbago rosea L. on Isolated Rat Uterus and Pregnant Mice:
Pronounced fetotoxic and mild abortifacient potential supports its traditional
use in avoiding unwanted pregnancies. (2) Plumbagin, a napthoquinone,
has shown to have antifertility activity similar to embelin, an antifertility
agent of plant origin.
• Plumbagin / Isolation: Roots are the richest source of plumbagin, a major active compound and potential biomarker. Study presents a
simple method for isolation of plumbagin from roots of Plumbago rosea, through precipitation out by addition of water to an acetone extract.
• Anti-tumor:
(1) In vivo tumor inhibitory and radiosensitizing
effects of an Indian medicinal plant, Plumbago rosea on experimental
mouse tumors: Study shows
PE to have a weak antitumor effect, but may have a potential use in
enhancing the tumor-killing effect of radiation. (2) The antitumor and
radio-modifying properties of plumbagin were tested on mouse Erlich
ascites carcinoma. Plumbagin showed inhibition of exponentially growing
tumors. Its mode of anticancer activity was unclear in the study. (3)
Plumbagin was found to have tumor growth inhibitory effects and contemplated
for use in human cancer therapy.
• Antimicrobial: Antimicrobial
Activity in Vitro of Plumbagin Isolated from Plumbago Species: PR was
shown to exhibit activity against yeast and bacteria suggesting the
naphthoquinone plumbagtin as a promising antimicrobial agent.
• Antifertility: Study
of five extracts of stems of PR in rats showed antifertility activity
in female Wistar rats with interruption of the estrous cycle, temporary
inhibition of ovulation. The acetone extract showed significant estrogenic
and antiestrogenic activity. Results indicated the antifertility activity
of stems of P rosea.
• Toxicity Study: Study
of ethanolic root extract of PR in mice showed severe diarrhea at doses
above 1250 mg / kg. While a higher dose was tolerated in fractionated
administration, it was shown to have growth inhibitory effect in both
sexes.
• Antiovulatory / Estrogenic Activity / Antifertility: Study
showed the acetone and ethanol extracts to be effective in interrupting the normal estrous cycle of rats, with prolonged diestrous cycle and consequent temporary inhibition of ovulation. Both extracts showed significant estrogenic and antiestrogenic activities. It concludes that both extracts have antifertility effects.
• Macrofilaricidal: Study
investigated the macrofilaricidal activity of P. indica in vitro against Setaria digitata, a filarial parasite of cattle. Complete inhibition of motility was observed in various concentrations. The active molecule was identified as plumbagin (5-hydroxy-2-methyl-1,4-naphthalenedione).
Availability
Cultivated. |
