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Family Urticacea
Lipang-aso
Laportea interrupta (L.) Chew

WOOD NETTLE
Hong xiao ma

Scientific names Common names
Laportea interrupta (L.) Chew Dalamo (Bis.)
Schychowskia interrupta (L.) W.Wight Damaro (Bis.)
Urtica interrupta L. Daudaua (Bis.)
  Langala (Bis.)
  Lipang-aso (Tag.)
  Lipang-kastila (TAG.)
  Lopa (Pamp.)
  Dog lipa (Engl.)
  Hawaii woodnettle (Engl.)
  Hen's nettle (Engl.)
  Stingingß nettle (Engl.)
"Lipang aso" and its other common names are shared by two species of differing Genus: (1) Lipang-aso (Fleurya interrupta): lopa, lipang-kastila (2) Lipa (Laportea meyeniana): lipai, lipang-kalabaw, lipang-lalaki, lipang-doton, lopa, lupa. Both possess stinging hairs and can cause intense itching on contact. Fleurya interrupta is a weed / herb, up to 1.3 meters high; Laportea meyeniana, a shrub or small tree growing to a height of 3-5 meters. Ramie (Boehmeria nivea), also is referred to as "lipang-aso."
Laportea interrupta (L.) Chew is an accepted name. The Plant List
Fleurya interrupta (L.) Gaudich. is an unresolved name The Plant List.  Various synonyms are listed, however all of them are unresolved: Urtica affinis Hook. & Am., Urtica gaudichaudii Steud., Urtica lomatocarpa Hochst. ex Steud., Urtica racemosa Gaudich., Urtica sessiliflora Blanco, and Urtica spicigera Steud.
Some compilations and studies consider Fleurya interrupta and Laportea interrupta as synonyms. Laportea interrupta is an accepted name (The Plant List) while Fleurya interrupta is an unresolved name.

Other vernacular names
CHAMORRO: Palilolia
CHINESE: Song ye ma, Hong xiao ma.
FIJIAN: Salato, Salato ni koro, Salato vutivali
HINDI: Bichaataa, Bichuaa.
SAMOAN: Ogo ogo, Ogoogo, ogogo toto, ongoongo, ono ono, vao mageso
TAHITIAN: Huriaeo, iriaeo, iriaio, urieo.
THAI: Han kai, Kalangtang kai, Tamyae tua mia, Wan chang rong.
TONGAN: Hogohogo, hongohongo, ngohongoho, nogonogo

Botany
Lipang-aso is an erect plant, somewhat branched or simple annual herb, about 0.5 to 1.5 meters high. Stems are green and succulent, the vegetative parts with scattered, somewhat stinging, spreading hairs. Leaves are ovate, 5 to 15 centimeters long, with tapering pointed tip, broad rounded base, and toothed margin, with scattered hairs on both surfaces. Inflorescence is narrow, axillary, slender, up to 20 centimeters in length, of numerous, short paniculately arranged cymes. Flowers are small, crowded, greenish, intermixed with numerous pedicels of fallen flowers. Perianth of the pistillate flower is 1 to 1.5 centimeters long. Achenes are straw-colored, compressed and about 1.5 to 1.8 millimeters long.

Distribution
- Probably an introduced weed in cultivated areas, chiefly in disturbed soil in and about towns throughout the Philippines.
- Also occurs in Abyssinia to Australia and Polynesia

Constituents
- Leaves yielded significant amount of carbohydrates (19.80 g/100g), proteins (31.30 g/100g), starch (15.40 g/100g), essential amino acids and minerals. Ethanol extracts of flowers and roots yielded high total phenolic (46.35 mg gallic acid equivalents/g of extract) and flavonoid contents (96.67 mg rutin equivalents/g of extract), respectively. (see study below)
(10)
- Study of methanol and aqueous extract of leaves yielded flavonoids, saponins, glycosides and alkaloids. Spectroscopic study yielded various groups of compounds: flavonoids, xanthophylls, and phycobilins predominantly. (13)
- Study of Laportea interrupta fresh leaves for carotenoid content yielded 481.00 ± 32.70 µmol/g dried matter. (15)

Properties
- Plant, especially the leaves, is covered with minute, stinging hairs, which cause pronounced itching.

Parts used
Leaves.

Uses
Folkloric
- Leaves applied locally for carbuncles.
- Decoction of root used as a diuretic; the effects probably due to the potassium nitrate content in the leaves and roots.
- Decoction of roots used for asthma and coughs.
- In India, leaf-paste used for boils; root extract, as diuretic.
- In Mayurbhanj district of Orissa, India, fruits used for headache.
- In Bangladesh, F. interrupta roots are macerated along with the heads of fruits of Ananas comosus (pineapple), honey or salt, and made into small pills - taken daily in the morning, on an empty stomach for 7 days, for wasting of the body in women. (
4)
- In West Papua, fresh, hairy leaves are rubbed on skin to produce a hot and itching feeling, to combat muscular pains and fatigue.
(7)
- In Manipur, India, leaf paste from crushed leaves of Laportea interrupta is mixed with a 10-day infusion of leaves of Nicotiana tabacum and the mixture is applied to various skin diseases. (12)

Caution / Toxicity
Contact Dermatitis: The plant, particularly the leaves, is covered with minute, stinging hairs which cause intense itching. The hairs resemble a hypodermic needle with a large bulbous base, exuding a poisonous substance when the tip is broken.
- Fruit is believed to be poisonous to horses.


Studies
Neuropharmacologic Effect / CNS Stimulant: Ethanolic extract of F. interrupta showed CNS stimulating effects in mice, probably through interfering with cortical functions or increasing the effects of some CNS stimulating neurotransmitters.(
1)
Nematicidal: Water extract of Fleurya interrupta was found to be nematicidal, with 100% mortality of root-knot larvae within 40 minutes.
(3)
Neutraceuticals / Antioxidant / Antipyretic: Study evaluated the nutritional, antioxidant, and antipyretic properties of Laportea interrupta. Antioxidant assay showed the ethanol root extract with strong DPPH radical scavenging capacity (IC50 32.34 µg/mL), a 2,2′-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) radical cation scavenging activity (1,072.57 µM trolox equivalents/g extract), and a ferric reducing ability (9,456.01 mM Fe(II)/g of extract. Antipyretic study of ethanol root and leaf extracts by Brewer's yeast induced pyrexia showed 68.0 and 57.4%, respectively. (see constituents above) (10)
Pre-Gestational Benefit / Leaves: Study evaluated the potential of pre-gestational intake of Laportea interrupta leaf decoction as an aid for fetal-maternal health through its influence on embyronic implantation and growth, placental labyrinth vasculoangiogenesis, and junctional zone morphology in 8-week old female mice. High concentration treatment group showed increase in viable site ratios, increase in estimated embryo weight and implantation sites, placental labyrinth with very prominent blood vessels. Results suggested pre-gestational high concentration consumption showed a potential to support fetal-maternal health. (11)
Antibacterial / Antioxidant: Study evaluated various fractions of ethanol extracts of L. interrupta against gram-positive (S. aureus, Sarcina lutea, Bacillus subtilis, B. cereus) and gram-negative ( E. coli, S. typhi, S. dysenteriae V. mimicus and V. parahemolyticus) bacteria by disc diffusion technique. The fractionates showed potential antibacterial and DPPH free radical scavenging activities. Among the extracts the petroleum ether and chloroform fractions showed highest free radical scavenging activities with IC50s of 1.069 µg/ml and 1.711 µg/ml, respectively. (14)

Availability
Wild-crafted.


Updated January 2021 / June 2016

                                                   PHOTOS / ILLUSTRATIONS
Photo © Godofredo Stuart / StuartXchange
SOURCES

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Central nervous system stimulating activity of the ethanolic extract of Fleurya interrupta Guad. (Urticaceae) / Shilpi, Jamil Ahmad / Oriental Pharmacy and Experimental Medicine / v.6, no.1, 2006?, pp.21-26 / DOI : 10.3742/OPEM.2006.6.1.021
(2)
CYTOTOXIC EFFECT OF LATENG (Fleurya interrupta) TO MYELOMA CELL. / Dwi Aris Agung Nugrahaningsih
(3)
Evaluation of Nematicidal Action of Some Botanicals on Meloidogyne incognita In Vivo and In Vitro / N O Agbenin, A M Emechebe, P S Marley and A D Akpa / Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Tropics and Subtropics, Volume 106, No. 1, 2005, pages 29–39
(4)
Survey of Medicinal Plants Used by Folk Medicinal Practitioners of Six Villages in Greater Naogaon District, Bangladesh / Mohammed Rahmatullah, Rokibul Hasan, Shahadat Hossan et al / American-Eurasian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, 4(3): 309-325, 2010
(5)
Fleurya interrupta / Common names / P acific Islands Ecosystems at Risk
(6)
Sorting Laportea names / Maintained by: Michel H. Porcher / Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database / MMPND
(7)
The wild plants used as traditional medicines by indigenous people of Manokwari, West Papua
/ Obed Lense / Biodiversitas, Vol 13, No 2, April 2012.
(8)
Laportea interrupta (L.) Chew / Chinese names / Catalogue of Life, China
(9)
Laportea interrupta (L.) Chew / Synonyms / The Plant List
(10)
Evaluation of nutraceutical properties of Laportea interrupta (L.) Chew / Charyacheri Swathi Krishna, Thankarajan Sajeesh, Thangaraj Parimelazhagan / Food Science and Biotechnology, April 2014, Volume 23, Issue 2: pp 577-585
(11)
Potential of pre–gestational intake of Laportea interrupta L. (stinging nettle) leaf decoction as an aid for fetal–maternal health / Jeriz Anne S. de Guzman, Reymond John L. Beltran, Raquel Rubio, Gliceria B. Ramos / Asian Pacific Journal of Reproduction, June 2015; Volume 4, Issue 2: pp 85-90 / DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2305-0500(15)30001-4
(12)
MEDICINAL PLANTS USED IN THE TREATMENT OF VARIOUS SKIN DISEASES BY THE SCHEDULED CASTE COMMUNITY OF ANDRO VILLAGE IN IMPHAL EAST DISTRICT, MANIPUR (INDIA) / Th. Tomba Singh, A. Radhapyari Devi, H. Rajanikanta Sharma and H. Manoranjan Sharma / International Science Journal, Vol 2, Issue 2 (2015)
(13)
Physio-chemical, Phytochemical and Sppectroscopic Characteristics of Aqueous and Methanolic Extracts Laportea interrupta Chew Leaf
/ Thamhiz Selvam N., Surabhi KR, Vasantha Kumar KG, Deep VC, Acharya MV / IJSRST 2016; 2(3) / pISSN: 2395-6011 / eISSN: 2395-602X
(14)
Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of Laportea interrupta Linn. / Md Nashir Uddin, Md Harum-Or-Rashid, Razia Sultana, Khurshid Jahan / Jagannath University Journal of Life and Earth Sciences, 2016; 2(1)
(15)
Carotenoid content and antioxidant activity of several medicinal plants in Surigao del Sur / Gemma A Gruyal / Journal of Engineering and Science Research, 2017; 1(2): pp 252-255 / DOI: 10.26666/rmp.jesr.2017.2.37

DOI: It is not uncommon for links on studies/sources to change. Copying and pasting the information on the search window or using the DOI (if available) will often redirect to the new link page. (Citing and Using a (DOI) Digital Object Identifier)

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