Botany
Malagoso is similar i habit to sarsalida (Mollugo oppositifolia) – a slender, spreading or ascending, smooth, branched, annual herb, with branches 10 to 40 centimeters in length. Leaves are 1.5 to 3 centimeters long, 3 to 5 centimeters wide, whorled or opposite, usually linear-lanceolate, and narrowed at both ends. Flowers are borne in compound cymes, with very slender and very short stalks. Sepals are 1.5 to 2 millimeters long. Capsule is as long as the sepals, and nearly spherical, with many seeds which are dark chestnut, thin-walled, and covered with raised tubercular points. The species differs from sarsalida (M. oppositifolia) in the shape of the leaves, and in the smaller flowers and capsules.
Distribution
- Throughout the Philippines as a weed in cultivated areas, in open grasslands, etc., at low and medium altitudes.
- Also occurs in India to Japan and southward to Malaya.
Constituents
- Studies have yielded a saponin and much salt-petre.
- Study yielded two closely related triterpene alcohols - mollugogenol A and mollugogenol B.
- Phytochemical screening yielded flavanoids, saponins, terpenoids and tannins.
Properties
Considered stomachic, aperient, antiseptic, emmenagogue, and spermicidal.
Parts used
Whole plant.
Uses
Edibility
- Not so well known a vegetable as sarsalida, and less desired because of its smaller leaves. However, it is much esteemed by the Hindus as a bitter vegetable.
- In India, leaves used as bitter pot herb.
Folkloric
Malays used it as poultice for sore legs.
In Java, used for sprue and mouth infections.
In India, used as aperient, antiseptic, emmenagogue, and stomachic; also, used as mild laxative. Infusion of the plant is used to promote menstrual discharges, to improve digestion and to stimulate the liver. Also used as diuretic, anthelmintic, antioxidant and spermicidal.
Used for allergic skin conditions.
In Taiwan folk medicine, used as anticancer, antitoxic, and diuretic.
In China, soup used to promote appetite; root decoction used for eye diseases.
In Thailand, entire plant used as antipyretic.
Others
- Insect Repellent: In the Solomon Islands, whole plant is burnt for mosquito repellent effect.
Studies
• Antioxidant / Peh-Hue-Juwa-Chi-Cao: Three plants used interchangeably as "Peh-Hue-Juwa-Chi-Cao (PHJCC) - Hedyotis diffusa, Hedyotis corymbosa, and Mollugo pentaphylla were investigated for their antioxidant activities. Mollugo pentaphylla was found to have the greatest hydroxyl radical scavenging activity compared to HD and HC.
• Mollugogenol A / Antifungal Triterpenoid: Study yielded an antifungal compound, mollugogenol A, along with inactive mollugogenol B.
• Antibacterial: Aqueous extract of the fruit of Mollugo pentaphylla revealed antimicrobial activity against gram-positive bacteria (B. subtilis, S. aureus, S. epidermis) and gram-negative bacteria (E. coli, Salmonella flexneri and Pseudomonas aeruginosa).
• Hypoglycemic Potential: Study of aqueous extract of leaves of M. pentaphylla exhibited anti- hyperglycemic activity probably due to free radical scavenging potential of the test extract.
• Antipyretic: Study of methanolic extract of the whole plant of M. pentaphylla in albino mice exhibited significant antipyretic activity.
• Anthelmintic: Ethanolic extract and fraction of aerial parts exhibited significant dose-dependent anthelmintic activity against Pheritima posthuma and Ascardia galli. Activity was comparable to piperazine citrate and albendazole.
• Analgesic: The ethanol, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol extracts of the whole plant of M. pentaphylla were able to reduce pain in Swiss albino mice; the ethyl acetate extract was comparably better than the others.
• Anti-Inflammatory / Hepatoprotective / Peh-Hue-Juwa-Chi-Cao: as "Peh-Hue-Juwa-Chi-Cao (PHJCC) is the commercial name for the herbal extract of either Hedyotis diffusa, Hedyotis corymbosa, or Mollugo pentaphylla. In a study, all three plants showed anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective effect. In the carrageenan-induced paw edema model, M. pentaphylla showed the greatest inhibition.
• Spermicidal / Antifungal: The ethyl acetate fraction of Mollugo pentaphylla contains an antifungal saponin, mollugogenol-A. Study showed a dose-dependent and time-dependent effect of this saponin on sperm motility and viability. Results indicate the natural saponin has potential as a spermicidal, besides its known antifungal activity.
• Hepatoprotective: Study in rats of an alcohol extract of M. pentaphylla exhibited significant protection from liver damage in carbon tetrachloride-induced liver damage model.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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