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Botany
Mutha is a slender,
erect, glabrous, perennial grasslike plant, 10 to 40 centimeters high.
Rhizomes or underground stems are wiry, bearing black, hard, ovoid
tubers which are about 1 centimeter in diameter. Ground stems are usually solitary, distinctly
3-angled above. Leave 5 to 15 centimeters long, sometimes , 3 millimeters wide or less, and narrowly linear. Umbel is simple or compound, 2 to 6 centimeters long, with 2 to 8 unequal primary rays. Spikes are dense or rather lax. Spikelets are 3 to 8, 10 to 25 millimeters long, brown, slender, with 10 to 25 florets in each spikelet, linear, and slightly compressed. Rachilla of the spikelet
distinctly winged. Glumes are 2.5 to 3 millimeters long, closely or loosely imbricate. Glumes of the floret distichously arranged,
the first 2 empty, the third one bisexual. Fruit is an achene, obovoid or oblong, black or granulate, 3-angled, one-seeded, covered with a scurfy bloom.
Distribution
- Found throughout the Philippines in open areas at low and medium altitudes.
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A common weed in gardens, lawns and wastelands.
- Pantropic in distribution.
Constituents
• Norcyperone, a novel norsesquiterpene isolated from CR.
• A study of the constituents of the essential oil of Cyperus rotundus yielded three new sesquiterpene hydrocarbons and a ketone (cyperadione).
• Rhizome yields an essential oil.
• Tubers yield fat, sugar, gum, carbohydrates, albuminous matter,, starch, fiber, ash, and traces of alkaloid.
• Constituents include 1,8-cineole, 4alpha,5alpha-oxidoeudesm-11-en-3-alpha-ol, Alkaloids, Alpha-cyperone, Alpha-rotunol, Beta-cyperone, Beta-pinene, Beta-rotunol, Beta-selinene, Calcium, Camphene, Copaene, Cyperene, Cyperenone, Cyperol, Cyperolone Cyperotundone D-copadiene, D-epoxyguaiene, D-fructose, D-glucose, Eo, Flavonoids, Gamma-cymene, Isocyperol, Isokobusone, Kobusone, Limonene, Linoleic-acid, Linolenic-acid, Magnesium, Manganese, Mustakone, Myristic-acid, Oleanolic-acid, Oleanolic-acid-3-o-neohesperidoside, Oleic-acid, P-cymol, Patchoulenone, Pectin, Polyphenols, Rotundene, Rotundenol, Rotundone, Selinatriene, Sitosterol, Stearic-acid, Sugeonol, Sugetriol.
• Phytochemical screening yielded tannins, saponins, carbohydrates and alkaloids, with an absence of protein and sterols.
Properties
• Fragrant, slightly
bitter tasting rhizome.
• Fragrance resembles lemon and cardamom.
• Considered analgesic, alternative, astringent, antispasmodic, antibacterial, carminative, contraceptive,
demulcent, emmenagogue, emollient, febrifuge, immunostimulant, laxative, stimulative, tonic, vermifuge.
Part utilized
· Rhizome.
· Harvest from December to January.
· Wash and sun-dry or heat-dry in a clean frying pan.
· Scrape off the fibrous roots.
 Uses
Folkloric
· In the Philippines, used for dysentery.
· For indigestion and
constipation, 2 to 6 gms of dried material in a standard cup of water,
boil to concentration and drink.
· For skin diseases, wash the diseased portion with a warm decoction.
· For chest pains caused by deterred blood flow of blood and energy
circulation: boil to decoction 4 to 9 gms of dried drug preparation
together with 4 gms of Citrus (dalanghita, kahel, suha, kalamansi, etc.)
and drink.
· Neurogenic gastralgia, abdominal distention, heaviness at the
chest, acidic vomiting: 3 to 9 gms dried material in decoction.
·Irregular menstruation, painful menstruation: 3 to 9 gms dried
material in decoction.
· Sprains and bruises, furuncle infections: Use pounded fresh
material as poultice or cook the pulverized drug material in vinegar
and apply as hot poultice.
- In various oriental traditional systems, rhizomes used for stomach and bowel disorders.
· In Ayurveda, used for leprosy,
fever, dysentery, itching, and as anthelmintic.
· In India, used for wound healing. Roots used medicinally as a diaphoretic, astringent, stimulant, tonic, diuretic and demulcent. Also used as vermifuge and emmenagogue.
· In China, tubers used as tonic, stimulant, and stomachic.
· Fresh tubers applied to breast as paste or warm plaster as a galactagogue.
· Dried tubers used for spreading ulcers.
· In Indo-China, used for women in childbirth and to infants for indigestion.
· In Cambodia, tubers used for liver complaints with icterus, for malaria, and headaches.
· In Java, used for urinary problems.
· In Unani, used for ulcers and
sores, fevers, dyspepsia.
Others
• Elsewhere,
leaves used in the weaving of baskets and hats.
• In Asia, tubers are used as perfume for clothing and as insect repellant.
Studies
•
Antidiabetic / Antioxidant: Antidiabetic
activity of hydro-ethanolic extract of Cyperus rotundus in alloxan induced
diabetes in rats: Extract study of CR significantly lowered the
blood glucose levels and showed antioxidant activity and radical scavenging
in vitro.
• Cytoprotective:
Cytoprotective effects of Cyperus rotundus against ethanol induced gastric
ulceration in rats: Study suggests cytoprotective action is due to inhibition
of gastric motility and endogenous prostaglandins.
• Wound healing:
Extract showed effects in wound healing parameters: contracting ability,
wound closure time and tensile strength.
• Stress-Reducing Effects:
Physiological effects of herbal mixture with Cyperus rotundus
L. on blood pressure, norepinephrine, cortisol and psychological variables
in healthy medical students under examination: Herbal mixture that included
CR seems to help reduce stress-related physiological and psychological
symptoms.
• Anti-Hypertensive:
Aqueous extract of C rotundus showed a hypotensive effect in rats probably acting both centrally and peripherally altering the peripheral resistance and cardiac mechanics. Phytochemical screening yielded tannins, saponins, carbohydrates and the absence of alkaloids, proteins and sterols.
• Antimicrobial Activity: Study showed antimicrobial activity against K pneumonia, A niger and S aureus.
• Mosquito Repellent: C rotundus extract was screened for repellent activity against mosquito vector Anopheles culicifacies, A stephensi, Culex quinquefasciatus. Study showed the tuber extracts to be more effective for repellency of all the mosquito vectors even at low dose. The extract can be applied as an effective personal protective measure against mosquito bites.
• Polyphenols / Antioxidant: Study on the rhizome extract of Cyperus rotundus exhibited concentration-dependent scavenging effect on superoxide anion radicals, OH radicals, NO radicals, H2O2, metal chelating and reducing power. Results suggest CR rhizome extract can be a potential source of natural antioxidant.
• Anti-Obesity Effect: Study of C rotundus tubers hexane extract for 60 days induced a significant reduction in weight gain without affecting food consumption or inducing toxicity. In vitro, the extract was able to stimulate lipolysis. The effect in weight gain may be partially mediated through activation of ß3-AR. Results suggest CR tuber extract has a potential as a herbal supplement for controlling body weight.
• Anti-Candida Activity: Study of essential oils and ethanolic extracts of leaves and/or roots of 35 medicinal plants in Brazil were screened for anti-candidal activity. The essential oils of 13 plants, including Cyperus rotundus, showed anti-Candida activity.
• Anti-Inflammatory: Study showed the methanol extract of rhizomes of CR showed inhibition of NO production in a dose-dependent manner from the suppression of iNOS protein, as well as iNOS mRNA expression. Results suggest a potential for the methanol extract to be developed as an anti-inflammatory agent for diseases mediated by overproduction of NO and O2-.
• Gastroprotective: Study results indicate that CR extracts have gastroprotective effect against acute mucosal lesions induced by ischemia/reperfusion.
• Antimutagenicity: Study shows the oil of CR does not seem genotoxic. The oil exhibited effects against both direct and indirect mutagens.
• Infectious Diarrhea: Study evaluated the antidiarrheal activity of C. rotundus tubers decoction. The decoction showed antigiardial activity, reduced bacterial adherence to and invasion of HEp-2 cells. However, the decoction does not have marked antibacterial activity and its antidiarrheal action was attributed to mechanisms other than direct killing of pathogen.
• Antimicrobial / Rhizomes: Various rhizomes extracts were evaluated against six important pathogenic microbes (S. epidermis, B. cereus, P. aeruginosa, E. coli, A. niger, and C. albicans). An ethanolic extract showed the highest antibacterial activity . All extracts were ineffective against fungal strains tested.
• Antiplatelet Effects / Nootkatone: Study of an EtOH extract showed significant and concentration-dependent inhibitory effects on collagen-, thrombin-, and/or AA-induced platelet aggregation. Of the eight components, (+)-nootkatone had the most potent inhibitory effect .
• Anticonvulsant: Study showed pretreatment of mice with ethanolic extract of C. rotundus provided significant protection against strychnine and leptazol-induced convulsions in mice. Effect was attributed possibly to flavonoids.
• Analgesic / Antimicrobial / Cytotoxic: Study of crude extract showed analgesic effect by the tail-flick method, antimicrobial activity, and non-toxicity at different concentrations in the brine shrimp bioassay.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
Extracts, oil and tinctures in the cybermarket. |
