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Botany
Large climbing
shrub. Leaves are oblong and opposite, rounded at the base. Flowers
tubular and fragrant, white to purpish orange, in clusters on
the same stalk. Narrow 5-angled dried frui, resembling coconuts
in taste.
Graphic/photo
Fruits measuring
35-40 mm (upper and lower rows); seeds (middle row) shaped like
the fruit-shell, measuring 12-15 mm.
Distribution
Grows widely in
thickets. The seeds are easily propagated.
Parts
utilized
Seeds (dried nuts)
and leaves.
Constituents
Fatty oil, 15%; gum; resin.
Studies yield quisqualic acid, quisqualin A.
Considered anthelmintic, antiinflammatory.
Uses
Nutrion
• Flowers are edible.
Folkloric
• Anthelmintic: Dried seeds preferable for deworming.
• Adults: Dried nuts-chew 8 to 10 small- to medium-sized dried
nuts two hours after a meal, as a single dose, followed by a half glass
of water. If fresh nuts are used, chew only 4-5 nuts. Hiccups occur
more frequently with the use of fresh nuts.
• Children 3-5 years old: 4-5 dried nuts; 6 - 8 years old: 5-6
dried nuts; 9-12 years old: 6-7 dried nuts.
• Caution: Adverse reactions - diarrhea, abdominal pain,
distention and hiccups more likely if nuts are eaten in consecutive
days or when fresh nuts are eaten.
• Roasted seeds
for diarrhea and fever.
• Pounded leaves externally for skin diseases.
• Decoction of boiled leaves used for dysuria.
• Ifugao migrants use it for headache.
• In Thailand, seeds used as anthelmintic;
flowers for diarrhea.
• In Bangladesh, used for diarrhea,
fever, boils, ulcers and helminthiasis.
Studies
• Polyphenols / Antioxidant: Flower extract yielded high polyphenol contents
and showed strong antioxidant acitivity.
• Anti-Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitor: Acetylcholine is one of the most important neurotransmitters in the central or peripheral nervous system. The methanolic extract of Q indica flower dose-dependently inhibited
acetylcholinesterase activity.
• Fixed Oil Storage Effect: Study showed one year storage does not significantly affect the physical constants of the fixed oil.
• Larvicidal Activity: In a study screening 11 plant species of local flora against the IV instar larvae of Aedes aegypti, Quisqualis indica was one of the plants that showed some larvicidal activity against Ae aegypti, albeit, at comparatively higher doses.
Availability
Wild-crafted. |
