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Botany
An annual herb, shallow
rooted, may reach 40 cm high, with succulent stems. Leaves are alternate,
heart-shaped and turgid, as transparent and smooth as candle wax. Tiny
dotlike flowers scattered along solitary and leaf-opposed stalk (spike);
naked; maturing gradually from the base to the tip; turning brown when
ripe. Propagation by seeds. Numerous tiny seeds drop off when mature
and grow easily in clumps and groups in damp areas.
Distribution
An annual herb, favoring
shady, damp and loose soil.
Often grows in groups in nooks in the garden and yard.
Conspicious in rocky parts of canals.
Parts utilized
Leaves and stems.
Constituents
and properties
• Considered anti-inflammatory,
refrigerant, analgesic, antifungal, anticancer.
• Study yielded 5 new bioactive compounds: two secolignans, two
tetrahydrofuran lignans, and one highly methoxylated dihydronaphthalenone.
source
Uses
Nutritional
Leaves and stems may be
eaten as vegetable.
In salads, the fresh plant has the crispness of carrot sticks and celery.
Folkloric
Infusion and decoction
of leaves and stems are used for gout and arthritis.
Externally, as a facial rinse for complexion problems.
Pounded whole plant used as warm poultice for boils, pustules and pimples.
In Bolivia, decoction
of roots used for fever; aerial parts for wounds.
Used for headaches, rhumatic pains, impotence.
In Brazil, used to lower
cholesterol; for treatment of abscesses, furuncles and conjunctivitis
New uses
Belongs to the "preferred
list" of Philippine medicinal plants, being studied for its use
in the treatment of arthritis and gout.
For arthritis: Leaves and stems of the fresh plant may be eaten as salad.
Or, as an infusion, put a 20-cm plant in 2 glasses of boiling water;
and 1/2 cup of this infusion is taken morning and evening.
Studies
• Analgesic
/ Antiinflammatory: Extract study of aerial parts of
PP tested in rats and mice exhibited anti-inflammatory and analgesic
activities. The antiinflammatory activity was attributed to interference with prostaglandin synthesis. Results also showed low toxicity.
• CNS Depressant Activity:
Study of peperomia leaf extract showed dose-dependent depressant effects
probably due to psychoactive substances that are CNS depressant.
• Antipyretic: Study
of PP leaf extract on rabbits showed antipyretic effects comparable
to a standard aspirin.
• Antibacterial:
Study of methanolic extract of PP exhibited a very good level of broad
spectrum antibacterial activity.
• Phenological Antiedematogenic:
P pellucida has a phenological cycle of about 100 days. The aqueous extract is used as antiedematogenic during pheophases 1 and 2 of winter and spring.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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