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Botany
Softly hairy, half woody, strongly aromatic shrub, 1-4 meters (m) high.
Simple, alternate, broadly elongated leaves, 7-20 cm long, with toothed
margin and appendaged or divided base. Loose yellow flower head scattered
along much-branched leafy panicles. Two types of discoid flowers: peripheral
ones tiny, more numerous, with tubular corolla; central flowers few,
large with campanulate corolla. Anther cells tailed at base. Fruit (achene)
dry, 1-seeded, 10-ribbed, hairy at top.
Properties
Vulnerary, antidiarrhetic,
antigastralgic, expectorant, stomachic, antispasmodic, emmenagogue,
astringent, anthelmintic.
Distribution
Abundant in open
fields, grasslands and waste areas, flowering from February to
April. Propagation by cuttings and layering.
Parts
utilized
Leaves (fresh or
dried).
Mature, healthy, fully expanded leaves are harvested while senescent
leaves are discarded. Air-dry until they crumble when crushed
with the fingers. Store in amber colored bottles in a cool, dry
place.
Constituents
• Volatile oil,
0.1 - 0.4% - l-borneol, 25%, l-camphor, 75%, limonene, saponins, sesquiterpene
and limonene, tannins, sesquiterpine alcohol; palmitin; myristic acid.
Uses
Folkloric
Leaves as poultice for abscesses.
Decoction of roots and leaves for fevers and cystitis.
Sitz-bath of boiled leaves, 500 gms to a ballon of water, for rheumatic
pains of waist and back.
Applied while hot over the sinuses. Used for wounds and cuts.
Fresh juice of leaves to wounds and cuts.
Poultice of leaves to forehead for headaches.
Tea is used for colds and as an expectorant; likewise, has antispasmodic
and antidiarrheal benefits.
Postpartum baths.
Decoction of leaves, 50 gms to a pint of boiling water, 4 glasses daily,
for stomach pains.
Preparations
• Fever:
decoction of roots; boil 2 - 4 handfuls of the leaves. Use the lukewarm
decoction as a sponge bath.
• Headaches:
apply pounded leaves on the forehead and temples. Hold in place with
a clean piece of cloth.
• Gas
distention: boil 2 tsp of the chopped leaves in 1 cup of water for 5
minutes. Drink the decoction while warm. Also used for upset stomach.
• • Postpartum, for mothers'
bath after childbirth.
• Boils: Apply pounded leaves as poultice daily.
• Diuretic:
Boil 2 tbsp chopped leaves in 2 glasses of water for 15 minutes. Take
1/2 of the decoction after every meal, 3 times a day.
Camphor cultivation
• Can be cultivated
as a source of camphor. Experiments in China produced 50,000 kilos of
leaves per hectare, with a possible borneol yield of 50-200 kilos per
hectare. L-borneol is easily oxidized to camphor. source
New applications
As a diuretic
and for dissolution of renal stones.
As a diuretic in hypertension
and fluid retention. Also used for dissolution of kidney stones. Some
clinical studies, including double blind/placebo radomized studies,
have shown encouraging results for Sambong to be both safe and effective
in the treatment of kidney stones and hypertension. The National Kidney
and Transplant Institute has promoted the use of this herbal medicine
for many renal patients to avert or delay the need for dialysis or organ
transplantation.
Being promoted by the Department of Health
(DOH) as a diuretic and for dissolution of renal stones. One of a few
herbs recently registered with the Bureau of Foods and Drugs as medicines.
Other benefits
Possible benefits in use patients with elevated cholesterol and as an
analgesic for postoperative dental pain.
Studies
• Sesquiterpenoids
and plasmin-inhibitory flavonoids: Study
yielded two new sesquiterpenoid esters 1 and 2. Compound 2 showed to
be slightly cytotoxic. Nine known flavonoids were also isolated, two
of which showed plasmin-inhibitory activity. source
• Anticancer:
(1) Study of methanolic extract of BB suggest a possible therapeutic
potential in hepatoma cancer patients. (2) Study of B balsamifera extract induced growth-inhibitory activity in rat and human hepatocellular carcinoma cells without cytotoxicity. Findings suggest a possible therapeutic role for the B balsamifera methanol extract in treatement of hepatoma cancer patients.
• Urolithiasis:
Study shows sambong to be a promising chemolytic agent for
calcium stones.
• Antifungal / Antibacterial: Phytochemical study of leaves yielded icthyothereol acetate, cyptomeridiol, lutein and ß-carotene. Antimicrobial tests showed activity against A niger, T mentagrophytes and C albicans. Results also showed activity against P aeruginosa, S aureus, B subtilis and E coli.
• Abrogation of TRAIL Resistance in Leukemia Cells: Study shows combined treatment with a dihydroflavonol extracted from Blumea balsamifera exhibited the most striking synergism with TRAIL (tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-related apoptosis-inducing ligand) and suggests a new strategy for cancer therapy.
• Antibacterial: Study of 12 crude alcoholic and aqueous extracts from 5 medicinal plants, including B balsamifera, showed potential antibacterial effect against S aureus.
• Radical Scavenging: Study of Blumea balsamifera extracts and flavonoids showed the methanol extract exhibiting higher radical scavenging activity than the chloroform extract.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
Tablets (Re-Leaf by Altermed / Pascual Laboratories)
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