 Botany
Tagak-tagak is a slender, erect, branched, somewhat hairy shrub, up to 1 to 2 meters high. Leaves are oblong, 4 to 10 cm long, narrowed and pointed at both ends. Inflorescence is a spreading, leafy, hairy panicle with flowers usually in clusters. Calyx is green, hairy, and about 5 mm long. Corolla-tube is greenish, slender, cylindric, about 2 cm long. Corolla has two spreading lobes; the upper lip is white, erect, oblong and lanceolate, 2-toothed at the apex, about 3 mm in length and width; lower lip is broadly ovate, 11 to 13 mm long and wide, 3-lobed, white, with a few, minute, brownish dots near the base. Fruit is a club-shaped capsule containing 4 seeds.
Distribution
In thickets, hedges, and waste places, in and about towns.
Introduced, now common.
Constituents
Roots contain rhinacathin, a quinine-like principle.
Study yielded rhinacanthin A and B and known lupeol, B-sitosterol, stigmasterol as well as glucosides of B-sitosterol and stimasterol from the roots.
Properties
Roots considered antiseptic and antiparasitic.
Parts used
Roots and leaves.
Uses
Culinary
Culinary
Folkloric
Sap or decoction of roots and leaves used in obtinate forms of dermatosis, especially dhobie's itch (buni sa siñgit).
In Thailand, roots and leaves, in an alcohol tincture or vinegar preparation, used for the treatment of certain forms of ringworm
Malays mix the juice of roots and leaves with benzoin and sulfur to use for ringworms.
Dutch Indies apply the leaves on prickly heat, scurf, etc.
In the Moluccas, young shoots, crushed in vinegar, applied the skin complaint called "cascado."
In India, fresh roots and leaves, bruised and mixed with lime juice, used as a remedy for ringworm and other skin affections. In some places, roots also used as antidote for snake bites.
Seeds also used for ringworm. Root-bark also used for dhobie's itch.
In Pakistan, used as aphrodisiac – the roots boiled in milk by Hindu practitioners.
Studies
• Hepatoprotective: Study of herbal ethanol extracts of I coccinea, R nasuta and s ciliata on aflatoxin BI (AFBI)-intoxicated livers of albino male Wistar rats showed significant hepatoprotective activity against toxin-induced liver damage as evidenced by significant lowering of the activity of serum enzymes and enhanced hepatic reduced GSH status.
• Antitumor Activity: Study previously isolated three main naphthoquinone esters - rhinacanthins C, N, and Q - from the roots of R nasutus that induced apoptosis of human cervical carcinoma HeLaS3 cells. Study demonstrated that rhinacanthin-N suppressed tumor growth in vivo, and suggested that liposomes are useful for preparing injectable formulation of hydrophobic drugs.
• Mosquitocidal Activity: Tablet formulations made from the methanol extract of dried root powder of R nasutus showed it has potential use to control mosquito vectors and be part of a mosquito control program.
• Antiproliferative / Rhinacanthin C: The ethanol extract of root and aqueous extract of leaves of RN and the active moiety rhinacanthin C was assessed in vitro and in vivo on several cancer cell lines. Results showed rhinacanthin C exhibited in vitro antiproliferative activity, comparable to or slightly weaker than 5FU. Both extracts showed in vivo antiproliferative activity .
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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