Month: December 2010

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Herbs & Plants

Mustard seeds

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 Botanical Name:Brassica alba
Family: Brassicaceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Brassicales
Synonym:  Sinapis alba
Common Name :Mustard, Sarson

Habitat :Mild white mustard (Sinapis hirta) grows wild in North Africa, the Middle East and Mediterranean Europe and has spread farther by long cultivation; brown or Indian mustard (Brassica juncea), originally from the foothills of the Himalaya, is grown commercially in the UK, Canada, Denmark and the US; black mustard (Brassica nigra) in Argentina, Chile, the US and some European countries. Canada grows 90% of all the mustard seed for the international market. The Canadian province of Saskatchewan produces almost half of the world’s supply of mustard seed.


Description:
Both white and brown mustard are grown as spring-sown annual crops whose dry seeds are harvested in early autumn. From very small seedlings, the plants grow rapidly and enter a phase of dense flowering; the blooms have an intense yellow colour. The plants reach their full height of 1.5 to 2 m (5 to 61/2 feet) as their flowers fade and after numerous green seedpods appear on their branches. The pods of brown mustard contain up to 20 seeds each, those of white mustard contain up to 8 seeds. Mustard plants are easy and inexpensive to grow; they flourish on many different types of soil, suffer from unusually few insect pests or plant diseases, and tolerate extremes of weather without serious harm.

Click to see the pictures….(01)......(1)..…..(2).…....(3)..…..(4).….(.5)...

Edible Uses:Mustards are several plant species in the genera Brassica and Sinapis whose small mustard seeds are used as a spice and, by grinding and mixing them with water, vinegar or other liquids, are turned into the condiment known as mustard. The seeds are also pressed to make mustard oil, and the edible leaves can be eaten as mustard greens.

Mustard,  any of several herbs belonging to the mustard family of plants, Brassicaceae (Cruciferae), or the condiment made from these plants’ pungent seeds. The leaves and swollen leaf stems of mustard plants are also used, as greens, or potherbs. The principal types are white, or yellow, mustard (Sinapis alba), a plant of Mediterranean origin; and brown, or Indian, mustard (Brassica juncea), which is of Himalayan origin. The latter species has almost entirely replaced the formerly used black mustard (Brassica nigra), which was unsuitable for mechanized cropping and which now occurs mainly as an introduced weed.

The use of mustard seeds as a spice has been known from the earliest recorded times and is described in Indian and Sumerian texts dating back to 3000 bc. Mustard plants are mentioned frequently in Greek and Roman writings and in the Bible. In the New Testament, the tiny mustard seed is a symbol of faith. Mustard seed was used medicinally by Hippocrates, among other ancient physicians. During the 20th century, the use of mustard as a spice or condiment has grown to the extent that it is by far the largest spice by volume in world trade. Mustard is unusual among spices in that it is mainly grown in the temperate regions of the world, principally on the Canadian and American Great Plains, in Hungary and in Britain, and in lesser amounts in other countries. In the main producing countries, the crop production of mustard is fully mechanized.

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Mustard seeds, both white and brown, are nearly globular in shape, finely pitted, odourless when whole, and pungent-tasting. White mustard seeds are light yellow in colour and about 2.5 mm (1/10 inch) in diameter; brown mustard seeds are about the same size but are a darker yellow in colour. The seeds of both types contain similar constituents: about 30 to 40 percent vegetable oil, a slightly smaller proportion of protein, and a strong enzyme called myrosin. When dry or when ground into a flour, the seeds are odourless, but when the seed is chewed or when the flour is mixed with water, a chemical reaction between two of the constituents within mustard, an enzyme and a glucoside, produces an oil that is not present as such in the plant. In brown mustard this action yields the volatile oil of mustard, which has a pungent, irritating odour and an acrid taste. In white mustard the result is sinalbin mustard oil, a nonvolatile oil that has very little odour but produces a sensation of heat on the tongue.

As a condiment, mustard is sold in three forms: as seeds, as dry powder that is freshly mixed with water for each serving to obtain the most aroma and flavour, and prepared as a paste with other spices or herbs, vinegar or wine, and starch or flour to tone down the sharpness. The differing flavours of white and brown mustard are used in different condiments; the pungent brown is used in French-type paste mustards, and the white is used in milder American- or German-type pastes, while both types are used in English mustard products. Mustard is widely used as a condiment with various foods, particularly cold meats, sausages, and salad dressings. It is also used as an ingredient in mayonnaises, sauces, and pickles. Mustard plasters were formerly used in medicine for their counterirritant properties in treating chest colds and other ailments.

Click to see : Mustard (condiment),       Mustasa

Medicinal Uses:
Mustard Seed has long been relied upon to improve the digestive system and to promote a healthy appetite. As an irritant, Mustard stimulates the gastric mucous membrane and increases the flow of gastric juices (also having some effect on pancreatic secretions), all of which help to advance good digestion. Herbalists have also used Mustard Seed to relieve obstinate hiccups.

The mucilage content in Mustard Seed may help to calm an upset stomach due to acid indigestion and also produces a laxative action.

Mustard Seed is a stimulant that warms and invigorates the circulatory system.  It helps to dilate blood vessels, encourages blood flow and is also said to aid in the metabolism of fat in the body.

Mustard See is also considered a diaphoretic, an agent that helps to increase perspiration, which can lower fever and cleanse toxins from the body through the skin. This factor is also useful for colds and flu.

One of the oldest uses of Mustard Seed has been as an emetic, a medicine that provokes vomiting. This is especially valuable when used in narcotic poisoning when it is desirable to empty the stomach without the accompanying depletion and depression of the system.

Used externally, Mustard Seeds are famous for their rubefacient properties by dilating the blood vessels and increasing the blood flow toward the surface of the skin, warming and reddening the affected area and encouraging the removal of toxins.  Poultices and Mustard plasters are a tried-and-true remedy to relieve the pain of arthritic joints, rheumatism, sciatica, neuralgia, neck pain, backache, “charley horse” and muscle pain.

Mustard Seed’s topical use also extends to the relief of respiratory infections when used in baths, poultices and mustard plasters.  Mustard Seed helps treat bronchitis, chest congestion, pneumonia, croup and pleurisy.

Other Uses:
Although some varieties of mustard plants were well-established crops in Hellenistic and Roman times, Zohary and Hopf note that: “There are almost no archeological records available for any of these crops.” Wild forms of mustard and its relatives the radish and turnip can be found over west Asia and Europe, suggesting that their domestication took place somewhere in that area. However, Zohary and Hopf conclude: “Suggestions as to the origins of these plants are necessarily based on linguistic considerations.”

There has been recent research into varieties of mustards that have a high oil content for use in the production of biodiesel, a renewable liquid fuel similar to diesel fuel. The biodiesel made from mustard oil has good cold flow properties and cetane ratings. The leftover meal after pressing out the oil has also been found to be an effective pesticide.

An interesting genetic relationship between many species of mustard has been observed, and is described as the Triangle of U.

Brown mustard, which is related to rapeseed, is grown as a source of vegetable oil and is an important crop for this purpose in northern India, Pakistan, China, southern Russia, and Kazakhstan. The oil is used for food or for industrial purposes, with the residual cake used for animal feed.

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustard_plant
http://www.herbalextractsplus.com/mustard-seed.cfm
http://vaniindia.org.whbus12.onlyfordemo.com/herbal/plantdir.asp
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black-mustard-seeds.jpg

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Borreria hispida

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Botanical Name :Borreria hispida
Family : Rubiaceae
Synonyms: Spermacoce hispida Linn.
Spermacoce muriculata Blanco
Spermacoce mutilata Blanco
Spermacoce scaberrima F.-Vill.
Local names: Landrina (Tag.); ligad-ligad (Sul.); shaggy button weed (Engl.).
Common Name : Thaarthaaval

Habitat : The plant  is found from the Batan Islands to Batangas and Laguna in Luzon, and in Mindoro, Panay, and Basilan, in open, dry places at low and medium altitudes. It occurs also in India to China and Malaya.

Description:
Borreria hispida (BHE), a weed  is a procumbent, branched, hairy or rough herb 10 to 14 centimeters in length. The branches are greenish or purplish, ascending, stout, 4-angled. The leaves are ovate, spatulate, or elliptic, 1 to 3.5 centimeters long, 0.8 to 1.7 centimeters wide, and pointed or rounded at the tip. The flowers are 4 to 6, and occur in a whorl in the axils of the leaves. The calyx-teeth are linear-lanceolate. The corolla is pale blue or white, and is 5 to 10 millimeters in length. The fruit is a hairy capsule about 5 millimeters in length. The seeds are oblong, granulate, opaque, usually variable, and 3 millimeters or less in length.

Click to see the picture…...(01).……(1)…..(2)

Medicinal Uses:
In the Philippines Guerrero reports that the leaves brewed in decoction are used as an astringent in haemorrhoids.
Dymock, Warden, and Hooper state that in the Konkan the plant is eaten with other herbs as a vegetable. It is used as a tonic and stimulant in Martinique. The plant is also prescribed to cure haemorrhoids.
According to Drury and Dymock the roots possess properties similar to those of sarsaparilla. They are prescribed in decoction as an alternative.
Ridley reports that the leaves are applied to the head in cases of headache. They appear to merely cool off the head and so allay the pain somewhat.
Nadkarni says that the seeds, as a confection, are cooling and demulcent, and are given in diarrhea and dysentery. The seeds have been recommended as a substitute for coffee. Dymock, Warden, and Hooper state that the seeds are thought to be aphrodisiac.

Borreria hispida (BHE), a weed of Rubiaceae family, is being used from time immemorial as an alternative therapy for diabetes. To evaluate the scientific background of using BHE as therapy to reduce cardiovascular risk, a group of rats were given BHE for a period of 30 days, whereas control animals were given the vehicle only. The animals were sacrificed, the hearts were isolated, and perfused with buffer. All the hearts were subjected to 30-minute ischemia followed by 2-hour reperfusion. Compared with vehicle-treated rats, BHE-treated rat hearts showed improved post-ischemic ventricular function and exhibited reduced myocardial infarct size and cardiomyocyte apoptosis. The level of cytochrome c expression and caspase 3 activation was also reduced. BHE elevated antiapoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and heme oxygenase-1 and stimulated the phosphorylation of survival protein Akt simultaneously decreasing the apoptotic proteins Bax and Src. In addition, BHE enhanced the protein expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-delta, and Glut-4, probably revealing the antiobese and antidiabetic potential of BHE. These results indicate that treatment with BHE improves cardiac function and ameliorates various risk factors associated with cardiac disease, suggesting that BHE can be considered as a potential plant-based nutraceutical and pharmaceutical agent for the management of cardiovascular diseases.

Click to see :

*Activity of various extracts of Borreria hispida

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:

Click to access landrina.pdf

http://vaniindia.org.whbus12.onlyfordemo.com/herbal/plantdir.asp
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/194550http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20p?see=I_PAO8841

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Borassus flabellifer

Botanical Name :Borassus flabellifer
Family: Arecaceae
Genus: Borassus.
Species: B. flabellifer
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Arecales

Common names:Nungu, Doub palm, Palmyra palm, Tala palm, Toddy palm, Wine palm, or ice apple,  Siwalan, Rontal, Lontar, Talauriksha palm,Asian Palmyra palm, Toddy palm, sugar palm, or Cambodian palm.
Bengali Name :Tal gach

English name: Palmyra-palm, Brab Tree.

Habitat :Borassus flabellifer is native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, including Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. It is reportedly naturalized in Pakistan, Socotra, and parts of China.

Description & different uses of the tree parts :
Borassus flabellifer, also known as the  is robust and can live 100 years or more and reach a height of 30 m, with a canopy of leaves several dozen fronds spreading 3 meters across. The large trunk resembles that of the coconut tree and is ringed with leaf scars. Young palmyra palms grow slowly in the beginning but then grow faster. Its growth pattern, large size, and clean habits make it an attractive landscape species.
click to see the pictures..>.....(01).….(1).….(2)...(3)…(4).………………………….
Fruit:
It is known as Tala in Odia, Tnaot in Khmer, Thot Not in Vietnamese, Tari in Hindi, Tal in Bengali, Tale Hannu in Kannada, Nungu in Tamil, Thaati Munjalu in Telugu, Munjal in Urdu, Lontar in Indonesian, Siwalan in Javanese, Ton Taan in Thai, Akadiru by the East Timorese, Tao in Divehi, Tadfali (pronunciation variations are Tad-fali or Taadfali) in Gujarati, Targula in Konkani, TadGola  in Marathi and sometimes Ice-apple in British English. The fruit measures 4 to 7 inches in diameter, has a black husk, and is borne in clusters. The top portion of the fruit must be cut off to reveal the three sweet jelly seed sockets, translucent pale-white, similar to that of the lychee but with a milder flavor and no pit. The jelly part of the fruit is covered with a thin, yellowish-brown skin.
click to see the picture
The ripened fibrous outer layer of the palm fruits can also be eaten raw, boiled, or roasted.

Tadi collection using traditional method in coastal Maharashtra] Palm shoot is cut and the juice is traditionally collected in hanging earthen pot. The juice so collected before morning is refreshing and light drink called Neera  in Marathi- has extremely cool in sensation, and sugary sweet taste. The juice collected in evening or after fermentation becomes sour – is called Tadi  in Marathi. Tadi is consumed by coastal Maharashtra mostly by villagers as raw alcoholic beverage.

A sugary sap, called toddy, can be obtained from the young inflorescence, either male or female ones. Toddy is fermented to make a beverage called arrack, or it is concentrated to a crude sugar called jaggery. It is called Gula Jawa (Javanese sugar) in Indonesia and is widely used in Javanese cuisine. In addition, the tree sap is taken as a laxative, and medicinal values have been ascribed to other parts of the plant.

Sprouts:
In the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, India, and in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, the seeds are planted and made to germinate and the fleshy stems (below the surface) are boiled and eaten. It is very fibrous and nutritious, known as “Panai Kizhangu” or “Panamkizhangu” in Tamil and “Thegalu” in Telugu.
The germinated seed’s hard shell is also cut open to take out the crunchy kernel, which tastes like a sweeter water chestnut. It is called “dhavanai” in Tamil.

Leaves
The leaves are used for thatching, mats, baskets, fans, hats, umbrellas, and as writing material.

In Indonesia the leaves were used in the ancient culture as paper, known as “lontar”. Leaves of suitable size, shape, texture, and maturity are chosen and then seasoned by boiling in salt water with turmeric powder, as a preservative. The leaves are then dried. When they are dry enough, the face of the leaf is polished with pumice, cut into the proper size, and a hole is made in one corner. Each leaf will make four pages. The writing is done with a stylus and has a very cursive and interconnected style. The leaves are then tied up as sheaves.

Trunk
The stalks are used to make fences and also produce a strong, wiry fiber suitable for cordage and brushes. The black timber is hard, heavy, and durable and is highly valued for construction.
click to see the picture
The young plants are cooked as a vegetable or roasted and pounded to make meal.

Crown
When the crown of the tree is removed, the segment from which the leaves grow out is an edible cake. This is called pananchoru in Tamil.

Inflorescences
Palms generally start to form inflorescences at the beginning of the dry season (November to January). The male and female inflorescences are carried on separate trees: the male tree begins to develop the inflorescence in November or December while the female tree commences one to two months later. Each palm may bear from eight to fifteen inflorescences per year. The male inflorescence lasts approximately 45 to 60 days and the female 60 to 70 days. Both male and female inflorescences are “tapped” for juice collection. Some palms, especially the female, also have inflorescences during the rainy season. Cambodian tappers have developed a technique to conserve inflorescences to be tapped after the normal harvest period.

Juice…....CLICK & SEE
The most important product of the sugar palm is the sap or juice, the production of which lasts for five to six months. Cambodian tappers use long bamboo poles with the stumpy remnants of leaf bases at the nodes that serve as rudimentary steps for climbing. These are rivetted permanently to the base of the trunk during the juice-collecting period. For safety reasons the tapper replaces the bamboo poles every production period (six to twelve months). When the trees are located close to each other, one or two long bamboo poles are used as an aerial “stairway” to facilitate movement between the trees, thus avoiding the need to descend and ascend each tree and permitting the tapper to use his time (there are no female tappers) more productively. Tappers are capable of tapping 20 to 30 palm trees twice a day provided an assistant is available at the base of the trunk to receive the collected juice.
CLICK & SEE

Palm syrup and palm sugar
A considerable amount of energy is required to condense palm juice into syrup or sugar; about 4 kg of fuelwood is needed to produce 1 kg of palm syrup (Khieu Borin, Preston and Lindberg, 1996). Cambodian farmers continue producing palm syrup and sugar because they can still find free fuelwood and it is their main income during the dry season. However, if an opportunity cost were put on the fuelwood it would often exceed the value of the syrup produced.

Sugar palm juice is traditionally processed into three types of sugar: liquid sugar (sugar palm syrup), crystalline palm sugar and block sugar. The most common type consumed in rural areas is sugar palm syrup which is about 80 percent dry matter.

Live stock feeding
The price of cereal grains and by-products used in pig and poultry feeding is increasing rapidly. The industrial livestock sector with guaranteed market outlets for its products is still able to absorb these cost increases. But the consequences for the landless and the poorest farmers are serious as competition develops between humans and animals for the same food supply. It becomes increasingly urgent, therefore, to develop alternative feeding systems for livestock which do not use cereal grains, but which make efficient use of the products derived from the plant resources that grow most abundantly in a tropical country such as Cambodia.

Palm powder

A cheap and widely available agro-waste may help mop up radioactive uranium from the environment, according to a study by researchers at the MS University of Baroda.

The technique of feeding liquid sugar-based diets to pigs was first developed and commercialized in Cuba using molasses derived from the processing of sugar cane (Preston et al., 1998). Later, in Mexico, the technology was modified to use the juice from freshly crushed sugar cane stalks (Mena, Elliot and Preston, 1981). In 1987 this system began to be applied widely in Colombia (Sarria, Solano and Preston, 1990) stimulated by the low market prices at that time for cane sugar. Artisan crushing of sugar cane for processing into brown sugar is a common practice in many Asian countries, and the alternative use of the fresh juice for pig feeding was well received in remote areas of the Philippines and Viet Nam where pig production offered a more profitable outlet for the sugar cane than raw sugar.
In Cambodia, the adaptation of the pig feeding system from sugar cane to sugar palm was relatively straight- forward, as in each case the soluble carbohydrates in the juice were a mixture of sucrose and the reducing sugars, glucose and fructose.

Medicinal Uses:
The juice obtained by excision of the spadix is cooling, stimulant, antiphlegmatic and useful in inflammatory dropsy. The ashes of the flowering stalks are antiperiodic; useful in enlarged spleen. It is a good antacid in heartburn. The sugar-candy produced from the juice is used in coughs and pulmonary affection. The fruit is stomachic, aphrodisiac, antibilious, tonic, laxative, alexiteric; improves taste and allays thirst. Milky juice from immature fruit checks hiccup sickness. Pulp from the immature fruit is diuretic, demulcent and nutritive. The juice of the young leaves mixed with water is given in cases of dysentery. Root is cooling and restorative; useful in leprosy.

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borassus_flabellifer
http://www.plantapalm.com/vpe/photos/Species/borassus_flabellifer.htm
http://www.fao.org/ag/aga/agap/FRG/FEEDback/War/W9980T/w9980e04.htm

http://www.mpbd.info/plants/borassus-flabellifer.php

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Blumea balsamifera

Botanical Name : Blumea balsamifera DC
Family: Asteraceae
Subfamily: Asteroideae
Tribe: Inuleae
Genus: Blumea
Species: B. balsamifera
Kingdom: Plantae
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Asterales
Common Names : Kakaronda ,Alibum (P. Bis.)  Lakad-bulan (Bis., Sul.)
Alimon (P. Bis.) Lalakdan (Bis.)
Ayoban (Bis.) Lakdanbulan (Bis.)
Bukadkad (S. L. Bis.) Sambun (Sul.)
Bukodkud (Bis.) Sambong (Tag.)
Dalapot (C. Bis.) Sob-sob (Ilk.)`
Gabuen (Bis.) Subusub (Ilk.)
Gintin-gintin (Bis.) Subsob (Ilk.)
Hamlibon (Bis.) Sobosob (Ig.)
Kaliban (Tagb.) Takamain (Bag.)
Kalibura (Tagb.) Blumea camphor (Engl.)
Kambibon (Bis.) Ngai camphor (Engl.)

Habitat :Abundant in open fields, grasslands and waste areas, flowering from February to April. Propagation by cuttings and layering.The genus Blumea is found in the tropical and sub-tropical zones of Asia, especially the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Blumea balsamifera is one of its species that is used in Southeast Asia.


Description:
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.
.

click & see the pictures
Loose yellow flower head scattered along much-branched leafy panicles.  Fruit (achene) dry, 1-seeded, 10-ribbed, hairy at top.


Constituents:
• Volatile oil, 0.1 – 0.4% – l-borneol, 25%, l-camphor, 75%, limonene, saponins, sesquiterpene and limonene, tannins, sesquiterpine alcohol; palmitin; myristic acid.

Medicinal Uses:

Parts used:
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.

Properties:
Vulnerary, antidiarrhetic, antigastralgic, expectorant, stomachic, antispasmodic, emmenagogue, astringent, anthelmintic.

In Thai folklore, it is called Naat  and is reputed to ward off spirits.
It is also used in traditional Chinese medicine, in Malay folk medicine and in Indian Ayurvedic medicine .

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.

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.


Other Uses:

*Besides its medicinal uses, it may also be used as a decorative dry plant.
*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.

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.

• 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.

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.


Resources:
http://vaniindia.org.whbus12.onlyfordemo.com/herbal/plantdir.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blumea_balsamifera
http://www.stuartxchange.com/Sambong.html

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Sperm Stems Sugar

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Scientists have developed a novel cure for diabetes by which male patients can grow insulin-producing cells from their own testes.

Stem cells hatched from human testes may offer a cure for diabetes in the near future. A team of US researchers, including a young Indian American student, has shown that men suffering from Type-1 diabetes may be able to grow their insulin-producing cells from their testicular tissue.

The scientists, led by G. Ian Gallicano of the Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) in the US, have found that when these bio-engineered cells are grafted into diabetic mice, they function quite like beta-islet cells, the insulin-secreting cells normally found in the pancreas.

By decreasing the animals’ blood glucose levels, the human derived islet cells demonstrated their potential to counter diabetic hyperglycemia in humans, Gallicano told scientists at an annual meeting of the American Society of Cell Biology (ASCB) in Philadelphia yesterday.

Anirudh Saraswathula, an undergraduate student at Duke University, is a co-author of the work. Under a mentoring programme, Saraswathula — who was a student at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria — worked in Gallicano’s lab last year. His contribution to the work won Saraswathula — whose parents hail from Hyderabad — several prizes at national level innovation competitions in the US earlier this year.

The current work draws from an earlier breakthrough by GUMC researchers, including Gallicano. The scientists had shown that spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) — that produce sperm — can be converted back into pluripotent embryonic-like stem cells that are capable of morphing into any cell type that a body needs, from brain neurons to pancreatic tissue. Embryonic stem cells — as the name suggests — are derived from human embryos. Their use in clinical application is mired in ethical issues.

“No stem cells, adult or embryonic, have been yet induced to secrete enough insulin to cure diabetes in humans, but we know SSCs have the potential to do what we want them to, and we know how to improve their yield,” Gallicano said in a release issued by the ASCB.

This could work in certain types of Type-2 diabetes as well, particularly in those patients whose beta cells are shut down. “Actually our hope is for it to serve as a cure, not just a treatment. Previous attempts at curing or treating diabetes have not quite panned out,” Gallicano told KnowHow.

Despite the rising tide of diabetes patients and dire predictions of worse to come, diabetes treatment has advanced little for decades beyond blood testing and insulin replacement. The only radically new approach to Type-I diabetes in recent years has been the Edmonton Protocol, named after the Canadian city where the technique was standardised, for transplanting insulin-producing beta-islet cells from deceased donors into the pancreas of diabetic patients who can no longer survive on insulin injections. Islet cell transplantation is plagued by problems of donor shortage and death of these cells in the body because of immune-mediated rejection.

Researchers have also cured diabetes in mice using induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells — adult stem cells that have been reprogrammed with other genes to behave like their embryonic counterparts. The technique, however, has its downside because it can give rise to tumours since the procedure requires the use of cancer genes.

However, to date, numerous barriers surround and prevent stem cell therapies from treating diabetes. With respect to embryonic stem cells, immune rejection, risk of teratoma (tumour) formation, and ethical dilemmas remain at the forefront of their delay in clinical application. Conventional adult stem cells have not lived up to their billing either as they are difficult to generate in the quantities necessary, and they, too, can face immune rejection, explains Gallicano.

As a result, the search has gone on to find a stem / progenitor cell that is deemed “suitable” by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the clinic. “In light of this, we believe our preliminary data using SSCs show significant promise in addressing these critical barriers. Our cells do not need external genes to become pluripotent. There are no ethical dilemmas we are aware of. Our cells do form teratomas — but it takes 10 times more cells to do so when compared to IPS or ES cells, and they secrete very high levels of insulin once we differentiate them,” says Gallicano. For the present experiment, the scientists used SSCs harvested from deceased human organ donors.

Another advantage of the procedure, according to Gallicano, is that there is no chance of immune rejection, a major bottleneck of most organ transplants. That’s because these beta-islet cells are obtained from the patient’s own testes.

“If pluripotent stem cells could be derived from a patient’s own testes, problems of organ shortage and immune rejection could be bypassed. This research holds great promise for Type-1 diabetes patients,” says Anoop Misra, head of the department of diabetes, obesity and metabolic diseases at Fortis Hospital, New Delhi.

The scientists are hopeful that a similar methodology may yield a potential cure for female diabetics as well. “The fundamental approach of transforming male gametes (male sperm cells) into pluripotent stem cells might be applicable to the female counterpart — that is, oocytes,” Gallicano observes.

Source: The Telegraph ( Kolkata, India)

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