Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
African Names —
Yoruba: abamodo; Igbo: nkwonkwu; Efik: afia-ayo
Description —
This is a glabrous, laxly erect, fleshy herb 60-120 cm tall that branches from
the base. The leaves are opposite and usually in pairs; the lower leaves are simple; the upper ones
are pinnate, almost rounded but larger toward the apex, and about 10 cm long and 5-6 cm broad.
The margins have curved crenations (notches) with regular, blunt, or rounded teeth, which some-
times bear small plantlets or bulbils. The flowers nodding in terminal panicles are greenish-yellow
but purplish at the base. The calyx is tubular and inflated, 4-lobed (the lobes triangular and shortly
pointed), and about 3 cm long. The corolla is united, tubular, concentrated above the base, a little
longer than the calyx, and also 4-lobed. The upper part of the lobes is ovally pointed and reddish-
purple in color. The stamens are attached to the constriction of the corolla tube.
9,77
Habitat and Distribution —
The plant is widely distributed throughout the continent but is
more abundant in warm and dry areas; it thrives in rocky terrain with little water.
Ethnomedicinal Uses —
The crushed leaves or the juice expressed from them are warmed as
a poultice with shea butter or palm oil and rubbed on abscesses or other inflammatory conditions
266
(see also Agoha
77
). The topical application is also used for the treatment of external ulcers and burns
and on the bodies of young children to prevent fits during high fevers. It is used with “sterilized”
palm oil as a dressing after circumcision of male children. It has also been reported that a decoction
of the leaves is taken in the West Indies for the treatment of arthritis and to clean the bladder.
140
The
plant is listed by the Wong for the treatment of earache and in ophthalmia, and the poultice is used
for sprains, dysmenorrhea, and colds in the head.
324
Constituents —
Preliminary chemical work on this plant revealed the presence of xanthones, fla-
vonoids, anthraquinones, and traces of alkaloids. Potent cytotoxic bufadienolides bryophyllin A and B
have been isolated from the species.
325, 326
Cardiac glycosides, known as bryotoxins, are also present in
the plant.
327
An extract of the leaves with activity against chemically induced wounds has been shown
to contain bryophyllol, bryophollone and bryophollenone, bryophynol, and two phenanthrene deriva-
tives, as well as 18α-oleanane, ψ-taraxasterol, and α- and β-amyrin and their acetates.
328
Pharmacological Studies —
The pressed juice as well as the organic and aqueous extracts of
the leaves has been shown to possess moderate antibacterial microbial activity.
329
The plant has
been shown to have antihypertensive activity. Both the aqueous and methanolic leaf extracts of
B.
pinnatum
produced dose-related, significant (
p
< 0.05-0.001) decreases in arterial blood pressures
and heart rates of anesthetized normotensive and hypertensive rats. The hypotensive effects of the
leaf extracts were more pronounced in hypertensive than in normotensive rats.
330
Bryophyllum
has been used in clinical medicine in Europe (mainly Germany) since the 1970s
as a sedative and for the treatment of premature labor.
331
The preparation was usually administered
parenterally at a dose of 580 mg/h until contractions ceased, after which it was administered as a
50% slurry at a dose of 200 mg/h, supplemented by fenoterol at 120 mg/h if insufficiently effec-
tive alone. Clinical outcome and inhibition of labor were similar to those for fenoterol.
332
However,
in contrast to the well-documented side effects of conventional labor inhibitors, especially of the
cardiovascular system, which can be serious for both for mother and baby, no adverse signs or symp-
toms are known to date.
B. pinnatum
5% is also used as a 10 ml i.v. bolus during delivery if contrac-
tions are too strong, frequent, or painful; the effect, which is rapidly visible on the cardiogram, is
much less a matter of direct inhibition than of inducing more rhythmic contractions.
319
The tocolytic
activity of
B. pinnatum
observed in alternative medicine centers in Europe has been validated by
laboratory studies.
333-335
B. pinnatum
has also been shown to possess the following pharmacological properties: analge-
sic, anti-inflammatory,155
155
and antinociceptive and hypoglycemic activities.
336
It has shown promise
as a possible treatment for overactive bladder
337
and ulcers
338
and as a neurosedative and muscle
relaxant.
339
Toxicity —
The bufadienolides found in
Bryophyllum
species are toxic to cattle and other
farm stocks.
331
Bryophyllum
poisoning causes anorexia, depression, ruminal atony, diarrhea, heart
