Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
fruits, or calabashes, attached to the trunk and branches. They are almost spherical, about 40 cm in
diameter, and contain numerous seeds covered by cream-colored pulp.
1147
Habitat and Distribution —
The plant is a native of South America but grows widely in tropi-
cal Africa. It is grown as an ornamental plant in Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, and southeastern
regions of the continent.
Ethnomedicinal Uses —
The plant has rather limited medicinal use as an oral drug but is
widely employed in the treatment of skin infections. The fruit, emptied of its content, is used by
traditional healers as a vessel for mixing and storing oral medications. In the Caribbean, the fruit
pulp is used as an analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and purgative substance and for hema-
toma.
228
The leaves are reported to be used in the same region as an antidiarrheal and for trauma
and ganglion inflammation. In Haiti and the Dominican Republic, an instillation of the leaf juice is
used for earache.
228
Constituents —
The fruit pulp has been shown to contain hydrocyanic acids, cinnamic acid,
dihydrocinnamic acid, and related organic acids; the fruit also yields quaternary alkaloids and poly-
phenols; the seeds contain oleic acid, and naphthoquinone derivatives have been isolated from the
stem wood.
342-344
Pharmacological Studies —
The pulp extract and cinnamic acid derivative isolated from the
plant have been found to possess broad-spectrum antifungal activity.
344
The leaf extract exhibits anti-
bacterial activity against
Bacilus subtilis
and
Staphylococcus aureus
.
345
The plant has been shown
to be remarkably anti-inflammatory; the leaf extract at an oral dose of 1200 mg/kg showed an anti-
inflammatory activity that was found to be effective even 24 h after administration of the extract.
228
The anti-inflammatory activity of the extract was comparable to that of sodium dichlofenac.
Toxicity —
The fruit pulp contains hydrocyanic acid and should be considered dangerous. The
pulp has also been shown to be carcinogenic in the rat by the induction of neoplasms.
229,346
CRYPTOLEPIS SANGUINOLENTA
Botanical Name —
Cryptolepis sanguinolenta
Lindl. Schltr.
