Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
have yielded good results. Preliminary results showed that plants from bush mango marcotts can
fruit 2-2.5 years after transplanting.
Formulation and Dosage Forms —
Proprietary formulations of
Irvingia
are available in
Europe and America mainly for the treatment of obesity. These are usually dried extracts of the
seeds in capsules and tablets. The total seed powder is produced by InterCEDD Health Products
(Nigeria) in cubes for cooking as soup thickeners and for the management of diabetes. Local pro-
duction of the dika wine is limited to parts of western Cameroon and eastern Nigeria.
JATEORHIZA PALMATA
Botanical Name —
Jateorhiza palmata
Miers
Synonyms —
Cocculus palmatus
D.C.,
Menispermum palmatum
Lam.
Family —
Menispermaceae
Common Names —
Calumba
African Names —
Lindi (Konde): roamwa; Yoruba: agbihu, atutu
Description —
The plant is a climber. The root possesses a thick bark and a depressed cen-
ter, with a grayish-brown surface. The fracture is short and mealy, and the transverse section
is yellowish with vascular bundles in radiating lines. It is very bitter and mucilaginous, with a
slight odor.
9,28,77
Habitat and Distribution —
The plant grows in rich alluvial soil. It is distributed in East
Africa, Malagasy, and parts of the West Coast. It is cultivated as a medicinal plant in Kenya, Ghana,
Tanzania, Malagasy, and Mauritius. A related species,
J. macrantha
Ecell & Mendonca, is distrib-
uted from southern Nigeria to Gabon and Rwanda.
Ethnomedicinal Uses —
The root bark is used as a general tonic. The whole herb, especially
the leaves, yields a pleasant bitter and stomachic. It is used extensively in traditional medicine, espe-
cially for the preparation of remedies for hypertension, bronchial infections, and male impotence.
In East Africa, the plant is reputed to be an effective dysentery remedy. The root decotion is used in
the treatment of fevers (probably malaria) and as an anthelmintic.
Constituents —
The plant elaborates a complex mixture of isoquinoline alkaloids, of which
the major ones include palmatine, columbamine, jatrorrhine, and bisjatrorrhizine. It also contains
bitter terpene-dilactones, such as calumbin and dihydronaphthalene (chasmanthin and palmanin).
Thymol is a major component of the volatile oil. The sapogenins diosgenin and kryptogenin occur
in low quantities.
Pharmacological Studies —
Palmatine has hypotensive, antimalarial, and uterine stimulant
activity. Jatrorrhizine is hypotensive, sedative, and antifungal.
123
The extract possesses antimicro-
bial activity. The drug is official in many countries as a bitter flavoring agent; it is listed in Japanese,
Portuguese, and Spanish pharmacopoeias and in the
Martindale Extra Pharmacopoeias
.
205
JATROPHA
Three species of
Jatropha
,
J. curcas
Linn.,
J. gossypiifolia
L., and
J. podagarica
Hook, are
common in Africa. They are believed to have been introduced to West Africa by the Portuguese.
J. curcas
is by far the most widely used species in traditional medicine, although the others
are more available to investigators because of their use as ornamental plants and as hedges. No
chemotaxonomic delimitation has been reported, and the species appear to have similar uses in
folk medicine, the same chemical constituents, and similar pharmacological activity. A distinct
