Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Habitat and Distribution —
The species grow in coastal savanna woodland and in fringe and
transition forests. Due to the ease in generating the plant from the seeds and the ability to withstand
fairly long periods of drought, it is planted as a shade tree in many parts of tropical Africa. The plant
has been located in many countries in West Africa, including Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal,
Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, and Benin.
Ethnomedicinal Uses —
Extract of the bark is used in Nigeria as a stomachic and a laxative.
An external application prepared from the stem bark is employed in the treatment of convulsion and
backache, and the lotion is applied for parasitic skin conditions and eruptions.
78
Constituents —
Lonchocarpus
is a source of the insecticide rotenone. A compound named lon-
chocarpine, 5-hydroxy-2,2-dimetyl-3-chromen-6-yl-strylylcetone, has been shown to be a component
of the roots, seeds, and leaves of this species.
726
Other constituents of the plants include quercetin,
rutin,
p-
coumaric acid, and β-sitosterol, as well as isoflavonoids and pterocarpans.
78,727,728
Pharmacological Studies —
A resin that occurs in the seeds and the fruit is considered to be a
violent poison.
729
The extract has insecticidal action due to its rotenone content.
MALLOTUS OPPOSITIFOLIUS
Botanical Name —
Mallotus oppositifolius
Geisel. Muell. Arg.
Synonyms —
Acalyphadentata
Schumach. & Thonn.,
Claoxylon cordifolium
Benth.,
Croton
oppositifolius
Geiseler.,
Echinus oppositifolius
(Geiseler) Baill.,
Ricinocarpus dentatus
(Schumach.
& Thonn.) Kuntze.,
Rottlera dentata
Baill.
Family —
Euphorbiaceae
Common Names —
The name Kamala, camala, or
Glandulae rottlerae
in official monographs
refers to the trichomes and glands from the fruits of
Mallotus phillipinensis.
African Names —
Hausa: kafar; Igbo: okpokirinya; Yoruba: eja
Description —
This is a shrub up to 13.5 cm long and 2.5-10 cm wide. The leaves are oval in
shape and long stalked. The apex is shortly pointed, and the base is more or less heart shaped. There
are 3 main veins from the base. The lower sides of the leaves are densely dotted with glands. The
lateral veins end in small glands at the leaf margins. The margins are slightly toothed. The stalks
are 2.5-5 cm long. It produces tiny, white, fragrant flowers, borne on slender common stalks at the
end of the twigs or in the axils of the leaves. The fruits are produced throughout the year, deeply
lobed, 3 celled, about 5 mm in diameter, and covered with glandular hairs. The hairs and glands
covering the fruit are easily rubbed out, sifted, and made to float on water as a red motile powder.
Habitat and Distribution —
It grows in old farms, in secondary forests, and thickets. It thrives
also in savanna vegetation. The drug is native to East Africa, India, and Arabia. In Africa, it is dis-
tributed almost throughout the continent.
Ethnomedicinal Uses —
The whole herb is used for the treatment of dysentery and as a vermi-
fuge. The stem is chewed to fibrous brush and used as chew sticks for teeth cleaning. The fresh leaves
are crushed and applied to fresh cuts to stop bleeding. The leaf juice has been used as nasal drops
for headache. Irvine indicated that the leaves of the plant are used with those of
Trema, Bandeirae,
and
Dalium guineense
in Akropong and Akwapim (Ghana) for urinary disorders during pregnancy.
9
Constituents —
Kamala consists of a red pigment, isoallorottlerin; the yellow component
methylene-bis-methylphloroacetophenone, and other phloroglucinol derivatives, such as rottlerin
and isorottlerin, as well as two compounds, kamalins I and II of undetermined structure.
730,731
The
fruit contains terpenes, flavonoids, chalcones, and saponins.
732-734
Five hydrolyzable tannins
735
and
cytotoxic phloroglucinol
736
have been reported from the bark of
M. japonicas.
Cytotoxic chromene
derivatives have been isolated from the pericarp of the same species.
737
Pharmacological Studies —
Kamala is a purgative and taeniafuge and has been employed in
India and many parts of the world for the treatment of tapeworm infestation. Both the alcoholic and
