Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Pharmacological Studies — The drug is a mild hypnotic agent, and the component responsible
for this activity is myristicin. The drug is an inhibitor of prostaglandins and related endochemicals
produced by the human colon 813-815 and has also been found to decrease prostaglandin levels in
the rat. 816 It has carminative, spasmolytic, antiemetic, or oxygenic activity and has been used clini-
cally for the treatment of a variety of stomach disorders, including nausea, flatulence, indigestion,
and diarrhea, especially diarrhea secondary to thyroid medullary carcinoma. The drug has platelet
aggregation inhibition activity, associated with the eugenol and isoeugenol content. 817 The hypnotic
effect does not appear to be manifest when nutmeg is used as a culinary spice.
Toxicology — High doses of nutmeg are highly hypnotic and toxic. Reported adverse effects
include hypothermia, giddiness, nausea, weak pulses, and general feeling of heaviness in the chest
and lower abdomen. 608 It also causes tachycardia, and the oil decreases fertility in rats. 818 One of the
constituents of nutmeg, safrole, has been found to be carcinogenic in mice. 819
NUCLEA LATIFOLIA
Botanical Name — Sarcocephalus latifolius (Sm.) E. A. Bruce
Synonyms — N. esculentus (Afz. ex Sab.) Merrill, Sarcocephalus esculentus Afz., S. sasan-
drae Chev., S. samucinus Schum., S. russegeri Kotschy ex Schweinf.
Family — Rubiaceae
Common Names — African peach, Guinea peach, doundake, country fig
African Names — Ashanti: kusia, kankanu (Ejura); Bron: hwene hwenti; Ewe: nyimo; Fanti:
ekusiawa
Description — Nuclea latifolia is a straggling or scandent shrub or small spreading tree, usu-
ally about 7 m high but growing up to 35 m in closed forests. The leaves, 17 × 12 cm, are glabrous,
obvate, sharply acuminate, with a darker upper surface. The stipules are broad, ovate, and persis-
tent. The flowers are sweet scented, large, and fleshy. The fruits are red, fleshy, and shallow pitted,
with numerous embedded seeds surrounded by edible, sweetly acrid pulp.
Habitat and Distribution — The species is essentially a savanna plant. It has been found in
savanna forests and fringe tropical forests from Senegal to Zaire. The related species N. diderrichii
Merrill is restricted to deciduous and evergreen forests. 9
Ethnomedicinal Uses — The genus is used in Nigeria and neighboring countries for the prepa-
ration of tonics and fever medicine. The soot is used as chewing sticks and for the treatment of
toothache, caries, and septic mouth. An aqueous decoction of the root bark has been used as a
malaria remedy. The dried fruit is used in the treatment of dysentery and piles, but the fresh fruit,
when taken in excess, causes diarrhea. The stem bark has been used as a homeostatic, analgesic,
anthelmintic, and diuretic. A lotion made from the stem bark is effective in the treatment of complex
skin disease resembling cutaneous leishmaniasis.
Constituents — Nuclea contains several indole-quinolizidine alkaloids and glycoalkaloids. 820,821
The major ones include angustine, angustoline, angustifoline, nauclefine, and naucletine. 822-824
Pharmacological Studies — An aqueous extract of the leaves and stem bark collected from
Nigeria has been shown to lower the rectal temperature of the guinea pig for several hours when the
drug was administered intraperitoneally. 825 The hypothermic activity has also been demonstrated
in dogs, and the extract further produced a sudden decrease of the carotid pressure followed by
the opposite effect, as well as vasoconstriction. 825 Extracts of the leaves and bark possessed car-
diac activity, 826 and the leaf extract showed anticancer activity against transplantable sarcoma 180
tumors and against Lewis carcinoma. 827 An alkaloidal isolate from the roots has been found to be
anticholinergic and relaxed smooth muscles. 828 Extracts of the plant exhibited molluscicidal activity
against laboratory-reared Lymnea natalensis . 829
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