Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Synonyms —
S. Americana
L.,
S. hirta
Wright.
Family —
Solanaceae
African Names —
Hausa: dandana; Yoruba: ale odan
Description —
Schwenkia guineensis
is a thin, erect, herbaceous weed, with much branched
stem, and is up to 50 cm tall. The leaves are oval in shape, about 4 cm long and 2 cm broad; the
stalks are sparsely covered with short, soft hairs. It produces greenish or purple flowers, with cylin-
drical calyx, about 3 mm long and with pointed lobes. The corolla is tubular, cylindrical, and about
8 mm long, narrow, and 5 lobed. The fruits are small, round capsules, about 3 mm long, with 4
protrusions, and they contain many tiny seeds.
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Ethnomedicinal Uses —
The root and stem wood are used as a chewing stick for tooth clean-
ing and oral hygiene. A decoction of the plant is administered both orally and topically to treat
rheumatic pains and swellings. It is used by nursing mothers to prevent neonatal diarrhea and
also given to the suckling baby for the same purpose. The pounded whole plant is used as a fish
poison. The root extract is used in Ghana as a cough medicine and in Angola for the treatment of
chest pains.
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Constituents —
The plant contains a glycoside called schwenkioside, steroidal sapogenins, and
traces of alkaloids.
957,958
Pharmacological Studies —
The sapogenin isolated from the plant has cardiotonic activity.
958
The compound caused an initial inhibition of toad heart followed by prolonged stimulation. Extracts
obtained from various parts of the plant cause hemolysis of red blood cells.
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SCLEROCARYA BIRREA
Botanical Name —
Sclerocarya birrea
(A. Rich.) Hochdst.
Synonyms —
Spondias birrea
A. Rich,
Poupartia birrea
(A. Rich.) Aubrev.
Family —
Anacardiaceae
Common Names —
Marula fruit, daniya
African Names —
Bambara: N' guna; Boran: didissa; Dugbani: mu-mugga; Issala: burunogo;
Hausa: daniya, huli, nunu; Nankani: nanogba; Sebei: katetalam; Shona: muganu, mufura, ikanyi;
Sonrai: diney; Swahili: mugongo; Tamacheck: tuwila; Wolof: birr; Zulu: umganu
Description —
Sclerocarya birrea
is a tall tree about 14 m high and up to 1 m in diameter. It is
light gray, finely fissured and flaking in small or large scales; slash is orange pink with green edges,
