HERBAL MEDICINES

Common Name: STAR FRUIT (Balimbing)Scientific Name: Averrhoa carambolaLinn.Indication:- Vermifuge, laxative, refrigerant, antiscorbutic, febrifuge, sialogogue, antiphlogistic, stimulant, emmenagogue, anodyne, emetic.- Fruit is considered laxative, refrigerant, antiscorbutic,appetite stimulant, febrifuge, antidysenteric, sialagogue, and antiphlogistic.- Seed regarded as narcotic, anodyne, emetic and emmenagogue.Uses & Preparation:Edibility / Culinary / Nutritional-Edible fruitis a source of iron (low in calcium) and vitamins B and C, oxalate and potassium.- Because of high potassium content, the fruit should be excluded from the diets of patients withrenal failure.- In the Philippines, the fruit is eaten with or without salt; the juice used for seasoning.- Fruit used in making pickles and sweets.- InJava, flowers are used in salads.Folkloric- Decoction of leaves used for aphthous stomatitis and angina.- InTonkin, flowers are used as vermifuge.- Boiled flowers used to expel worms: 50 gms to a pint ofboiling water; drunk in normal doses.-Malaysuse a poultice of crushed shoots or leaves used externally for headaches, chickenpox, and ringworm.- TheChineseandAnnamitesuse the flowers for cutaneous affections; also use the fruit as an eye salve for ophthalmic affections.- Leaves applied externally for fevers.-Fruit syrupused as cooling drink for fevers.- Decoction of leaves and fruit used to arrest vomiting.- Fruit is laxative; also used for hematemesis, melena and other forms of hemorrhages.- Decoction of fruit, 50 gms to a pint of boiling water, 4-5 glasses a day used for bleeding piles.- Juice of fresh fruit for affections of the eyes.- Seed is used for asthma and colic: Powdered seeds, 10 gms to a cup of warm water, drunk 4 times daily.- InBrazil, used for headaches, eczema, vomiting, coughing and hangovers. Also, used as appetite stimulant, diuretic, antidiarrheal, and febrifuge.- InIndia, the ripe fruit is used to stop hemorrhages and relieve hemorrhoidal bleeding. Khasi tribe of Meghalaya use the ripe fruit in the treatment of jaundice.- The dried fruit or juice used for fevers.- Plant used as reproductive organ stimulant for both males and females. In females it is used to increase the flow of milk and menstrual fluid. It acts as an emmenagogue; sometimes used as abortive.- InAyurveda, ripe fruit is considered tonic and digestive; causes biliousness. Dried fruit is used for fevers.- Seed regarded as narcotic, anodyne, emetic, and emmenagogue. Seed powder, in doses of 1/2 to 3 drams or as watery infusion, considered a good anodyne in asthma, colic, and jaundice

Others-Cleaning: The acid type carambola dissolves tarnish and rust, occasionally used for cleaning and polishing metal.-Stain remover: Likekamias, fruit juice is used in washing clothes and to remove spots and stains.- Contains potassium oxalate which is used for dyeing.

Common Name: QUEENS FLOWER (Banaba)Scientific Name: Lagerstroemia speciosa LIndication:- Before shedding, the leaves are bright orange or red during which time it is thought to contain higher levels of corosolic acid.- Old leaves and ripe fruit are considered to yield the greatest amount of an insulin-like principle. Twenty grams of old leaves or fruit, dried from one to two weeks, in the form of 100 cc of 20% decoction was found to have activity equivalent to 6 to 7.7 units of insulin.- Mature leaves, young leaves and flowers have an activity that ranged from 4.4 to 5.4 units of insulin per 100 cc of 20% decoction, or equivalent to around 70% of the activity of the leaves or fruit.- Study of the wood yielded no insulin-like principle; the bark and roots yielded a very small amount.- Leaves are considered purgative, deobstructive, diuretic.- Roots are considered astringent, stimulant, febrifuge.- Bark considered stimulant and febrifuge.Uses & Preparation:-Decoction of leaves ofall agesused for diabetes mellitus. Some physicians believe the dried fruit decoction to be better.- Roots have been used for a variety of stomach ailments. Leaf decoction for diabetes; also use as a diuretic and purgative.- Decoction of old leaves and dried fruit (dried from one to two weeks), 50 gms to a pint of boiling water, 4 to 6 cups daily has been used for diabetes. Old leaves and ripe fruit are preferred, believed to have greater glucose lowering effect. Young leaves and flowers have a similar effect, though only 70% that of matures leaves and fruits. The wood has no known glucose lowering effect; the bark, a very small amount. A decoction of 20 gms of old leaves or dried fruit in 100 cc of water was found to have the equivalent effect to that of 6 to 7.7 units of insulin.- In Pahang decoction of bark has been used for the treatment of diarrhea.- Infusion of bark used for diarrhea.- The bark, flowers and leaves used to facilitate bowel movements.- Decoction of fruits or roots gargled for aphthous stomatitis.- Decoction of leaves and flowers used for fevers and as diuretic.- Leaf decoction or infusion used for bladder and kidney inflammation, dysuria, and other urinary dysfunctions.- Seeds considered to have narcotic properties; also employed against aphthae.Others-Banaba makes a useful timber tree.

Common Name: MONGO BEANS (Balatong)Scientific Name: Phaseolus aureusRoxb.Indication:- Seeds are high in carbohydrate (>45%) and protein (>21%); fair source of calcium, iron, vitamins A and B. deficient in vitamin C.- Sprouts are a good source of vitamin B.-Raw green gram containstrypsin inhibitorwhich is destroyed by cooking.-Seeds are considered tonic and aperient.Uses & Preparation:Culinary- Extensively used in Philippine cuisine, in salads or boiled, in soups or stews.- InChinese cooking, bean sprouts is considered ayinor cooling food.Folkloric- Decoction of seeds used as diuretic in cases of beriberi.- The seeds, boiled or raw, used in maturative poultices.- Extracts used for its protective and curative properties in polyneuritis galinarum.- Roots considered narcotic, used for bone pains.- InIndia, seeds are used, internally and externally, for paralysis, rheumatism and a variety ofnervous systemailments.- Used for fevers.- The seeds are used for coughs, hemorrhoids and liver afflictions.- Powdered beans used to promote suppuration.- Seeds used in anorexia.- Poultice used for checking secretions of milk and reducing distention of the mammary glands.- Powdered beans rubbed into scarifications over tumors and abscesses to promote suppuration.- InIndo-China, seeds considered antiscorbutic and diuretic.

Common Name: STAR APPLE (Caimito)Scientific Name: Chrysophyllum cainitoLinn.Indication:- Seed is tonic, diuretic and febrifuge.- Pectoral, tonic, stimulant.Uses & Preparation:Folkloric- InMexico, decoction of the bark given for dysentery.-InCosta Rica, infusion of bark is tonic and refreshing.-Tonic: Infusion of the bark is tonic and refreshing.- Latex is used for abscesses.- Dried latex used as antihelminthic.- In some countries, the fruit is used for diabetes.- Bitter seed sometimes used as tonic, for diarrhea and fevers.- Fruit eaten for inflammation in laryngitis and pneumonia.- Used for diabetes.- Decoction used for angina.- In theIvory Coast, decoction of leaves used for hypertension. Leaf decoction also used for diabetes.- InVenezuela, unripe fruit used forintestinal problems.- InPuerto Rico, fruit used intreatment of diabetes.- Decoction of bark used as tonic and stimulant; used for diarrhea, dysentery, hemorrhages and treatment of gonorrhea.-Cubansin Miami reported to use the leaf decoction forcancer treatment.- InBrazil, bark latex used resolutive on abscesses; and as a potent vermifuge when dried and powdered.

Common Name: ARABIAN COFFEE (Kape)Scientific Name: Coffea arabicaLinn.Indication:- Respiratory, gastric and renal stimulant; diuretic, antilithic, digestive, peristaltic, febrifuge.- Increases reflex action and mental activity. More stimulating than cocoa.-Roasted coffeebelieved to have disinfectant and deodorant properties.- A strong infusion of coffee is antisoporific.Uses & Preparation:Folkloric-Infusion or decoction of roasted coffee leaves as a stimulant. Some prefer the leaf to the berry.An important alkaloid used as a stimulant for the nervous system and circulation.- In traditionalIndianmedicine, coffee is a palliative in spasmodic asthma, whooping cough, delirium tremens.- Used in the early stages of typhoid fever.- Roasted coffee used for disinfectant and deodorant properties.- Strong infusion ofblack coffeeused as antisoporific in cases of poisoning by opium, alcohol, and other stupefying or narcotic poisons.- Used as vehicle for administration of quinine and sulfate of magnesia, concealing the bitter and nauseous tastes of the medicines.- Used as a tonic to offset theeffects of malaria.- Used as a diuretic in dropsy.- In the raw state, berries are used for hemicrania and intermittent fevers.

Common Name: CUCUMBER (Pipino)Scientific Name: Cucumis sativusIndication:- Seeds are antihelminthic; also, cooling, diuretic, and strengthening.-Active ingredientof theessential oilis considered aphrodisiac in nature.- Checkmate dehydrogenase from the pulp is considered a facialskin softener; also cooling and a natural sunscreen.Uses & Preparation:Edibility / Nutritional- Peeled raw fruit is peeled, sliced thin, served with vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and calamansi makes a good vegetableside dish.- Common salad ingredient; also boiled in stew dishes.- Seed kernel is edible.- A variety is used for making pickles.- In Malaya, young leaves are eaten raw or steamed.- Good source of calcium and iron, vitamins B and C.Folkloric- Juice of leaves used as an emetic in acuteindigestion in children.- Ripe, raw cucumbers said to be good for sprue.- Bruised root applied to swelling from the wound of hedgehog quill.- Raw cucumbers used for dysentery.- Cucumber salve used for scalds and burns.- Seeds used as taeniacide (1 - 2 oz of seed thoroughly ground, with sugar, taken fasting, followed in 1-2 hours with a purge). Also used as an emetic with water.- InIndo-China, immature fruit given to children for dysentery.- InIndia, used as diuretic and for throat infections. Pulp considered healing and soothing, used to keep facial skin soft; is toning and soothing on damage skin and provides a natural sunscreen.- InBangladesh, fruit used with cumin seeds for throat infections.Others-Cosmetic: Fruit is excellent for rubbing over the skin for softness and whiteness.- Cooling, healing, and soothing to the skin irritated by the sun or raw from effects of eruptions- Used in the manufacture of cucumber soap.- Cucumber scent, one of a few others, linked to female sexual arousal.

Common Name: TANGERINE ORANGE (Dalanghita)Scientific Name: Citrus nobilisLour.Indication:- Rind preparation tastes bitter, with mild nature.- The fibers of the rind tastes bitter-sweet, neutral natured.-Fruit is a good source of vitamin C.-Rind used for flavoring.Uses & Preparation:- Rind preparation: gather the rind of any ripe citrus fruit and sun-dry, either whole or cut into thin slices.-Seed preparation: place the seed in a container, add an amount of water equal to one fiftieth of the total weight of the seeds, store for a short time and put into a dry kettle. Heat with a weak fire until the materials turn light yellow and smell fragrant. Sundry the material. Crush before using.Folkloric- The seed preparation has pain relieving effect.- In Malaya, a decoction of the roots is used in dysentery.- Powdered leaves with leaves of Areca catechu may be drunk forstomach ache.- An infusion of thefresh juiceis used as a cleanser or stimulant of wound surfaces.- A lotion of the boiled leaves is used hot on painful places and swelling in Malaya.- Seed preparation tastes bitter with pain relieving effect. For nausea and fainting, rind squeezed near nostril for irritant inhalation. Decoction of roots used for cough and fever. For coughs, boil a concentrated decoction of the rind and drink. For anorexia and vomiting: add fresh rhizome of ginger to a concentrated decoction of the rind and drink. Decoction of dried flowers used for diarrhea. Decoction of rind or peel used to regulate menses. Leg bath of boiled leaves used for rheumatism, and painful and swollen legs. Oil from rind used for stomach problems; and as liniment for gout, rheumatism and other painful swellings.

Common Name: MAIDEN WORT, CHINESE HONEYSUCKLE, WORMWOOD (Damong Maria)Scientific Name: Artemisia vulgarisLinn.Indication:- Fragrant but bitter to taste.- Emmenagogue, vulnerary.- Plant considered a valuable stomachic, anthelmintic, emmenagogue, deobstruent, antispasmodic, tonic.- Leaves and flowering tops considered tonic, stimulant, antispasmodic and emmenagogue.- In China, considered hemostatic, antiseptic, carminative.Uses & Preparation:Folkloric- Decoction of fresh leaves and flowering tops, 50 g in a pint of water, 4-5 glasses daily as expectorant.- Juice of leaves used as vulnerary, toheal woundsand cuts.- As emmenagogue: A strong decoction of leaves, 6-7 glasses a day toinduce menstruation; also, for post-partum abdominal cramps.- Juice of leaves applied to head of young children during convulsions.- For intestinal deworming, decoction of boiled leaves, followed by the juice of aloe or other purgative plants.- Decoction of leaves used for abdominal colic pains.- Leaf poultice for headache and skin diseases.- Decoction of dried leaves used for asthma and dyspepsia.- Juice used externally for scabies, eczema, herpes.- With ginger: Pounded leaves, mixed with ginger are wrapped in banana leaves and heated over a fire, and applied to wounds and swollen and inflamed dermal afflictions.- Stimulates appetite, young leaves used for anorexia.- Infusion of aromatic leaves used to induce menstruation. Also, used as abortifacient, but considered too mild a uterine stimulant to be reliable for that purpose.- Used as infusion and electuary for obstructed menses and hysteria.- Externally, used as alterative as fomentations for skin diseases and foul ulcers.- Expressed juice of plant applied to the head of children to prevent convulsions.- In Uruguay, plant used as vermifuge.- InChina, used as hemostatic, antiseptic, and carminative; used as decoction for hemoptysis, dysentery, menorrhagia, postpartum hemorrhages, as a wash for wounds and ulcers, and to relieve gripping pains of indigestion, diarrhea, or dysentery.- Juice of plant used for tapeworm.- A tincture, made up in native spirits, used as nerve sedative e in abdominal pain and in labor.- InPersia,Afghanistanand throughoutIndia, strong decoction used as vermifuge; a weak decoction used in children for measles.- InMalayaleaves used as carminative and hemostatic.- Leaves, dried and cut in small fragments, used to cauterize wounds.- InAnmanleaves used for hemorrhage, epistaxis, hematemesis and hematuria.- Used as vermicide; used in eczema, herpes and purulent scabies.

Others- Flowering tops of mugwort used by modern dyers in the production of green dye.-Before tobacco, leaves smoked by old people.- Young and tender leaves used as pot herb.-Fresh or dried plant repels insects.

Common Name: TIGERS CLAW (Dapdap)Scientific Name: Erythrina variegataLinn. var.orientalis(Linn.)Indication:-Prepared drug tastes bitter, neutral in effect.-The bark is bitter, acrid, thermogenic, anti-inflammatory, sedative, carminative, digestive, anthelminthic, rejuvenating, laxative, diuretic and expectorant.-The leaves are bitter, diuretic, laxative, emmenagogue, stomachic and anthelmintic.- Erythrina has a narcotic and depressant action on the central nervous system.Uses & Preparation:Folkloric-In the Philippines, a sweetened decoction of bark and leaves used as expectorant. Bark also used to facilitate the maturation of boils.-Leaves and roots used as febrifuge.-Decoction of leaves used for coughs and asthma.-Dried bark decoction or infusion in alcohol used for lumbar and leg pain.- In the Malay Peninsular, bark used for curing toothaches, rounded and pushed into the cavity or hollow tooth.-In theMoluccas, bark chewed for dysentery.-Pulverized leaves in the form of snuff used for Infantile convulsion and ascariasis.- Wood rasped in water used for hematuria.- Bark considered as antibilious and febrifuge.-In the Peninsula and Indo-China, leaves used for poulticing sores.-Seeds used internally and externally for cancer; externally for abscesses.- InChina, bark used as febrifuge and expectorant.-InIndiaandChina, the bark and leaves are used in many traditional medicinal concoctions. Paribhadra, an Indian preparation, destroys parasites and relieves joint pains. Honeyed leaf juice is used for tapeworm and roundworm diseases. The juice also helps stimulate lactation and menstruation. A poultice of leaves is used for rheumatic joints.

Common Name: LIME (Dayap)Scientific Name: Citrus aurantifolia(Christm.)Indication:- Juice is regarded as antiseptic, tonic, antiscorbutic, astringent, diuretic.- Root bark is febrifuge.Uses & Preparation:Edibility / Nutritional- Makes a pleasant ade.- Used as substitute for true lemon.- Good source of vitamin C.- In Malaya, the young dayap is preserved in syrup.- Malays salt the fruit or preserve it in vinegar for use as pickle.Folkloric- Nausea and fainting: Squeeze rind near nostril for irritant inhalation.- Decoction of roots used for dysentery; root-bark as febrifuge.- Crushed leaves applied to forehead for headaches.- Leaf decoction for eyewash and to bathe a feverish patient.- Mouthwash and gargle for sore throat and thrush.- Decoction of pounded leaves, with leaves ofAreca catechu, drunk for stomachache.- Externally, fresh juice is used to clean wounds; roasted, for chronic sores.- Juice used for irritation and swelling of mosquito bites.- Poultice of leaves applied to ulcer wounds.- Lime oil extracted by steam distillation of the fruit rinds used for colds, sore throats, bronchitis, asthma.- Used for arthritis, obesity, cellulite and as tonic and astringent.- Malays sip the fruit juice as a remedy for coughs.- In Senegal and Sierra Leone, juice, sometimes mitigated by being mixed with oil, used as vermifuge.- Poultice of leaves for skin diseases or on the abdomen after childbirth.- InMalaya, root decoction used for dysentery.- InYucatan, root decoction used for gonorrhea.- In southwestNigeria, roots, bark, stem, twigs, leaves and fruit used in treatment of malaria.- In Pakistan, Northern Ethiopia, and Nigeria, plant and fruit used in the treatment of hypertension and other cardiac problems. Others- As fumigant, steaming brew of leaves under the blanket.

HERBAL MEDICINESPage 21