Suganda (Oregano) as Herbal Medicine

A perennial herb with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Commonly used for cooking in the West, it is used as a medicinal plant in the Philippines. A decoction of oregano leaves is taken internally for the prevention of degenerative arthritis, relief of cough, osteoarthritis, asthma and upset stomach.

Properties
- Aromatic, carminative, emmenagogue, diaphoretic, tonic, stimulant.
- In India, considered antilithiotic, chemopreventive, antiepileptic, antioxidant.

Parts utilized
Leaves

Medicinal Uses
In the Philippines, macerated fresh leaves applied externally to burns.
· Leaves are bruised and applied to centipede and scorpion bites. Also, applied to temples and forehead for headache, help in place by a bandage.
· Leaves in infusion or as syrup used as aromatic and carminative; used for dyspepsia and also as a cure for asthma.
· The Malays used the plant juice or decoction for pains around the areas of the heart or abdomen.
· Decoction of leaves given after childbirth.
· In Indo-China, given for asthma and bronchitis.
· The juice of the leaves for dyspepsia, asthma, chronic coughs, bronchitis, colic, flatulence, rheumatism. The dose is one tablespoonful of the fresh juice every hour for adults and one teaspoonful every two hours, four times daily, for children. As an infusion, 50 to 60 grams to a pint of boiling water, and drink the tea, 4 to 5 glasses a day. For children, 1/2 cup 4 times daily.
· For otalgia (ear aches), pour the fresh, pure juice into the ear for 10 minutes.
· For carbuncles, boils, sprains, felons, painful swellings: Apply the poultice of leaves to the affected area, four times daily.
· For sore throats, a decoction of two tablespoonfuls of dried leaves to a pint of boiling water, taken one hour before or after meals.
· In India, leaves are used traditionally for bronchitis, asthma, diarrhea, epilepsy, nephro-cystolithiasis, fever, indigestion and cough. Also used for malarial fever, hepatopathy, renal and vesicle calculi, hiccup, helminthiasis, colic, and convulsions.
· The Chinese used the juice of leaves with sugar, for cough in children, asthma and bronchitis, epilepsy and convulsive disorders.
· Leaves are applied to cracks at the corners of the mouth, for thrush, headaches; against fever as a massage or as a wash.
· Used for bladder and urinary afflictions, and vaginal discharges.
· Used as carminative, given to children for colic.
· In Bengal, used for coli and dyspepsia.
· Expressed juice applied around the orbit to relieve conjunctival pain.
Others
· Fresh leaves rubbed on clothing or hair at the time of bathing for its scent.

Niyog-niyogan (YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW) as Herbal Medicine

A vine that is an effective in the elimination of intestinal worms, particularly the Trichina and Ascaris by ingesting its matured dried seeds. Chew (5 to 7 dried seeds for children or 8 to 10 seeds for adults) two hours after eating. Repeat treatment after a week if necessary. Roasted leaves are also used for fever and diarrhea while pounded leaves are used for skin diseases. English name: Chinese honey suckle.

Parts utilized
Seeds (dried nuts) and leaves.

Properties
- The taste resembling coconuts.
- Oil from the seeds are purgative.
- Considered anthelmintic, antiinflammatory.
- Study on ascariasis reported the plant to possess anthelmintic properties.
- Excessive dosing reported to cause hiccups.
- Fruit is considered tonic and astringent.

Medicinal Uses
Anthelmintic: Dried seeds preferable for deworming.
• Adults: Dried nuts-chew 8 to 10 small- to medium-sized dried nuts two hours after a meal, as a single dose, followed by a half glass of water. If fresh nuts are used, chew only 4-5 nuts. Hiccups occur more frequently with the use of fresh nuts.
• Children 3-5 years old: 4-5 dried nuts; 6 - 8 years old: 5-6 dried nuts; 9-12 years old: 6-7 dried nuts.
• Roasted seeds for diarrhea and fever.
• Plant used as a cough cure.
• Leaves applied to the head to relieve headaches.
• Pounded leaves externally for skin diseases.
• Decoction of boiled leaves used for dysuria.
• Ifugao migrants use it for headache.
• Ripe seeds roasted and used for diarrhea and fever.
• In Thailand, seeds used as anthelmintic; flowers for diarrhea.
• In India and Ambonia, leaves used in a compound decoction to relieve flatulent distention of the abdomen. Leaves and fruits are reported to be anthelmintic; also used for nephritis.
• In India and the Moluccas, seeds are given with honey as electuary for the expulsion of entozoa in children.
• In Indo-China, seeds are used as anthelmintic and for rickets in children.
• The Chinese and Annamites reported to use the seeds as vermifuge.
• In China, seeds macerated in oil are applied to parasitic skin diseases. Seeds are also used for diarrhea and leucorrheal discharges of children.
• In Amboina compound decoction of leaves used for flatulent abdominal distention.
• In Bangladesh, used for diarrhea, fever, boils, ulcers and helminthiasis.

Caution
Adverse reactions - diarrhea, abdominal pain, distention and hiccups - are more likely if nuts are eaten in consecutive days or when fresh nuts are eaten.

Makabuhay (HEAVENLY ELIXIR) as Herbal Medicine

A clinging vine, and the name itself suggests the primary purpose of such plant. Makabuhay is a Filipino translation of the English term ‘pro-life or to give life’.

Properties
Considered febrifuge, vulnerary, tonic, antimalarial, parasiticide, and insecticidal.

Parts utilized
Stems and leaves.


Medicinal Use
Decoction of leaves and stems used for malaria and fever and as a tonic (40 gms to pint of boiling water).
• Scabies: Crush fresh stem and apply juice over the affected.
• Tropical ulcers and wound healing: Decoction of the stem as wash, or crush stem, soak in oil for 12 hours and apply oil extract on affected areas.
• Pounded stem, mixed with coconut oil, has been used for a variety of rheumatic and arthritic complaints; also for abdominal colic.
• Used for athlete's foot.
• Used for fertility regulation.
• Preparation with coconut oil use as cure for rheumatism; also for flatulence (kabag) in children.
• Decoction or powder form of plant used as febrifuge. Decoction of stem used as vulnerary for itches, ordinary and cancerous wounds.
• Aqueous extract used for treatment of stomach trouble, indigestion, and diarrhea.
• Rheumatism and flatulence: mixture of the vine with oil. Cut 100 gms of the vine in small pieces, mix with 3 ounces of coconut oil. Place in bottle and "cook" under the sun for 5-7 days.
• For stomach ulcers: stem is pounded inside a plastic bag, water is added, strained, and drank once daily. Also, stems are dried, thinly sliced, decocted, then drank.
• Used by nursing mothers to assist in weaning infants off breast-feeding. The bitter juice of the stem is applied to the nipple area causing the infant's aversion to breastfeeding and facilitating transfer to breast feeding.
• Internally, used as tonic and antimalarial; externally, as parasiticide.Being studied for it possible stimulant effect on the immune system. Anecdotal benefits for a variety of HIV-related complaints.
Caution: Should not be used by pregnant women, patients with cardiac disorders.

Malungay (BEN OIL TREE ) as Herbal Medicine

(scientific name: Moringa oleifera Lam.) - is known to different parts of the world under various names including, but not limited to, horseradish tree, drumstick tree, and dool in some regions.

Parts utilized
Flowers, leaves, young pods

Properties
• Root has the taste of horseradish.
• Considered galactagogue, rubefacient, antiscorbutic, diuretic, stimulant, purgative, antibiotic, antifungal.
• Antiinflammatory, antitumor activities on mice studies.
• Antioxidant, anti-aging, anti-ulcer.
• Estrogenic, antiprogestational, hypoglycemic, antihyperthyroidism, hypocholesterolemic, antihyperthyroid, antispasmodic.
• Considered abortifacient and emmenagogue.
• Purported to be beneficial for decreasing blood pressure, relieving headaches and migraines, reducing inflammatory and arthritic pains, anti-ulcer, anti-tumor. Purported to be beneficial for decreasing blood pressure, relieving headaches and migraines, reducing inflammatory and arthritic pains.

Uses
Decoction of leaves used for hiccups, asthma, gout, back pain, rheumatism, wounds and sores.
- Young leaves, usually boiled, used to increase the flow of breast milk.
- Pods for intestinal parasitism.
- Leaves and fruit used for constipation.
- Decoction of boiled roots used to wash sores and ulcers.
- Decoction of the bark used for excitement, restlessness.
- In India pounded roots used as poultice for inflammatory swelling. Flowers used for catarrh, with young leaves or young pods.
- In Nicaragua decoction of roots used for dropsy.
- Roots have been used as abortifacient. In India, bark is used as abortifacient.
- Decoction of root-bark used as fomentation to relieve spasms; also, for calculous affections.
- Gum, mixed with sesamum oil, used for relief of earaches. Same, also reported as abortifacient.
- In Java, gum used for intestinal complaints.
- Roots chewed and applied to snake bites.
- Decoction of roots is considered antiscorbutic; also used in delirious patients.
- Juice of roots is used for otalgia.
- Bark used as rubefacient remedy.
- Decoction of roots is use as gargle for hoarseness and sore throat.
- Leaves used as purgative.
- Chewing of leaves used in gonorrhea to increase urine flow.
- Fresh roots used as stimulant and diuretic.
- Seeds for hypertension, gout, asthma, hiccups, and as a diuretic.
- Rheumatic complaints: Decoction of seeds; or, powdered roasted seeds applied to affected area.
- Juice of the root with milk used for asthma, hiccups, gout, lumbago.
- Poultice of leaves applied for glandular swelling.
- Pounded fresh leaves mixed with coconut oil applied to wounds and cuts.
- The flowers boiled with soy milk thought to have aphrodisiac quality.
- Root is rubefacient and plaster applied externally as counterirritant.
- In West Bengal, India, roots taken by women, esp prostitutes, for permanent contraception (Studies have shown total inactivation or suppression of the reproductive system).

Breastfeeding women
• Malunggay leaves and pods are helpful in increasing breast milk in the breastfeeding months. One tablespoon of leaf powder provide 14% of the protein, 40% of the calcium, 23% of the iron and most of the vitamin A needs of a child aged one to three. Six tablespoons of leaf powder will provide nearly all of the woman's daily iron and calcium needs during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Toxicities
ª Root bark contains 2 alkaloids, as well as the toxic hypotensive moringinine.
ª Has dose-dependent negative inotropic effect, in isolated frog heart study.
• Niazinin A, niazimicin and niaziminin A and B isolated from the ethanol extract produced hypotensive, bradycardic and negative inotropic effects in experimental animals.
• The bark may cause violent uterine contractions that can be fatal. Chronic high-dose use may cause liver and kidney dysfunctions.
• In frequent or large doses, Interior flesh of the plant can cause toxic nerve paralysis from the alkaloid spirochin.

Availability
Wild-crafted.
Garden and back-yard cultivation.
Commercial production of oil extracted from flowers.
Malunggay capsule (Natalac) - containing 250 mg dried young malunggay leaves, one to two capsules daily.
Miracle tree products in the cybermarkets.

Mabolo (VELVET APPLE) as Herbal Medicine

(scientific name: Diospyros blancoi) - is known for its value as an ornament, rather than for its fruit. Its wood is commonly known in the Philippines as kamagong, and it is the fruit that goes by the name of mabolo.

Properties
• Considered astringent, antidiarrheal, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial.

Parts utilized
Roots and leaves.

Uses
Bark and leaves used for itchy skin ailments.
- Decoction of bark for coughs.
- Bark used for fevers, dysentery and diarrhea.
- In Southeast Asia, juice of unripe fruit used for wounds.
- Oil from seeds used for diarrhea and dysentery.
- Infusion of fruit used as gargle in aphthous stomatitis.
- In Bangladesh, juice of bark and leave used for snakebites.
- Bark and leaves used as eyewash.
- In the Guianas, used for colds, diarrhea, heart problems, hypertension, spider bites, stomach aches, diabetes, eczema.

·
Availability
Cultivated and wild-crafted.

Luya (Ginger) as Herbal Medicine

(scientific name: Zingiber officinale)
It is botanically not a root but a rhizome of the monocotyledonous perennial plant. It has many uses as a medicinal herb with antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, antiviral, diuretic and antiseptic properties.

Properties
• Extracts and active constituents have shown potent antioxidant, antiinflammatory, antimutagenic, antimicrobial and possible anticancer activities.
• Considered adaptogenic, anodyne, anthelmintic, antiallergenic, antibacterial, anticoagulant, anticonvulsant, antidepressant, antifungal, antithrombotic, antitumore, antiulcer, aphrodisiac, carminative, diuretic, rubifacient, anti-platelet aggregation, hypolipidemic, thermoregulatory.
• Pungency is attributed to the pungent principle, zingerone and shogaol, while the aroma is imparted by the volatile oil.
• Considered stomachic, carminative, stimulant, diaphoretic, sialagogue, and digestive.

Parts utilized
Tops, leaves and edible roots.

Uses
Flavoring for confectioneries, ginger ale, ginger beer, ginger champagnes, and other beverages.
- Salabat, a native beverage, is prepared from the rhizomes.
- A prominent condiment in Filipino cuisine.
- Taken with rocksalt before meals is cleansing to the tongue and throat and increases the appetite.
- In Malaya fresh ginger is an important ingredient in curry.
Folkloric
- In the Philippines, pounded rhizome, alone or mixed with oil, used as revulsive and antirheumatic.
- As antiseptic, tincture of dried rhizome prepared with 70% alcohol (not rubbing alchol) and applied on superficial cuts and wounds; or, juice from fresh rhizome used similarly.
- As digestive aid and for flatulence and tympanism, decoction of the rhizome drunk as tea.
- Ginger juice rubbed on and around the navel is said to cure all kinds of diarrhea.
- For rheumatism, roasted rhizome is pounded and mixed with oil and applied locally.
- For sore throat and hoarseness, warm decoction of the rhizome is drunk as ginger tea (salabat); piece of small rhizome chewed for the same.
- Rhizome used as cough remedy, rubifacient, carminative and diuretic.
- Also used for hangovers.
- For chronic rheumatism, ginger infusion ( 2 drams in 6 ounces of boiling water and strained) is taken at bedtime
- Poulticed of pounded and warmed leaves applied to bruises.
- Ginger taken with rock salt before meals is said to clean the tongue and throat and increase the appetite. Chewing ginger is said to diminish biliousness and delirium, relieve sore throat, hoarseness and aphonia, and increases the flow of saliva.
- For headaches: Ginger plaster (bruised ginger in water to the consistency of poultice) is applied to the forehead. Same preparation may be helpful for toothaches and facial pain.
- In Indo-China, cataplasm used for furuncles; when mixed with oil is antirheumatic. Rhizomes also used for tuberculosis, general fatigue and uterine affections.
- In Perak, rhizomes used as vermifuge.
- In the Antilles powdered rhizome used as revulsive for pleuritis.
- In Ayurvedic medicine, used for inflammation and rheumatism.
- In India, used as carminative adjunct along with black pepper and long pepper.
- In Chinese folk medicine, pulverized fresh ginger used for baldness and vitiligo. Juice from fresh root used for treatment of burns.
New uses
• Motion Sickness / Pregnancy-related Nausea: Antiemetic properties. Used for Nausea, motion sickenss (1 gm taken 1/2 hour before the voyage). Stimulates digestion. Possibly antiinflammatory.

Side effects
• No known side effects or drug interactions.
• The German Commission E recommends that it be avoided during pregnancy due to possible inhibition of testosterone binding in the fetus.
• The use in pregnancy for hyperemesis gravidarum is controversial. Use for nausea during pregnancy is not recommended. • Should not be used by pregnant women with a history of bleeding disorders and miscarriages.


Anticogulang precaution
Decreases platelet adhesiveness; therefore, should be used with caution by patients on anticoagulant therapy.

Availability
Wild-crafted.
Popular condiment and perennial market produce.
Candied ginger and lozenges.
Dried powdered gingeroot.
Tinctures, tablets, capsules, syrups and teas in the cybermarket.

Gumamela (CHINA ROSE) as Herbal Medicine

Properties
· Considered emollient, emmenagogue, anodyne, expectorant, refrigerant.
· Anti-infectious, anthelmintic, antiinflammatory, diuretic, antipyretic.
· Hypotensive, antispasmodic.
· Prepared drug has sweet taste, neutral natured.
· The Hibiscus with five petals noted for its medicinal properties, the flowers are considered astringent. The roots contain a mucilage that is soothing on the mucous membranes of the digestive and respiratory tracts.
· Proanthocyanidins are considered antioxidant, antipyretic, analgesic, spasmolytic.

Constituents
- Flowers reported to yield hisbiscetin.
- Flowers yield polyphenols, flavonoids and anthocyanins.
- Polysaccharides which promote wound healing and are immune-modulating.
- Studies have isolated flavonoids, cyanidin, quercetin, hentriacontane, calcium oxalate, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, ascorbic acid.

Parts utilized
· Flowers, roots, and leaves.
· Harvest the roots and leaves anytime of the year.
· Wash, cut into slices, and sun-dry. The flowers should be collected from May to August, sun-dry.

Uses
In the Philippines, flower buds, beaten to a paste, applied as poultice to boils, cancerous swellings, and mumps.
·Poultice of leaves and flower buds applied externally to swellings; the same mixture, with the addition of lime, hastens the maturation of tumors.
· Mumps, infection of the urinary tract: use dried drug materials 15 to 30 gms, boil to decoction and drink.
· For abscesses, carbuncles and boils: crush fresh leaves and poultice the infected area.
· Decoction of roots, barks, leaves and flowers used as an emollient.
· Decoction from roots of red and white-flowered plants is a Kelantan antidote for poison. Same decoction is drunk for venereal diseases and fevers.
· Decoction of roots also used for coughs.
· Decoction of flowers and or roots used as natural diuretic.
· Bark is an emmenagogue; also used to normalize menstruation.
· Malays uses a decoction of leaves as a lotion for fevers, and the roots for glands in the neck.
· Infusion or poultice of leaves used for headaches.
· In China, leaves used as emollient, anodyne, and a gentle aperient.
· Decoction of root used as drops for sore eyes.
· Seeds used as a stimulant and for cramps.
· Decoction of leaves for fevers.
· For headaches, an infusion of leaves or poultice of leaves.
· Leaves are mildly laxative.
· Mucilage applied during labor.
· Juice of leaves, along with that of Vernonia cinerea, used by midwives to stimulate the expulsion of the placenta
· In the Dutch Indies the red flowers are used to regulate menstruation; also, considered somewhat purgative and sometimes said to cause abortion
· In Sind, flowers are fried in clarified butter and used for checking excessive menstruation
· Red flowers used for sprue.
· Infusion of flowers and leaves used as expectorant in bronchitis
· The Chinese and Annamites use the flowers for paralysis and dysmenorrhea.
· Infusion of flowers, exposed all night to the dew, used for gonorrhea.
· Flowers fried in ghee, given for menorrhagia. The dark red petals are used as a mucilaginous infusion for painful urination, strangury, cystitis, and other irritable genitourinary conditions
· Infusion used as a refrigerant drink for fevers and as demulcent for coughs.
· Red flowers are purgative; when taken with papaya seeds, may be abortive.
· Hair stimulant: oil made by mixing the juice of fresh petals and olive oil in equal proportions, and boiled till the water has evaporated, used for stimulating hair growth.
· Seeds, pounded to a pulp and mixed with water, used for gonorrhea.
· In Costa Rica, used as a purgative.
· In Venezuela, used to treat tumors.
· In the Caribbean, used as analgesic, anti-inflammatory.
· In the Dominican Republic, used to treat hematomas.

Availability
Wild-crafted.
Cultivated for ornamental use.

Karot (Carrot) as Herbal Medicine

Constituents
- Leaves contain a volatile oil with pyrrolidine, daucine, and mannite.
- Roots yield volatile oil 0.0114%; fixed oil, carotin, lecithin, phosphatide, glutamine, sugar 4 to 12%, d-glucose, malic acid, pectin 1 to 3%, asparagine, inosite, etc.
- Leaves and seeds yield an alkaloid; the seeds, in addition, yield a bitter glucoside.

Properties
Astringent, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, sudorific.

Parts used
Roots, seeds.

Uses
Believed to be beneficial for cancers and kidney problems.
- For coughs and chest afflictions, the roots are boiled in milk; the milk is drunk and a poultice of the root is applied to the chest.
- In Mexico, roots are boiled in milk and used for coughs and chest affliction.
- For burns and infected ulcers, grated carrots are applied to the affected parts.
- Ointment made from roots and lard used for burns and scalds.
- Raw carrots eaten as mechanical anthelmintic.
- Root made into marmalade used as refrigerant.
- Poultice of carrots also used for ulcers, carbuncles, infected wounds.
- Seeds of the plant when ground to powder and taken as tea for colic and to increase urine flow.
- Tea of carrot blossoms has been used for treatment of dropsy.
- In India, seeds as considered a nervine tonic; Decoction of leaves and seeds used as stimulant to the uterus during parturition. In the Punjab, seeds are used as aphrodisiac and used for uterine pain. Fruit is recommended for chronic diarrhea. Seeds also used as abortifacient.
- In European folk medicine, root decoction used for jaundice and hepatic disorders.


Availability
Cultivated market produce.
Carrot seed essential oil in the cybermarket.

Lagundi (FIVE-LEAF CHASTE TREE) as Herbal Medicine

Parts utilized
- Leaves, bark, roots and seeds.
- Leaves may be harvested three months after establishment.


Properties
• Plant is considered antiinflammatory, astringent, antibacterial, antifungal, analgesic, alterant, depurative, rejuvinating, stomachic.
• Roots considered tonic, febrifuge, antirheumatic, diuretic and expectorant.
• Leaves and seeds considered vulnerary.
• Leaves are considered aromatic, bitter, anti-inflammatory, bronchial smooth muscle relaxant, lactagogue, emmenagogue, insecticide, and vermifuge.
• Flowers are astringent, carminative, hepatoprotective, digestive, vermifuge and febrifuge.
• Fruit is considered nervine, cephalic, aphrodisiac, emmenagogue and vermifuge.


Uses
Folkloric
- Decoction of leaves used externally for cleaning ulcers and internally for flatulence. Also used as a lactagogue and emmenagogue.
- Decoction of bark, tops and leaves used as antigastralgic.
- Leaves used in aromatic baths; also as insectifuge.
- Vapor bath prepared with the plant used for treatment of febrile, catarrhal, and rheumatic affections.
- Decoction of leaves used as warm bath by women suffering with after-pains in the puerperal period. Also used as baths for new born children.
- Seeds are boiled in water and eaten or the water drunk to prevent the spread of toxin from bites of poisonous animals.
- Infusion of seeds used for disinfecting wounds and ulcers.
- Infusion of seeds in wine used for dropsy.
- Pounded leaves applies on the forehead and temples for headaches.
- Leaf decoction for fever, headache, toothache, cough, asthma.
- Root used as tonic, febrifuge and expectorant.
- Fruit used as nervine, cephalic, and emmenagogue.
- Tincture of root bark used for irritable bladder and for rheumatism.
- Powdered root used for piles as demulcent; also for dysentery.
- Root used for dyspepsia, colic, rheumatism, worms, boils, and leprosy.
- Flowers are used for diarrhea, cholera, fever, and diseases of the liver; and also as cardiac tonic.
- Powdered flowers and stalks are used for bleeding from the stomach and bowels.
- Fruit used for headaches, catarrh, and watery eyes. Dried fruits are used as vermifuge.
- Seeds are prepared as cooling mediing for skin diseases, leprosy, and inflammation of the mouth.
- Oil prepared with the juice used for sinuses and scrofulous sores. Oil also used as a rubbing application to glandular or tubercular swelliings of the neck. Oil also used for treatment of sloughing wounds and ulcers.
- Leaves used for reducing inflammatory and rheumatic swellings of the joints and testicular swelling associated with gonorrheal epididymitis and orchitis. Poultice of leaves also applied to sprained limbs, contusions, leech bites, etc. For these, fresh leaves in an earthen pot are heated over fire, and applied and applied as tolerated over the bruised parts. Leaves heated over fire are also applied with oil externally on wounds.
- Pillow stuffed with leaves is placed under the head for relief of catarrh and headache. Dried leaves when smoked also used to relieve catarrh and headaches.
- Decoction of leaves and long pepper used for catarrhal fever associated with head congestion and dullness of hearing.
- Juice of leaves used to remove fetid discharges and worms from ulcers.
- Plaster of leaves applied to enlarged spleens.
- Folkloric preparations: (1) For fever and toothaches, boil 6 tbsp of the chopped leaves in 2 glasses of water for 15 minutes; strain and cool. Divide the decoction in 3 parts and take one part every 3-4 hours. Also, bruised leaves may be applied to forehead. (2) For asthma and cough: Take 1/4 of the decoction three times a day. (3) Aromatic bath or sponge bathing: Boil 4 handfuls of leaves in a pot of water for 5 minutes; use the lukewarm decoction for sponge bathing.
- In Ayurveda and Unani, leaves and seeds used for rheumatism and joint inflammation. Decoction of leaves taken as a diuretic.
- In Bangladesh, used for headaches, weakness, vomiting, malaria black fever.
- In Indo-China, root decoction used for intermittent fevers.
- In Sri Lanka, used for eye disease, toothache, rheumatism; used as tonic, carminative and vermifuge.
Others
- Insecticide: Leaves considered insecticide and placed between pages of books and folds of silk and woolen clothing to preserve them from insects.
- Dyeing: Ashes much used as alkali in dyeing.
Recent Use
Lagundi has been proven to be an effective analgesic and antitussive (prepared as a pleasant tasting cough syrup) and has been considered as a replacement for dextromethorphan in the public health system.
New Application
Studies have shown benefit through reduction of coughing and relaxation of the bronchial smooth muscles. Being promoted by the Department of Health (DOH) for cough and asthma. One of a few herbs recently registered with the Bureau of Foods and Drugs (BFAD) as medicines.


Availability
Wild-crafted.
Commercial formulations: Tablets, capsules, oil, teas, and syrup.

Balanoy (Sweet Basil) as Herbal Medicine

Properties
• Carminative, stimulant, diaphoretic, expectorant, febrifuge, diuretic, demulcent, mucilaginous, cooling.
• Leaves and flowers considered excitant, diuretic, and stimulant for weak digestion.
• Seeds and flowers considered stimulant, diuretic and demulcent.
• Seeds are mucilaginous and cooling.


Parts utilized
• Leaves, seeds.
• Mature fresh leaves are harvested 2 to 3 months after planting. Leaves are picked leaving the branches on the plant to allow it to flower and produce seeds for the next season.
• The leaves are air-dried until they crumble when crushed with the fingers. Store in amber colored bottles in a cool, dry place.


Uses
Culinary / Edibility
- The leafy and flowering tops are used as condiment; eaten sparingly in salads.
- Seeds are sometimes eaten.
- In Kanawar, sometimes eaten mixed in ordinary bread.
I- n Bengal, infused in water, used as a refreshing and cooling drink.
Folkloric
- Cough: Expectorant properties - Take infusion or decoction of herb (9-15 gm of dried herb) or tops as tea.
- Leaf juice helpful for expectoration of mucus.
- Decoction of leaves also used for hiccups, vomiting and nausea.
- Gas pains: Decoction of herb as tea helps to expel wind from bowels.
- Ear afflictions: Juice of leaves dropped in ears for earache and dullness of hearing.
- Snake bites: Crush fresh plant and poultice the bitten wound.
- Gonorrhea, using a decoction of the roots and leaves of plants.
- Decoction of leaves used as a wash for ulcers.
- Used for external contusions.
- Used in baths for rheumatic pains.
- For ringworm and insect bites, apply juice of crushed leaves.
- Decoction of herb as wash for skin ulcers.
- For delayed menstruation: take the juice of the leaves with water.
- Seeds are used in treatment of several eye diseases; to soothe pain and inflammation.
- Toothache: Wet small piece of cotton with juice of crushed leaves and insert into tooth cavity.
- Decoction of seeds used to decrease postpartum pains; the seeds are mucilaginous.
- Poultice of seeds used for buccal sores.
- Decoction of seeds also used for constipation.
- Acne: Infusion of 3 tsp of dried leaves in 1 cup of boiling water for 20-30 minutes.
- Apply externally or drink decoction of tea or infusion 3 times daily.
- Malays used the leaves as remedy for coughs.
- Decoction of leaves used after childbirth; juice taken for delayed menses.
- Seeds given as infusion for gonorrhea, diarrhea and chronic dysentery.
- Seeds used as aphrodisiac.
- Seeds, washed and pounded, used in poultices for sores and sinuses; also used internally for habitual constipation and internal hemorrhoids.
Others
• Oils repel insects (limonene, myrcene, camphor, thymol) and have larvicidal (eugenol and methylclaviol) activity against houseflies and mosquitoes.
• Malays use it as a scent for clothes.
• In Africa, they are compounded into cosmetics.
Recent uses
Dizziness: crush enough fresh leaves with your fingers and sniff them.
Cough: As decoction boil eight tablespoons of fresh leaves in two glasses of water for 15 minutes or until the liquid is reduced to half. Divide the decoction into eight parts and take one part, three times a day.


Availability
Wild-crafted.
Cultivated for condiment and culinary use.


Toxicity
Although known for its medicinal benefits, it contains some potentially dangerous compounds: safrole, rutin, caffeic acid, tryptophan and quercetin.(

Bayabas (Guava) as Herbal Medicine

"Guava" in English. A Philippine herbal medicine used as antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, antioxidant hepatoprotective, anti-allergy, antimicrobial, anti-plasmodial, anti-cough, antidiabetic, and antigenotoxic in folkloric medicine.

Distribution
- Widely distributed throughout the Philippines in all islands and provinces.
- Common in backyards and settled areas.
- In thickets and secondary forests at low altitudes, ascending to at least 1,500 meters.
- Introduced from tropical America.
- Thoroughly naturalized.
- Pantropic in distribution.

Properties
- Antidiarrheal, antiseptic, antispasmodic, antioxidant hepatoprotective, anti-allergy, antimicrobial, antigenotoxic, antiplasmodial, cardioactive, anticough, antidiabetic, antiinflammatory, antinociceptive.
- Bark and leaves are astringent and vulnerary.

Parts utilized
Leaves, bark, fruit, flowers, roots.

Uses
Edibility / Nutrition
- Well known for its edible fruit.
- Fruit can be eaten raw or canned, jellied, juiced or powdered.
- Ripe fruit is eaten as vegetable and used as seasoning for native dishes, like sinigang, etc.
- Very high in vitamin C (80 mg in 100 gm of fruit) with large amounts of vitamin A.
Folkloric
- In the Philippines, the astringent, unripe fruit, the leaves, bark cortex, and roots - though more often the leaves only - are used in decoction for washing ulcers and wounds.
-Fresh leaves used for wounds and toothache.
- Decoction or infusion of fresh leaves used for wound cleaning to prevent infection and to facilitate healing.
- Warm decoction of leaves for aromatic baths.
- Decoction of bark and leaves used for diarrhea.
- For diarrhea, boil for 15 minutes 4 to 6 tablespoons of chopped leaves in 18 ounces of water. Strain and cool. Drink 1/4 of the decoction every 3 - 4 hours.
- Bark used internally for chronic diarrhea of children and adults - half an ounce of the bark or root bark in six ounces of water is boiled down to 3 ounces, and given in teaspoon doses. Also used for prolapsus ani of children.
- Decoction of rootbark also used as mouthwash for swollen gums.
- Root-bark has been recommended for chronic diarrhea.
- For toothache, chew 2-3 young leaves and put into the tooth cavity.
- In Mexico, decoction of leaves used for cleaning ulcers. Ground leaves used as poultice. Leaves also used as remedy for itches. Fruit also used as anthelmintic.
- In Uruguay, decoction of leaves used as vaginal and uterine wash, especially in leucorrhea.
- In the West Indies, decoction of young leaves and shoots used as febrifuge and for antispasmodic baths. Infusion of leaves used for cerebral affections, nephritis, and cachexia. Pounded leaves used locally for rheumatism; extract used for epilepsy and chorea.
- In Costa Rica, decoction of flower buds used for diarrhea and to improve blood flow.
- For gum swelling, chew leaves or use the leaf decoction as mouthwash 3 times daily; chewed leaves.
- For skin ulcers, pruritic or infected wounds: Apply decoction of leaves or unripe fruit as wash or the leaf poultice on the wound or use the decoction for wound cleansing. It is also popularly used for the wound healing of circumcision wounds.
- Guava jelly used as heart tonic; also for constipation.
- Ripe fruit is used as aperient.
- Water in which the fruit is soaked used for diabetes.
- For nosebleeds, densely roll the bayabas leaves and place into the nostril cavity.
- As vaginal wash, warm decoction of leaves as vaginal wash (after childbirth) or douche.
Cosmetic
Leaf extract used in skin whitening products.
Dental
Toothbrush au-natural: Bayabas twigs, chewed at the ends until frayed, used as alternative for toothbrushing with whitening effect.
Others
Wood is suitable for carpentry, turnery, fuel or charcoal.
A favorite rural use for tool handles.

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Bawang (Garlic) as Herbal Medicine

Common name in english is "Garlic". Bawang is a used in Philippine herbal medicine to treat infection with antibacterial, antiinflammatory, anti-cancer and anti-hypertensive properties. It is widely used to reduce cholesterol level in blood.

Distribution
Ubiquitous in market places. Commercially grown in Batangas, Nueva Ecija, Ilocos Norte, Mindoro, and Cotobato.

Properties
• Antibacterial, antihelminthic, antimycotic, antiviral, antispasmodic, diaphoretic, expectorant, fibrinolytic, hypotensive, promiting leucocytosis, lowering lipids and inhibiting platelet aggregation.

Parts utilized
Bulbs: Features prominently as a condiment and flavor in Filipino cuisine.
Herbalists, with concerns that cooking diminishes medicinal potency, recommends eating raw garlic cloves.

Uses
Arthritis, rheumatism, toothaches: Crush several cloves and rub on affected areas.
Headaches: Crush one clove and apply to both temples as poultice.
Insect bites: Crush garlic or cut clove crosswise and rub directly to affected area.
Athlete's foot.
Decoction of leaves and bulbs for fever and as hypotensive, carminative, expectorant, and antihelmintic.
Juice from freshly crushed garlic used for colds, cough, sore throat, hoarseness, asthma and bronchitis.
Decoction use for tonsillitis.
For nasal congestion - a steam inhalation of chopped garlic and a teaspoon of vinegar in boiling water.
Fresh garlic has been used as a complement to INH therapy for tuberculosis.
Also used for menstrual cramps.
Digestive problems and gastrointestinal spasms.
For gas pains, drink an infusion of a peeled broild clove.

Availability
Wildcrafted.
Perennial market produce.
Commercial: Tablets, extracts, capsules, powder and tea.

Atis (Sugar Apple) as Herbal Medicine

The Atis tree is easy to grow. Just plant a seed on almost any soil and atis will grow. However, it requires tropical or near tropical weather. When planted, Atis will begin to bear fruit in about a year's time. It will bear fruit about 3 times a year and the sweetest fruits are those borne during the summer months.
Cultivated throughout the Philippines; occasionally spontaneous.
- Introduced from tropical America by the Spaniards.

All parts of the atis tree have medicinal value. The seeds however are poisonous. The seeds are pounded and made into paste. This can be applied to the scalp of the head to kill hair lice. Care should be taken when applying atis seed paste on the scalp as this is extremely irritating to the eyes and can even cause blindness. The paste when applied into the uterus can cause abortion.

Uses
Salted bruised leaves used to hasten suppuration.
Bark decoction is used as tonic and to stop diarrhea.
Root has purgative action.
Leaf decoction used for rheumatic baths to alleviate pain.
For fainting and hysteria, crush fresh leaves and place over nose.
For infected insect bites, pound and extract the juice from one unripe fruit and apply the juice directly to the affected areas, 3 times daily.
For lice infestation of the head, atis has a herbal treatment regimen:
(1) Shampoo hair with gugo bark or any commercial shampoo daily for one week; with "suyod" combing twice daily.
(2) For lice eggs (nits), apply hot vinegar for half an hour after shampooing; then "suyod" (fine combing) thoroughly.
(3) Bedtime, pound 1/2 cup of atis seeds and mix with 1/4 cup of oil. Apply mixture throroughly to the scalp and hair. Wrap the hair and head overnight. Shampoo in the morning and follow with fine tooth combing. Do daily for 3-5 days.
(4) Paste of the crushed seeds in water, applied to the scalp. The same used as abortifacient applied to the os uteri.
In Northern India, young leaves used for diabetes.
In Malaysia, used for skin infections, diarrhea, dysentery and UTIs.

Tubang Bakod (Physic Nut Tree) as Herbal Medicine

Now pantropic.

Chemical
• Seed has a toxic principle, toxalbumin curcin, belonging to the same group as croton and ricin. Comparatively, curcin causes less gastrointestinal irritation. 8 drops of this oil has been reported to cause severe vomiting, followed by diarrhea.
• Bark contains a considerable amount of chlorophyll, reducing sugars or reducing substances, saponin, a small amont of tannin, resin, and a trace of volatile oil. Bark also yields a wax which is a mixture of melissyl alcohol and its melissinic acid ester.
• Latex contains alkaloids: jatrophine, jatropham and curcain with its anti-cancerous properties.
• Leaves yield alkloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, phenolic compounds, steroids, terpenoids.
• Leaves contain apigenin, vitexin, isovitexin, etc used for malaria, rheumatic and muscular pains.
• Physic-nut oil consists of glycerides of palmitic, oleic, and linoleic acids.
• Seed contains a yellow fixed oil, 29-40 %, known as Hell oil, Pinhoen oil, Oleum infernale, and Oleum ricini majoris; the activity is greater than castor oil and less that of croton oil. It consists of the glyceride of a characteristic acid, in the same group as ricinoleic and crotonoleic acid, but not identical with either, with an activity greater than castor oil and less than croton oil.

Properties
- Bitter-tart tasting, cooling natured, antipyretic, antispasmodic, anti-vomiting, haemostatic, styptic, suppurative.
- Toxic; observe caution with internal use.
- Roots are emetic and purgative.
- Oil of the seed is a drastic purgative.

Parts utilized
· Fresh leaves.
· Collected the year round.

Uses
· In the Philippines, oil of seeds used as a drastic purgative.
· Decoction of roots used a cure for diarrhea.
· External applications for bleeding, ulceration of wound, pruritus.
· Decoction of leaves or roots used for diarrhea.
· Bark, slightly pounded, placed in the mouth as cure for snake bites; also applied to bites of various animals.
· The leaf decoction is also used as a cough remedy and as galactagogue.
· Poultice of bark used for sprains and dislocations. Sap is used for toothaches.
· Leaves are applied to wounds and pruritic lesions.
· A vigorous massaging of the oil onto the abdomen is believed to be abortifacient..
· Decoction of young leaves taken for fevers.
· Infusion of leaves, hot or cold, mixed with lime juice, used as lotion for fevers.
· Twigs used for cleaning teeth.
· Used for scabies, eczema, and ringworm.
· Juice used for toothaches and strengthening the gums.
· Preparation from root-bark applied to sores.
· Emulsion of sap with benzyl benzoate used for scabies, eczema and dermatitis.
· Roots used as antidote for snake bites.
· In other countries, the seed is used as antihelminthic or abortive; the leaves as insecticidal.
· Roots used as antidote against snake venom; root extract used for bleeding gums.
· White latex used as mouth disinfectant; used externally for piles.
· Fresh, viscid juice from the stem used to arrest bleeding or hemorrhage from wounds, ulcers, cuts, and abrasions; used to promote healing by coagulating blood and forming an air-tight film when dry, similar to that produced by collodion.
· In South Africa, traditionally used as laxative.
· In Gambia, leaves used to make mouthwash.
· In the Gold Coast, leaves used as ingredient in enema preparations.
· In Southern Nigeria, used as remedy for jaundice, applied by rectal injection.
· In Malaya used as rubefacient. Malays use the latex as vulnerary.
· In the Cape Verde Islands, used to stimulate secretion of milk.
· In Cambodia, applied to sores and ulcers; the leaves considered insecticidal; the seeds considered abortifacient.
· In Brazil, used as anthelmintic.
· In Goa, root-bark applied externally for rheumatism. Fresh stems are used as toothbrushes, to strengthen the gums and cure bleeding, spongy gums, or gum boils.
· In Madagascar and Guiana as an anti-diarrhetic; latex is applied to decayed teeth and wounds, and used as styptic; the roots given as emetic and purgative.
· In India, applied as cataplasm to the breasts and as lactagogue. Also, used as styptic.
· In Peru, traditionally used for external wound healing and gastric ulcers.
Others
- Curcas Oil: Used as illuminant and lubricant. Belongs to a class of semidrying oils and used in the manufacture of soaps and candles.

Bayag-Usa as Herbal Medicine

In secondary forests and thickets at lower elevations.

Uses
Reported anti-tumor use.

Kampanilla (Yellow Bell) as Herbal Medicine

Occasionally semi-established in wild in thickets near dwellings or settlements.

Constituents
- Phytochemical studies revealed the main constituents to be alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins and carbohydrates.
- Contains allamandin, a toxic iridoid lactone.
- As the name implies, the leaves, roots and flowers may be used in preparing a powerful cathartic.
- Milky sap is considered antibacterial, possibly anticancer.
- Study of phospholipid fatty acid composition yielded 7-Methyl-5,9-octadecadienoic acid.

Properties
- In the Philippines, whole plant is considered poisonous.
- Purgative, cathartic with hydrogogue effect, healing, diuretic.

Parts utilized:
Leaves and bark.

Uses
- The plant draws its name from Allamand, who made the plant known a century and a half ago, who used a cathartic infusion of the leaves for colic.
- Infusion of leaves in moderate doses is an excellent cathartic; in considerable doses, it is purgative and a violent emetic.
- The bark and latex in small doses are considered cathartic; in large doses, poisonous.
- Decoction of the bark is a hydragogue; infusion of leaves is cathartic.
- Decoction of leaves in small doses used as antidote for poisoning.
- Extract of leaves used for colic and as laxative; in large doses causes diarrhea and vomiting.
- In Trinidad, used for treating malaria and jaundice.
- In Guiana, the latex is used as a purgative and employed for colic.
- In Surinam, the plant is used as a cathartic.

Melon (Cantaloupe) as Herbal Medicine

Cultivated in all warm countries.

Constituents
- Fruit contains dextrose, 1.4 to 2.6%; citric acid, water, 92 to 96%; fat, 0.5 to 0.8%;.
- Seed contains globulin and glutine, arginine, histidine, lysine, cystine, tryptophan, fixed oil, galactan and glucose.
- Oil consists of glycerides of linoleic, oleic, palmitic, stearic and myristic acid; also, lecithin and chloresterin.
- Roots contain nenemetin, potassium malate and pectin.
- Contains an emetic principle.

Properties
- Considered emetic and purgative.
- Fruit, especially the pulp, considered nutritive, demulcent, diuretic and cooling.
- Seeds considered diuretic.
- Kernel considered stomachic, peptic and constructive remedy.

Parts used
Roots, pulp, seeds, kernel.

Uses
- Root considered an effective emetic – one piece in 60 gm of lime water.
- Peduncles used for anasarca and indigestion. In Indo-China, it is employed to arrest vomiting.
- Fruit pulp used as a lotion for chronic and acute eczema; also used for removing tan and freckles; and internally, used for dyspepsia.
- Seeds yield a sweet, edible oil which is nutritive and diuretic, useful for painful discharges and suppression of the urine.
- Fruit pulp also used as diuretic.
- Kernels prescribed for cancer of the stomach and for purulent problems of the digestive tract.
- Kernels used for menorrhagia, after the oil has been extracted.
- In Italy seeds are used as emollient and refreshing medicine.

Kalabasa or Squash as Herbal Medicine

Planted in all warm countries.

Constituents
• Phytochemical screening yielded carbohydrates, steroids, proteins and amino acids.
• Fruit contains fat, 10%; pentosan, 5.2 %; protein, 14.2%; and ash, 9/3%.
• Seeds contain fixed oil, 20-25%; a proteid, edestin. The seed's active principle is a pepo-resin found in the cotyledons.
• Curcurbitin, a constituent in pumpkin seeds has shown anti-parasitic activity in the test tube.
• Seed extract yielded carbohydrates, saponins, and flavonoids.

Properties
• Considered anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, diuretic, tonic, vermifuge.
• Considered antidiabetic, antioxidant, anticarcinogenic.

Parts used
Fruits, seeds, stalk.

Uses:
• In India, fruit pulp is often used as poultice for carbuncles, boils and ulcers.
• Dried pulp, in the form of confection, used as remedy for hemoptysis and hemorrhages from the pulmonary tract.
• For venomous insect bites, the fruit stalk in contact with the ripe gourd is cut, dried, and made into a paste and applied to venomous insect bites, especially centipedes.
• The fresh seeds, pulped or in emulsion, are used as antihelminthic. Seeds are eaten fresh to expel worms from the stomach. For tapeworms, seeds are given with sugar at bedtime, followed with a dose of castor oil in the morning.
• Seed oil used as nervine tonic.
• In Brazil, pumpkin seeds are used for stomach pain, as antiinflammatory, antipyretic and anthelminthic.
• In China, pumpkin seeds have been used for acute schistosomiasis.
• In Thailand, seeds used for kidney stones.
Others
• Seed contains an oil. Used for lighting.
• Fruit can provide a face-mask for dry skins.

Ampalaya (Momordica charantia)

Properties
- Considered astringent, antidiabetic, abortifacient, antirheumatic, contraceptive, galactagogue, parasiticide, anthelmintic, purgative, emetic, antipyretic, febrifuge, emmenagogue, cooling , tonic, vulnerary.
- Fruit considered tonic and stomachic.

Parts utilized
Leaves, roots and fruits.

Uses
- In the Philippines, juice expressed from the green fruit is given for chronic colitis: also used for bacillary dysentery.
- Astringent powdered leaves or root decoction can be applied to hemorrhoids.
- Leaf juice for cough and as a purgative and anthelminthic to expel intestinal parasites, and for healing wounds.
- Seeds also used to expel worms.
- The vine or the juice of leaves used as mild purgative for children.
- In large doses, the fresh juice is a drastic purgative.
- Decoction of roots and seeds used for urethral discharges.
- Juice of leaves used for chronic coughs.
- Leaves and shoots used as vulnerary.
- Sap of leaves used as parasiticide.
- Fruit macerated in oil used as vulnerary.
- Fruit considered tonic and stomachic; used in rheumatism, gout, and diseases of the spleen and liver.
- Pounded leaves used for scalds.
- Infusion of leaves or leaf juice used for fevers.
- Used for chronic stomach ulcers.
- Root sometimes used as ingredient in aphrodisiac preparations.
- Decoction of root used as abortifacient.
- Fruit in large doses considered a drastic purgative and abortifacient.
- In India, root used as astringent; applied externally to hemorrhoids.
- In Lagos, decoction of leaves used as stomachic.
- Leaves used as anthelmintic and antipyretic, and applied externally to leprosy.
- In India and Malaya, pounded leaves are applied to skin diseases, burns and scalds.
- Poultice of leaves used for headaches.
- Infusion of flowers used for asthma.
- Olive or almond oil infusion of the fruit, without the seeds, used for chapped hands, hemorrhoids, and burns.
- Root, along with fruits and seeds, used as abortifacient, as well as remedy for urethral discharges.
- In Batavia, vine used as anthelmintic, purgative, and emetic.
- In Jamaica, leaf decoction or infusion is taken for colds, as laxative and blood cleanser. Warm tea infusions also used for toothaches and mouth infections. Also used as a bath/wash for skin eruptions and acne.
Used for eczema, malarial, gout, jaundice, abdominal pain, kidney (stone), leprosy, leucorrhea, piles, pneumonia, psoriasis, , rheumatism, fever and scabies. Also, boiled leaves and decoction of plant used to promote lochia.
- In Antilles, sweetened decoction of leaves used as emmenagogue and vermifuge.
- In Cuba, used for diabetes mellitus; used for wounds refractive to other treatments, for skin disease, and for sterility in women.
- In Puerto Rico, used for diabetes.
- In Indo-China, fruit macerated in salted water used for fluxes, catarrh, and children's coughs. Seeds employed in the treatment of dysentery.
- In Brazil, seeds used as anthelmintic.
In China, used as hypoglycemic and antidiabetic.
In Turkey, used for healing of cutaneous lesions and peptic ulcers.
Others
- Seeds with oil, employed as cosmetic.
- Leaves used to clean metals.

Akapulko (Cassia alata)

Properties
 • Saponin acts as a laxative and expels intestinal parasites.
 • Its fungicide property derives from chrysophanic acid.
• Plant considered alterative, abortifacient, aperient, purgative, sudorific, hydragogue, diuretic, vermifuge.

 Parts utilized Leaves, seeds, and flowers.

 Uses: The seeds used for intestinal parasitism.
- Tincture from leaves reported to be purgative.
 - Decoction of leaves and flowers for cough and as expectorant in bronchitis and asthma. Also used as astringent.
 - Crushed leaves and juice extract used for ringworm, scabies, eczema, tinea infections, itches, insect bites, herpes. In Africa, the boiled leaves are used for hypertension.
- In South American, used for skin diseases, stomach problems, fever, asthma, snake bites and venereal disease.
 - In Thailand, leaves are boiled and drunk to hasten delivery. - As laxative, boil 10-15 dried leaves in water, taken in the morning and bedtime.
- For wound treatment, leaves are boiled and simmered to one-third volume, then applied to affected areas twice daily.
- In India, plant used as cure for poisonous bites and for venereal eruptions. - In Nigeria locally used for treatment of ringworm and parasitic skin diseases.
 - In the Antilles, Reunion, and Indo-China, plant is used as hydrogogue, sudorific, and diuretic. - Decoction of roots used for tympanites.
 - Wood used as alterative.
 - Sap of leaves used as antiherpetic.
- Leaf tincture or extract used as purgative.
- Juice of leaves mixed with lime-juice for ringworm.
- Leaves taken internally to relieve constipation.
 - Strong decoction of leaves and flowers used as wash for eczema. - Infusion of leaves and flowers used for asthma and bronchitis.
 - Strong decoction of leaves used as abortifacient.
 - Seeds used as vermifuge.