Biophytum umbraculum [OXALIDACEAE]

Local name: Nieleni tulotugu and Djutuguni

Synonym: Biophytum petersianum

This is a slender annual herb with stems up to 25 cm long, and the leaves in a terminal crown. The plant is growing throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa and Madagascar. B. umbraculum (syn. Biophytum petersianum) is recognized as a plant traditionally used in medicine. In Congo it is used as a sedative, in Nigeria for stomach-ache, wounds and urinary stone. In Malian traditional medicine it is used in the treatment of cerebral malaria, fever, wounds, and different types of skin disorders. It has previously been reported that crude extracts from B. umbraculum exert hypotensive and hypoglycemic effects in rodents. The study demonstrated that a 50% ethanolic extract of the aerial parts stimulated corticosterone and aldosterone secretion from perifused rat adrenal glands. The plant has undergone certain investigations on the low molecular weight bioactive compounds, and different flavone glycosides like isovitexin, isoorientin and cassiaoccidentalin A have been isolated. These compounds have been reported to influence the COX-1/COX-2 system, and exert insulinotropic and hypoglycaemic effects in rat. In addition, aqueous and methanol extracts of the aerial parts of a a close relative, Biophytum sensitivum have shown anti-inflammatory activity on carrageenan-induced rat paw oedema.

By Ingvild Austarheim, Kari Inngjerdingen
Published Feb. 11, 2011 10:17 AM - Last modified June 20, 2013 4:18 PM