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Botany
Alagasi is an erect shrub
or small tree, reaching a height of 2 to 4 meters. Leaves are papery, oblong
or ovate, 10 to 15 centimeters long, 3 to 5 centimeters wide, felty and harsh to touch,
gray or chalkly white beneath and green on the other side; pointed
at the apex, abruptly and broadly rounded, and 3-nerved at the base. Flowers
are capitate, on 8-millimeter-long peduncles, either single or few-clustered, 1 centimeter in
diameter. Male flowers are white, upon short pedicles. Fruiting
heads are dark green, nearly spherical, with compressed achenes.
 Distribution
- In thickets and
second-growth forests at low and medium altitudes throughout the Philippines.
- Also occurs from Taiwan to Java and New Guinea.
Constituents
- Leaves are high in magnesium.
Parts
used
Roots, leaves.
Uses
Nutrition
• High Magnesium Content: Teh Kampung
(Leucosyke capitellata) leaves are particularly high in magnesium (626
mg/100 g). (1)
Folkloric
- Decoction of roots used
for phthisis, coughs, headache and gastralgia.
- In Malaysia, decoction
of leaves used for diabetes, high blood pressure and lumbago.
- In Kalimantan, Indonesia, plant used for treating stomachaches. (4)
- In Sabah, Malaysia, plant sap used as eye drops and for pain in the ears.
(3)
Others
• Fiber: Bark used for its strong
bast fibers in making ropes.
• Scouring: Leaves, with its one-sided roughness, used for
scouring pots and pans.
Studies
• Antihyperglycemic / Antioxidant: Study evaluated L. capitellata leaves for its effect on blood glucose in stretozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Results suggest the leaves extract has the ability to reduce oxidative stress and possess antihyperglycemic effect in diabetic rats probably through its antioxidant property. (2)
Availability
Wild-crafted. |
