Botany
Malatiki is a small deciduous tree, flowering after leafing. Bark is rough, with deep, vertical fissures. Young shoots and young leaves are silky. Leaves are lanceolate, 8 to 15 centimeters long, with minutely and regularly toothed margins. Male sweet-scented catkins are 5 to 10 centimeters long, and are borne on leafy branchlets. Female catkins are 8 to 12 centimeters long. Capsules are long, stipulate, in groups of 3 to 4. Seeds are 4 to 6, in a capsule.
Distribution
- In forests and swamps and near streams at low and medium altitudes.
- Found in Cagayan, Laguna, Rizal, and Bulacan Provinces in Luzon; in Bohol; and in Mindanao.
- Also occurs in India to China, in Taiwan, and southward to Sumatra and Java.
Constituents
- Phytochemical screenings yield various types of sapogenins: quinovic acid, salicortin, saligenin, phenolic glycosides and pyrocatechol from the bark and leaves.
- Bark yields salicin.
- Plant yields tannins, triterpenes, viz., ß0amyrin, lupeol and chalcinasterol, steroids viz., ß-sitosterol and stigmasterol, with very low concentrations of free salicylaldehyde.
- Study of stem bark isolated 7 compounds: friedelin, 3 β-friedelinol acetate, β- sitosterol, β-sitosteryl-3-O-D-glucopyranoside, β-sitostenone, cis-1,2- cyclohexanediol, and long chain ester.
(7)
- Aqueous extract of bark yielded flavonoids, tannins, and saponins. (see study below) (9)
Properties
- Bark considered febrifuge and analgesic.
- Dried leaves reported to be cardiotonic and neurotonic.
- Studies have suggested anti-inflammatory, cardiotonic, diuretic, hypoglycemic, antimicrobial, laxative, antioxidant, antihypertensive properties.
Parts used
Bark, leaves.
Uses
Edibility
- In India, the new flowers are lightly boiled and mixed with mashed potatoes.
Folkloric
- Bark used to treat fever.
- Used in Egyptian folk medicine as antirheumatic sedative and analgesic. Leaves and bark used as remedy for aches and fever.
- Decoction of leaf and root used for whooping cough in children.
- Paste of both leaf and root used externally for scorpion stings, bug bites, sores and warts.
- Decoction of dried root taken internally for treatment of hepatitis.
- Sap of stem taken orally for dysmenorrhea.
- Hot water extract of entire plant instilled in vaginal cavity as abortifacient; rectally to treat local rectal sores.
- In Pakistan, bark used as febrifuge; leaves used to poultice wounds. In Bangladesh, used for fever. In India, bark used for epilepsy, rheumatism, bladder stones, hemorrhoids, epilepsy; roots used for diabetes. (10)
Others
- Fuel wood.
- Planted along water courses to prevent erosion.
- Used for making cricket bats and light furniture.
Studies
• Anti-Inflammatory: A study of extracts of five plants abundantly growing in Egypt, including Salix tetrasperma, revealed anti-inflammatory activity of the extracts under investigation. Activity was attributed to flavonoids. (2)
• Cardiotonic: Aqueous extract of dried leaf reported to possess cardiotonic activity.
• Reverse Transcriptase Inhibition: Methanol extract of dried leaf exhibit reverse transcriptase inhibition effect.
• Diuretic / Laxative: Study of aqueous extract of Salix tetrasperma in albino rats showed significant diuretic activity as well as laxative activity in a dose-dependent manner. (3)
• Antibacterial / Insecticidal / Cytotoxicity: Extracts of leaves, bark, and roots were evaluated for antibacterial, insecticidal, and in vivo cytotoxic activities. Bark extract was active against all tested Gr+ and Gr- organisms. Root and leaf extracts showed insecticidal activity against Tribolium castaneum. In invivo cytotoxicity study, the root and bark extract showed moderate cell growth inhibition. (6)
• Cataract Prevention: Study showed Salix tetrasperma leaves extract prevents cataract progression in naphthalene- and galactose-induced cataract in animals. Vitamin E was used as reference drug. (8)
• Hypoglycemic / Bark: Study evaluated various extracts of bark of Salix tetrasperma for hypoglycemic activity on adult Wistar rats. Among the extracts, the aqueous extract produced results comparable to the reference drug glibenclamide. (see constituents above) (9)
• Antimicrobial
/ Leaves: Study evaluated the antimicrobial activity of leaf extract of S. tetrasperma against 4 gram-negative, 4 gram-positive bacterial, and 4 seed-borne fungi by poisoned food technique. Results showed concentration dependent activity against the test bacteria, with highest susceptibility seen with S. epidermis and P. aeruginosa. Among the fungi, marked susceptibility was shown by Rhizopus sp. (11)
• Anti-Inflammatory / Antioxidant / Bark: Study investigated the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of S. tetrasperma bark extracts in rats. In a carrageenan induced rat paw edema, there was significant reduction of inflammation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. A hydroalcoholic extract showed potent in vitro antioxidant activity with lower EC50 in DPPH and superoxide anion inhibition assays. (12)
• Antihypertensive Effect / Leaves: Study evaluated the effect of ethanolic and aqueous extract of leaves of S. tetrasperma on blood pressure on fructose induced hypertensive rats. Both extracts produced significant (p<0.05) dose-dependent reduction of systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood pressures. (13)
• Hepatoprotective
/ CCl-4 Induced Hepatotoxicity / Leaves: Study evaluated the protective effect of ethanolic and aqueous leaf extracts against carbon tetrachloride induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Results showed significant prevention of biochemical changes induced by hepatotoxins, along with histopathology findings. The ethanolic showed significantly greater effect than aqueous extracts. (14)
•
Antioxidant / Phenolic and Flavonoid Content: Study evaluated defatted methanolic extract of S. tetrasperma for total phenolic and flavonoid contents. An ethyl acetate fraction showed high phenolic and flavonoid contents, 285.48 ± 2.07 mg gallic acid equivalent / g extract and 136.13 ± 2.47 mg rutin equivalent / g extract, respectively. While all extracts showed antioxidant activity, the ethyl acetate fraction showed highest activity for DPPH, TAC, and ABTS assays. (15)
Availability
- Wild-crafted.
- Seeds, powders, oils, extracts in the cybermarket.
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