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Botany
· An erect
or more or less spreading shrub or very small tree.
· Leaves: alternate, ovate 7 to 12 cm in length, usually somewhat
rounded at the base, pointed at the tip and toothed at the margins.
· Flowers: very small and borne on terminal inflorescence, with
the female flowers situated toward the base of each inflorescence.
· Fruits: capsules, ellipsoid, or obscurely 3-angled, 1.5 to
2 cm long and contains a single seed. Seed: ovoid or oblong, 12 to 15
mm in length and 3-angled, the testa dark-brown or blackish, thin and
brittle and of faint odor; the albumen and the embryo are yellowish.
Seeds are at first mild in taste and subsequent acrid and pungent.
Distribution
Usually planted, in and
about towns, throughout the Philippines
Naturalized in some places.
Parts
utilized
· Roots
and fresh leaves.
· Roots collected year round
· Rinse, cut into sections, and sun-dry.
Characteristics
and Pharmacological Effects:
Pungent taste, warming, antipyretic, aids in gastrointestinal disorders,
and antiinflammatory.
Toxic in excessive internal use.
Uses
Folkloric
· For rheumatic
pains of the legs and waist: use 3 to 6 gms of dried material in the
form of decoction.
· Pounded fresh leaves may be applied as poultice for snakebites
or may be used as insecticide.
· For sprains and bone pains: Oiled leaves or bark material are
heated and applied to painful areas.
· Croton seed oil has been used as purgative.
Otheras
· Plant has been used as fish poison.
Croton-Phenol Peel
· Minute quantities of croton oil with phenol as solvent, diluted in water and saponified has been used as a peeling agent. The mechanism of interaction between oil and skin continues is yet to be fully explained.
Studies
• Anti-diarrheal:
A study of the ethanol extracts of three
Chinese medicinal plants —Croton tiglium (Badou) , Rheum palmatum
(Dahuang) and Cannabis sativa (Huomaren)— known for their laxative
properties, showed an effect on the rat intestinal epithelial cells
providing evidence for the pharmacologic mechanism on the intestinal
tract.
• Tumor-Enhancing:
(1) A 1965 study isolated 2 active cocarcinogenic agents from
the seed of CT. Both were potent cocarcinogens at very low dosage. Phorbol
myristate acetate, a semisynthetic compound from the croton resin, showed
promoting activity. (2) Study of active fractions of croton resin showed a high incidence of malignancy and low incidence of tumor regression. Alone, croton resin gives rise to a very few tumors; croton oil ellicits low incidence of malignancy.
• Gastrointestinal
Motility Modulation: Study showed Croton tiglium oil
might modulate gastrointestinal motiity and induce intestinal inflammation related to immunological milieu and motor activity. Results highlight its folkloric
use in gastrointestinal disorders.
• EBV-Inducing:
(1) TPA, a tumor-promoting agent, 12-0-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate,
was isolated from the seeds and stalk of Croton tiglium. Study has shown
it to be a potent EBV-inducer in vitro while also decreasing EBV-specific
cellular immunity and enhancing EBV-induced transformation. (2) Combined usage of oily extracts from C tiglium, E lathyris and E tirucalli exerted a marked induction of EBVirus-associated early (EA) and viral capsid (VCA) antigens in genome-carrying human lymphoblastoid cell lines with implications in EBV-associated diseases.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
Croton seeds, fruit and oil in the cybermarkets.
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