CAPITULO II. FUNDAMENTACIÓN CIENTÍFICA TÉCNICA DEL DESEMPEÑO
3.1. Estrategia de solución al problema identificado
Classified in the Stinging Nettle family (Urticaceae), the Australian Dendrocnide species were originally included in the genus Laportea. However, these plants were sufficiently different to rate a separate genus – which is also found in South-east Asia, Oceania, China and Japan. Laportea is more accurately applied to plants of American origin. In the older literature Urtica has been widely applied to numerous species in both genera.
Species (distribution) Traditional uses and investigations Laportea aestuans (syn. Fleurya
aestuans)
West Indian Woodnettle, Red Stinging Nettle
Widespread in the tropics:
tropical America, West Indies, tropical Africa, Madagascar, Arabia, India, Sumatra, Java, Lesser Sunda Islands
Trinidad & Tobago (Lans 2007, 2006):
• leaves used to make remedy for childbirth to shorten labour.
• leaves used to treat diabetes.
Caribbean (Honychurch 1991):
• leaves mixed with oats and used for ‘stricture’ in Barbados – sometimes associated with difficulty urinating (dysuria).
West Africa (Ayensu 1978):
• constipation (leaf boiled); burns (slightly scorched leaves applied); dysentery (leaf enema);
female confinement (leaf juice); wounds (liquid from macerated leaves with palm oil); rickets (infants: decoction used as a lotion).
Trinidad, Brazil and Peru (Morton 1981):
• plant decoction: taken as a diuretic.
Cameroon (Jiofack 2009):
• leafy stem & root decoction: anaemia, calcium, fibroids, dermatitis.
Papua New Guinea (Holdsworth 1977):
• Bougainville Island: root and stem bark are externally applied to sores on the soles of the feet.
Dendrocnide amplissima (syn.
Laportea amplissima)
Indonesia (Sulawesi), Moluccas
Indonesia (Perry & Metzger 1981):
• sap is bechic (for cough relief), sap squeezed from crushed bark drunk to treat sprue (a disorder involving sore throat, raw tongue and digestive problems).
Laportea canadensis Canadian Woodnettle Eastern North America, from Canada to Mexico
North America (Moerman 1988):
• febrifuge: plant decoction for fever;
• antidote: fruit decoction (with menstrual blood) to counteract pain;
• emetic: root decoction to induce vomiting to neutralise a love medicine;
• emotional and witchcraft: decoction to counteract loneliness because woman has left;
• tuberculosis remedy: compound infusion of smashed roots;
• urinary tract disorders: diuretic; root infusion for various urinary tract disorders including incontinence.
Laportea crenulata
Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Malay Islands
Papua New Guinea (Webb 1959):
• report of its use as a contraceptive, and an unidentified Dendrocnide species as an abortifacient.
Bangladesh (Rana 2009):
• plant: widely used for treating bleeding (from nose, mouth), excessive gas or acid in stomach, constipation, weakness, asthma, gout, mumps, whooping cough, chronic fever.
• root: urinary tract infection; said to reduce susceptibility to rheumatic disorders and colds.
India (L. crenulata, syn. L. stimulans; Satyavati 1987):
• root juice considered useful in treating chronic fevers;
• roots and leaves are applied to swellings or ‘blind’ abscesses;
• seeds: used medicinally in similar manner to Coriander.
Investigations
Laportea crenulata (syn. L. stimulans, Satyavati 1987):
• extract of the whole plant (excluding roots): diuretic activity in rats.
• no antiviral, hypoglycaemic, anticancer, cardiovascular or central nervous system responses.
Urtica crenulata (Rana 2009):
• methanol stem extract: analgesic (antinociceptive) activity, but not anti-inflammatory.
Urtica crenulata (Rahman 2010; Rahman 2008):
• stem extract: moderate antibacterial activity against Salmonella typhi, Shigella flexneri, S. sonnei and Bacillus subtilis;
• inactive against Staphylococcus aureus;
• significant cytotoxic and antioxidant activity.
Laportea crenulata (Khan 2008, 2007, 2007a, 2007b):
• antifungal triterpene isolated from roots;
• root extracts showed good antipyretic activity;
• neuropharmacological investigations for CNS activity:
dose-dependent stimulant effect Dendrocnide decumana
(syns Laportea decumana, L.
armata; Urtica decumana)
Southern Borneo, Indonesia (Sulawesi) and New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (Woodley 1991; Holdsworth 1993, 1996; Holdsworth & Damas 1986):
• widespread use for pain and fatigue: leaf rubbed on forehead for headache, or on body for pain.
• a skin fungus called sipoma is also treated by rubbing the leaves directly onto the area leaves: rubbed onto the back, shoulders or legs to relieve muscle pains and fatigue, on stomach for stomach ache and on chest of asthma sufferer
PNG Highlands: fresh young leaves are eaten with sweet potato or taro for intestinal pains.
PNG (Blackwood 1889):
• pain following childbirth: the leaves of a species of nettle (Laportea decumana) are rubbed over the abdomen, the sting apparently acts as a counter irritant.
Amboina (Perry & Metzger 1981):
• Rumphius recorded that the nettle leaves (L. decumana) were struck or stroked over an area if a person felt uncomfortably stiff or rigid following fatigue or itch; numerous lumps appeared that disappeared within 30 mins, and ‘one feels considerably relieved’.
• A similar custom exists in New Guinea: lower legs of individuals climbing to higher altitudes are stroked with bundles of leaves to stimulate circulation and relieve chill when weather is bad.
Dendrocnide harveyi (syns Laportea harveyi;
Dendrocnide milnei) Pacific Islands: Samoa, Fiji
Fiji (Cambie 1986):
• bark said to provide good cure for the sting of its own nettle-like leaves; decoction of bark used for treating urinary and menstrual disorders; bark also used for infected testes and with barks of other plants for arthritis (including rheumatoid conditions).
Fiji (Weiner 1985):
• preparation made from scrapings of bark used to treat an illness described as ‘pain in the lungs with vomiting of blood (possibly tuberculosis); liquid squeezed from leaves given to cure fits in children, ‘sickness after birth’, and to aid expulsion of afterbirth; stem scraped and pressed to produce a fluid given for ‘stomach swollen but not pregnant’ (false pregnancy).
Laportea interrupta (syns Fleurya interrupta; Urtica interrupta)
African Congo, South Africa, Abyssinia, India, Sri Lanka, Japan, China, through to the Pacific Islands
Thailand (Anderson 1993):
• infusion or poultice: local application to fungal infections which are particularly prevalent in rice-field workers.
PNG, Reite (Nombo & Leach 2010):
• used to mend broken bones: heat area of break and cover with nettle, tie in place with split bamboo to hold bone in place (magic incantation accompanies treatment).
PNG (Holdsworth 1987):
• Papuan coast: L. interrupta and Phyllantus niruri plants are boiled together and the solution drunk to relieve whooping cough.
PNG (Holdsworth & Damas 1986):
• leaves of small nettle rubbed onto aching head for relief twice daily; similar treatment stimulates tired muscles; L. decumana used for same problem in many regions.
Southeast Asia (Perry & Metzger 1981):
• Indochina: leaves crushed with water to make paste dressing for well-cleaned ulcers
• New Guinea (Tami Islands): painful spot beaten with this weed before performing venesection.
Dendrocnide latifolia New Guinea, Bougainville, Pacific Islands (Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Marianna Islands, New Hebrides)
Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal (Perry & Metzger 1981):
• the boiled leaf applied to itchy skin conditions.
Dendrocnide meyeniana(syns Laportea gaudichaudiana, L.
batanensis; L. mindanaensis;
L. pterostigma; L. meyeniana;
Urtica meyeniana) Poisonous Woodnettle China, South-east Asia, Taiwan, Philippines
Southeast Asia (Perry & Metzger 1981):
• Taiwan: D. meyeniana, L. pterostigma and L. batanensis (= L. kotoensis): pounded root and leaves applied to treat scrofula.
• Philippines: the watery sap was drunk to increase the supply of breast milk; root and leaf infusion used as a diuretic in cases of urine retention.
Laportea pterostigma (Satyavati 1987):
• extract whole plant (excluding roots): demonstrated behavioural effects and an amphetamine activity in mice.
Laportea ovalifolia Africa
Cameroon (Momo 2006):
• aerial parts used for the treatment of diverse illnesses: bacterial infections, headache, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, dysentery, epilepsy;
• leaf decoction: diabetes mellitus.
Cameroon (Jiofack 2009):
• leafy stem decoction: poisoning, fontanelle, flatulence, tongue pain.
Nigeria (Iffen & Usoro 2010):
• leaves and tender shoots used as pot herb or vegetable in soups; antidiabetic contribution to the diet.
Laportea ovalifolia (Momo 2006):
• plant extract: significant antidiabetic and substantial hypolipidaemic effects.
Laportea ovalifolia (Iffen & Usoro 2010):
• antidiabetic (antihyperglycaemic) and antioxidant properties;
• note: Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) has also shown antidiabetic activity.
Dendrocnide stimulans (syn.
Laportea stenophylla) Elephant Tree Nettle
Southern China, South-east Asia (Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia), Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Sulaweisi, Borneo), Taiwan, Moluccas, Philippines
Indonesia (Leaman 1991):
• sapling root baked in coals and kneaded into a dough with water, the paste is applied locally to weeping sores, or applied to ‘dry out’ the external skin of a boil and allowing it to be more easily lanced. A root poultice can be applied to the gums for treating toothache.
Malay Peninsula (Burkill 1935):
• pounded roots (sometimes with sulphur added) or leaves were used to poultice swellings or treat ‘blind’ abscesses.
Indonesia (Perry & Metzger 1981):
• sap is bechic (relieves cough).
Indonesia (Hirschhorn 1983):
• Laportea stimulans and L. costata: sap drunk to treat cough; also utilised as a hairwash.
Dendrocnide sinuata (syns Laportea sinuata, L.
pustulosa; Urtica ardens)
India, South-east Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia (Java, Bali), New Guinea
Indonesia (Perry & Metzger 1981):
• roots with leaves of Schizostachyum blumei are boiled: decoction drunk as remedy for swollen limbs.
PNG (Webb 1959):
• claimed to be used as oral contraceptive in New Ireland.
Indonesia (Hirschhorn 1983):
• root decoction with Melocanna humilis leaves drunk to treat swollen limbs.
Laportea (Zhu Ma: undetermined species)
Thailand
Thailand (Wang 2003):
• Chinese community: root decoction taken by mother to delay birth when premature birth threatens (‘child is in danger of being born early’).
Philippines (De Padua 1977–83; Quisumbing 1951):
• leaves: applied to carbuncles;
• root: decoction taken as a diuretic, and also prescribed as a remedy for coughs and asthma.
Solomon Islands (northwest)(Blackwood 1889):
• leaves used at puberty rites; flowers to treat sores on soles of feet.