Cordia myxa L.

DeFilipps, Robert A. & Krupnick, Gary A., 2018, The medicinal plants of Myanmar, PhytoKeys 102, pp. 1-341 : 37

Cordia myxa L.

Names.

Myanmar: taung-thanut, thanat. English: Assyrian plum, clammy cherry, Indian cherry, sapistan, Sebesten plum, selu.

Range.

India to Australia. In Myanmar, found in Mandalay, Taninthayi, and Yangon.

Uses.

Leaf: Used in manufacture of "Burmese cheroots."

Notes.

The fruit of this species is used throughout its range for its sticky mucilaginous pulp which is eaten to suppress cough, for chest complaints, to treat a sore throat, and as a demulcent; also applied as an emollient to mature abscesses, to calm rheumatic pain, and as an anthelmintic. In Tanzania the fruit pulp is applied on ringworm. In Mali and the Ivory Coast the leaves are applied to wounds and ulcers. A macerate of the leaves is taken to treat trypanosomiasis, and is externally applied as a lotion to tse-tse fly bites. In the Comoros the powdered bark is applied to the skin in cases of broken bones before a plaster is applied, to improve healing. Bark powder is used externally in the treatment of skin disease; bark juice, together with coconut oil, is taken to treat colic.

Chemical screening of both leaves and fruits shows that pyrrolizidine alkaloids, coumarins, flavonoids, saponins, terpenes, and sterols are present. The principle fatty acids in the seed are palmitic, stearic, arachidic, behenic, oleic, and linoleic. Petroleum ether and alcoholic extracts shows significant analgesic, anti-inflammatoroy, and anti-arthritic activities is tests with rats. Four flavonoid glycosides, a flavonoid aglycone, and two phenolic derivatives were isolated. Ethanol extracts from fruits and leaves show significant antioxidant activities due to the carotenoids, but no antidmicrobial activity against bacteria ( Oudhia 2007).

Reference.

Nordal (1963).