African Bitter Leaf

Overview

African bitter leaf is a well known African medicinal plant. It is cultivated in different parts of Central and Eastern India, as well as in the wild where it has escaped from cultivation.

Vernacular Names

Dembezeko (Shona-Zimbabwe), Inyathelo (Ndebele-South Africa/Zimbabwe), Lisabakhwa (Luhya-Kenya).

Agroecology

G. amygdalinum is found in nature close to rivers and lakes, in forests margins, woodland, and grassland up to 2,800 m altitude, in areas with mean annual rainfall 750–2,000 mm. The plant can tolerate drought although a humid environment is more suitable for its growth.

Morphology

• Roots - taproot.
• Stem - upright, woody, round, brown.
• Leaves - lance-shaped to narrowly elliptic, usually about 4 times as long as wide, hairless or with sparse hairs; leaf-stalk short.
• Flowers - heads forming clusters up to 15 cm, creamy white, occasionally tinged with mauve; sweetly scented, particularly at night.
• Fruits - the small fruits have both small glands and hairs as well as a pappus of bristly hairs.
• Seeds - small seed, seedless under favorable conditions.

Cultivation

• It can be propagated by stem cuttings
• Propagation of G. amygdalinum is possible by seed collected from dry flower heads if the plants produce seed in optimal condition.

Chemical Constituents

Flavonoids, saponins, coumarin, phenolic acid, luteolin, steroids, tannins, xanthones, anthraquinones, edotides, sesquiterpenes, kolaviron, terpenoids, alkoloids, glycosides.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• Its chemopreventive properties have been attributed to its abilities to scavenge free radicals, induce detoxification, inhibit stress response proteins and interfere with DNA.
• It has antimicrobial, anti-allergic, antibacterial, antimalarial, anti-fungi, anticancer, antileukemia, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic, antioxidative, antihelminthic hepatoprotective, and hypolipidaemic physiological effects.
• The aqueous extract of the leaves is recommended for the treatment of diabetes, induced abrosia nausea, emesis, loss of appetite, dysentery and other gastrointestinal tract problems.
• The leaves are used traditionally to induce fertility in women, as laxatives/purgative and enema, cure several parasitic ailments such as amoebic dysentery and schistosomiasis.
• The leaves, root and twig of the plant are used for treating wounds, venereal diseases and hepatitis.