Thursday, February 4, 2010

CINNAMOMUM PARTHENOXYLON (MEDANG SERAI)

Species: Cinnamomum parthenoxylon
Synonym: Lindera pipercarpa
Family: Lauraceae
English Common Name: Saffrol Laurel

It is native to Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam. In Malaysia it is found on the highland.All parts of the plants smell of citronella grass. All parts of the plant contain geraniol, especially in the fruits. The alkaloid lauro-tetanin is present in the bark in small quantities, and in smaller quantities in the leaves, making them slightly poisonous

Bark:
At young trees, the bark is red in colour. Older tree has gray to brown bark. The oil from the bark contain 8 per cent citral, 10 per cent citronella.

Leaves:
Its leaves are a glossy green ovals 7-10 cm long with a point at the end. Like many plants in the Laurel Family, the leaves give off a pleasant smell when crushed. The oil from the leaves contain 21 to 35 per cent cineol with citral.

Flowers:
The flowers appear in clusters and are green and very small.

Fruits:
The fruits are blackish drupes the size of pepper. The fruits contain 64 to 75 per cent of citral

Uses:
  • The seeds and the bark are used in Java for making cosmetic powders.
  • The root are used to tenderize meat.
  • The fruits may be substitute to Cubeb (Piper cubeba), or tailed pepper, is a plant in genus Piper, cultivated for its fruit and essential oil.
  • The plant contain safrole (safrol), a primary ingredient in the manufacture of the psychoactive drug MDMA.
  • The bark has been shown in rats to be a possible treatment for hyperglycemia (abnormally high blood sugar usually associated with diabetes).
  • Cinnamomum parthenoxylon has been reported to be effective in the alleviation of diabetes through its antioxidant and insulin pontentiating activities.

Notes/catitan;-

There are more articles
listed at the top right column ,listed on the following headings/terdapat banyak lagi artikel disenarai di ruangan kanan/atas dibawah tajuk berikut:-
  • Tips on landscape.
  • Tips on herbal plants,
  • Tips on agriculture
  • General tips .


Reference:
• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• A Dictionary Of The Economic Products Of The Malay Peninsula By I.H.Burkill
• U.S National library Of Medicine. National Institute of Health http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19464860






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