Embelia ribes (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

1, flowering twig; 2, infructescence; 3, 4-merous flower; 4, 5-merous flower; 5, petal with stamen (Iskak Syamsudin)

Embelia ribes Burm.f.

Protologue: Fl. indica: 62, t. 23 (1768).

Synonyms

• Embelia garciniifolia Wallich ex Miq. (1853).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: kacembang (Sundanese)
• Malaysia: akar sulur kerang
• Cambodia: chou pruc
• Laos: reut jeum bang
• Thailand: som kung (peninsular)
• Vietnam: thùn mũn, cây mũn, dây ngút.

Distribution

From Sri Lanka and India eastward to Indo-China, Thailand and southern China and southward to Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and Borneo.

Uses

The seeds or fruits are widely used as a vermifuge. An infusion of the roots is given to treat coughs and diarrhoea in Java. In East Kalimantan, the crushed fresh bark is used to repel leeches and as a fish poison. The young leaves, shoots and young fruits are consumed as a (cooked) vegetable or condiment. The ripe sour-sweet fruits are also eaten as a delicacy, mostly by children.

Observations

• A scandent shrub or liana up to 20 m long, young shoots densely pubescent.
• Leaves lanceolate to oblanceolate, 3-9 cm × 1.5-3.5 cm, chartaceous, base round or acute, apex acuminate, glabrous, petiole 5-10 mm long.
• Inflorescence a terminal panicle, 10-17 cm long.
• Flowers (4-)5-merous, petals inside and outside pubescent, white.

E. ribes occurs from sea-level up to 1500 m altitude, in forest or at forest borders. In Indo-China it flowers in February-March and mature fruits are present in March-October.

Selected sources

• 25.Agrawal, S., Chauhan, S. & Mathur, R., 1986. Antifertility effects of embelin in male rats. Andrologia 18(2): 125-131.
• 97.Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1963-1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1963) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
• 287.Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1948-1976. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials & industrial products. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, New Delhi, India.
• 565.Hazarika, R.A., Deka, D.K., Phukan, S.C. & Saikia, P.K., 1995. Sarcoptic mange in buffalo calves and treatment with Pestoban. Journal of Veterinary Parasitology 9(2): 143-145.
• 580.Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, 's Gravenhage, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 1660 + CCXLI pp.
• 687.Johri, R.K., Dhar, S.K., Pahwa, G.S., Sharma, S.C., Kaul, J.L. & Zutshi, U., 1990. Toxicity studies with potassium embelate, a new analgesic compound. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology 28: 213-217.
• 741.Kirtikar, K.R. & Basu, B.D., 1935. Indian medicinal plants. 2nd Edition, edited by Blatter, E., Caius, J.F. & Mhaskar, K.S. L.H. Basu, Allahabad, India. 4 volumes xxxvii + 2793 pp.
• 829.Leaman, D.J., Yusuf, R. & Sangat Roemantyo, H., 1991. Kenyah Dayak forest medicines. Prospects for development and implications for conservation. Report for the World Wide Fund for Nature, Indonesia Programme. 34 pp. + appendices.
• 886.Mahmood, I., Masood, A., Saxena, S.K. & Husain, S.I., 1979. Effect of some plant extracts on the mortality of Meloidogyne incognita and Rotylenchulus reniformis. Acta Botanica Indica 7(2): 129-132.
• 940.Mez, C., 1902. Myrsinaceae. In: Engler, A. (Editor): Das Pflanzenreich. Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig, Germany. Vol. 4, (fam.) 236 (Heft 9). 437 pp.
• 1035.Nguyen Van Duong, 1993. Medicinal plants of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Mekong Printing, Santa Ana, California, United States. 528 pp.
• 1066.Ochse, J.J. & Bakhuizen van den Brink, R.C., 1980. Vegetables of the Dutch East Indies. 3rd English edition (translation of "Indische groenten", 1931). Asher & Co., Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 1061 pp.
• 1128.Pételot, A., 1952-1954. Les plantes médicinales du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam [The medicinal plants of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. 4 volumes. Centre National de Recherches Scientifiques et Techniques, Saigon, Vietnam.
• 1140.Pitard, J., 1930. Myrsinacées [Myrsinaceae]. In: Gagnepain, F. (Editor): Flore générale de L'Indo Chine [General flora of Indo China]. Vol. 3(6). Masson & Cie, Paris, France. pp. 765-877.
• 1156.Prakash, A.O., 1976. Antifertility investigation on embelin. Planta Medica 41: 259-266.
• 1361.Singh, A. & Singh, D.K., 1994. Pestoban, a potent herbal molluscicide. Biological Agriculture and Horticulture 10(3): 175-178.
• 1364.Singh, K., Singh, A. & Singh, D.K., 1995. Molluscicidal activity of different combinations of the plant products used in the molluscicide Pestoban. Biological Agriculture & Horticulture 12(3): 253-261.
• 1512.Varshney, M.D., Sharma, B.B. & Gupta, D.N., 1986. Antifertility screening of plants. Part II. Effect of ten indigenous plants on early and late pregnancy in albino rats. Comparative Physiology and Ecology 11(4): 183-189.

Main genus page

• Embelia (Medicinal plants)

Authors

• L.S.L. Chua & J.L.C.H. van Valkenburg