Phytolacca acinosa (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

1, flowering and fruiting stem; 2, flower; 3, young fruit; 4, mature fruit (Iskak Syamsudin)

Phytolacca acinosa Roxburgh

Protologue: Hort. bengal.: 35 (1814).

Family: Phytolaccaceae

Synonyms

• Phytolacca esculenta van Houtte (1848).

Vernacular names

• Indian poke (En)
• Vietnam: thương lục nhỏ, thương lục.

Distribution

Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan; introduced in Vietnam, occasionally cultivated elsewhere, e.g. in the Philippines.

Uses

Young leaves are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. In Vietnam often cultivated in pots as a medicinal herb. P. acinosa is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental.

The roots are used in traditional medicine in Vietnam, both internally and externally; they are commonly used in Chinese medicine. In Japan, the entire plant is used as a diuretic, while in India, it is used to alleviate body pain.

Observations

• A perennial herb up to 2(-3) m tall, often with purplish stems.
• Leaves elliptical to ovate, up to 35 cm × 16 cm.
• Flowers in racemes generally shorter than leaves, bisexual, stamens 7-15 (often 10), sometimes in 2 whorls, carpels 6-9 (often 8), free in fruit.
• Fruit a depressed-globular 8-lobed berry, purple-black, with the lobes hardly connate.

In shady wet places. The roots of P. acinosa taste bitter-sour and pungent.

Selected sources

• [190] Brown, W.H., 1951-1957. Useful plants of the Philippines. Reprint of the 1941-1943 edition. 3 volumes. Technical Bulletin 10. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines. Vol. 1 (1951) 590 pp., Vol. 2 (1954) 513 pp., Vol. 3 (1957) 507 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.
• [33]Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam [Flora of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam] (various editors), 1960– . Vol. 1–24. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Laboratoire de Phanérogamie, Paris, France.
• [452] Funayama, S. & Hikino, H., 1979. Hypotensive principles of Phytolacca roots. Journal of Natural Products 42(6): 672-674.
• [55]Li, Hui-Lin et al. (Editors), 1975–1978. Flora of Taiwan. 5 volumes. Epoch Publishing Company, Taipei, Taiwan.
• [47]Huxley, A., Griffiths, M. & Levy, M. (Editors), 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. 4 volumes. Macmillan Press, London, United Kingdom.
• [816] Larsen, K., 1989. Caryophyllales. In: Lescot, M. (Editor): Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viêtnam [Flora of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. Vol. 24. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. 144 pp.
• [900] Mansfeld, R., 1986. Verzeichnis landwirtschaflicher und gaertnerischer Kulturpflanzen (ohne Zierpflanzen) [Register of agricultural and horticultural plants (withouth ornamentals)]. 2nd Edition, revised by J. Schultze-Motel. 4 volumes. Springer Verlag, Berlin, Germany. 1998 pp.
• [1035] Nguyen Van Duong, 1993. Medicinal plants of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Mekong Printing, Santa Ana, California, United States. 528 pp.
• [1057] Nowicke, J.W., 1969. Palynotaxonomic study of the Phytolaccaceae. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 55(3): 294-364.
• [1356] Siemonsma, J.S. & Kasem Piluek (Editors), 1993. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 8. Vegetables. Pudoc Scientific Publishers, Wageningen, the Netherlands. 412 pp.
• [1545] Wang, H.B., Zheng, Q.Y., Qian, D.H., Fang, J. & Ju, D.W., 1993. Effects of Phytolacca acinosa polysaccharides I on immune function in mice. Acta Pharmacologica Sinica 14(3): 243-246.
• [1627] Yeung, H.W., Feng, Z., Li, W.W., Cheung W.K. & Ng, T.B., 1987. Abortifacient activity in leaves, roots and seeds of Phytolacca acinosa. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 21(1): 31-36.
• [1631] Yi, Y.H. & Dai, F.B., 1991. A new triterpenoid and its glycoside from Phytolacca esculenta. Planta Medica 57(2): 162-164.
• [1632] Yi, Y.H. & Wang, C.L., 1989. A new active saponin from Phytolacca esculenta. Planta Medica 55(6): 551-552.
• [1660] Zhu, X. & Hu, Z., 1989. Preparation of the antiviral protein from pokeweed seeds and assay of its toxicity. Acta Botanica Yunnanica 11(4): 440-448.

Main genus page

• Phytolacca (Medicinal plants)

Authors

• Razali Yusuf