Eleutherococcus trifoliatus (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Eleutherococcus trifoliatus (L.) S.Y. Hu

Family: Araliaceae

Synonyms

Acanthopanax trifoliatus (L.) Voss, Zanthoxylum trifoliatum L.

Vernacular names

• Philippines: sibsibit (Bontoc)
• Thailand: phak paem (Northern)
• Vietnam: ngũ gia bì gai, ngũ gia bì giả ba lá.

Distribution

From the Himalayas through southern China to the Philippines (northern Luzon), Taiwan and Japan. Cultivated as a medicinal plant in Vietnam and as a vegetable in southern China.

Uses

In northern Luzon (the Philippines) the stems are used for binding and for fencing. In Vietnam E. trifoliatus is applied medicinally as a substitute for ginseng ( Panax ginseng C.A. Mey.). Decoctions of root bark and stem bark are used against rheumatism, lumbago, ostealgia and impotence.

Observations

A spiny, scandent shrub, 1-8 m tall. Leaves alternate, palmate; stipules absent; petiole up to 5 cm long; leaflets (1-)3(-5), blade broadly ovate to subrotund, up to 3.5 cm × 2.3 cm, base cuneate, margin serrate, apex acute. Inflorescence a terminal panicle of umbels; flower whitish or yellow-greenish; calyx a rim, 5-teethed; petals 5, about 2 mm long. Fruit a subglobose drupe, about 5 mm in diameter, black when ripe. E. trifoliatus occurs in montane forest and thickets at altitudes of 1100-1400 m. The main components of the essential oil obtained from stems and leaves of E. trifoliatus from Vietnam were alphapinene (23.9%), sabinene (14.9%), terpinen4ol (9.0%), betapinene (7.7%) and rhocymene (5.8%). Steroid derivatives and triterpenoid carboxylic acids have been extracted from stems and leaves. Aqueous extracts and their nbutanol fraction have shown antimutagenic action. Nevadensin, isolated from the leaves, has shown expectorant and antitussive activity.

Selected sources

15, 44, 47, 66, 79, 102, 113, 123, 160, 187.

Authors

M. Brink, P.C.M. Jansen & C.H. Bosch