Physalis minima (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Physalis minima L.

Protologue: Sp. pl. 1: 183 (1753).

Family: Solanaceae

• Physalis indica Lamk (1786),
• Physalis parviflora R.Br. (1810).

• Sunberry (En).
• Brunei: letup letup (Sengkurong)
• Indonesia: ciplukan (Javanese), cecendet (Sundanese), lapunonat (southern Moluccas)
• Malaysia: letup-letup, leletup, chipluan
• Philippines: pantug-pantugan (Tagalog), amansit (Iloko), amanti-ti-ugsa (Bontok)
• Thailand: thong theng (south-western), yaa tom tok (northern), pung ping (peninsular)
• Vietnam: thù lù nhỏ.

Tropical Africa, Asia and Australia.

In Indonesia, the fruits are considered diuretic, alterative, purgative and aperient. In Java, the root is eaten as a vermifuge and an extract of the root is taken for fevers. In Brunei, chewed roots are applied to the lower abdomen to reduce pain. Pounded leaves are used for headache and itches. In Sabah, a decoction of the roots is drunk to treat hypertension and diabetes. The fruit is edible but poisonous when consumed in large quantities. In Thailand, all parts are used as a diuretic and antipyretic.

• An annual herb, 20-50 cm tall, densely covered with patent, long, apically thickened hairs, stems angular above, subterete below, hollow, tinged with purple.
• Leaves ovate to lanceolate, 1.5-9 cm × 1-6 cm, margins irregularly toothed or entire, densely hairy, petiole 0.5-6.5 cm long.
• Flowers solitary, flowering calyx 3-5 mm long, fruiting calyx 1.5-2.5 cm long, greenish-yellow with purple ribs, corolla 5-10 mm long, up to 1 cm in diameter, pale yellow, with 5 distinct dark spots and 2 groups of rather long hairs at the throat; anthers yellow with blue margined cells.
• Berry 8-14 mm in diameter, yellow.

P. minima is a solitary or gregarious herb in arable land, dry rice-fields, gardens and waste places, up to 400(-1500) m altitude.

• [135] Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Revised reprint. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol. 1 (A—H) pp. 1—1240, Vol. 2 (I—Z) pp. 1241—2444.
• [201] Chuakul, W., Saralamp, P., Paonil, W., Temsiririrkkul, R. & Clayton, T. (Editors), 1997. Medicinal plants in Thailand. Vol. II. Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. 248 pp.
• [215] 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.
• [407] 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.
• [810] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.
• [896] Sethuraman, V. & Sulochana, N., 1988. The anti-inflammatory activity of Physalis minima. Fitoterapia 59(4): 335—336.
• [997] te Beest, M., 1999. Physalis: een weg naar de toekomst? - Chemische, taxonomische en medicinale aspecten van Physalis spp. [Physalis: a road to the future? - Chemical, taxonomical and medicinal aspects of Physalis spp.]. MSc. Thesis, Plant Taxonomy, Wageningen University, the Netherlands. 52 pp.

• Physalis

• Slamet Sutanti Budi Rahayu