Scientific Name
Leucas lavandulifolia Sm.
Synonyms
Hetrepta lavandulifolia (Sm.) Raf., Leonurus indicus L., Leonurus malebaricus J.Koenig ex Rottb. [Illegitimate], Leucas brownii Briq., Leucas indica (L.) Vatke [Illegitimate], Leucas indica var. decipiens (Hook.f.) Bennet, Leucas lavandulifolia var. decipiens (Hook.f.) Chandrab. & S.R.Sriniv., Leucas linifolia (Roth) Spreng., Leucas linifolia var. decipiens Hook.f., Leucas malabarica W.Theob., Phlomis linifolia Roth. [1]
Vernacular Name
| Malaysia | Ketumbak, ketumbil, ketumbit [2] |
| English | Lineleaf leucas [2] |
| China | Xian ye bai rong cao [2] |
| India | Barkali-buradi, dhurup, donkoloso, dronapushpi, gaiso, gantutumbe, gathia, goyasa, halkusa, kaattu thumbai, kumbha, kuva, mosappullu, nipti, pulatumni, tumi, umari, umili [2] |
| Indonesia | Laranga, lenglengan, paci-paci [2] |
| Philippines | Karukansoli, kaskasumba, langa-langa, pansi-pansi, salita, samparan [2] |
| Nepal | Dulphe jhar [2] |
| France | Armoise blanche [3]. |
Geographical Distributions
L. lavandulifolia is distributed from India, and the Mascarenes to China and southwards throughout Malesia, though rare in Borneo and Papua New Guinea. [3]
Botanical Description
L. lavandulifolia is a member of the family Lamiaceae. It is an annual herb that can reach a height of 30-80 cm. [3]
The stem and branches are partial covered with whitish or bluish wax. [3]
The leaves form is lance-shaped with a size of 4-6 cm x 0.5 cm. Its margin is sub-entire or sparingly serrate. [3]
The inflorescence is composed of terminal and axillary, leafy verticillasters, often congested towards the apex, forming a cluster of 1.5-2 cm in diametre, bracts linear, 3-4 mm long, puberulous, sepal obliquely turbinate, 5-7 mm long. [3]
The fruit is 8-9 mm long, glabrescent, mouth oblique, slightly constricted, teeth 7-10, posterior one much longer than the others. The petal is 10 mm long, tube with a hairy ring near the middle, upper lip oblong, woolly and lower lip patent. [3]
The nutlets are oblong, 2.5 mm x 1 mm and rounded at apex. The inner surface is angular while the outer is rounded. They are dark brown and pale at base. [3]
Cultivation
L. lavandulifolia is a weed of open waste places, coconut and other plantations, roadsides, grassland and arable land, fallow land, paddy dams, locally often numerous, from sea-level up to 1500 m altitude. An orthographic variant of lavandulifolia is ‘lavandulaefolia’. [3]
Chemical Constituent
L. lavandulifolia has been reported to contain acacetin and chrysoeriol [4]. While, the aerial parts have been reported to contain a glycoside, linifoliside, and also essential oil and fatty alcohol. [5]
Plant Part Used
Leaf. [6]
Traditional Use
A decoction of the leaves is used as an antihelmintic. The decoction or poultice is used to treat ulcers, skin disorders and leprosy. The extract may be dropped into the eye and may also be used as a gargle. It is also used to treat snake bites. [6]
Preclinical Data
Pharmacology
Hepatoprotective activity
The chloroform extract of the aerial parts of the plant, L. lavandulifolia was investigated for its hepatoprotective property on D(+)galactosamine-induced hepatic injury in a rat model. The chloroform extract (200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg) was administered orally in rats for 14 days. On the 14th day, liver damage was induced by injecting D(+)galactosamine at a dose of 400mg/kg. The liver damage was evaluated by estimating the liver function tests including the liver enzymes. The results demonstrated that there were changes in the biochemical parameters in D(+)galactosamine intoxicated rats when compared with control rats. The treatment with chloroform extract at 200 mg/kg and 400mg/kg were showed significant decrease in liver enzymes (AST, ALT, ALP, LDH), total cholesterol and total bilirubin in serum. This suggests that the chloroform extract of the aerial parts of the plant seem to have hepatoprotective activity in rats. [4]
Wound healing activity
L. lavandulifolia has been used in wound healing in Indian traditional practices. On the basis of this traditional practice and literature reference, a study was conducted in a rat model to evaluate the wound-healing activity of the plant extract. Two types of formulations were prepared from the methanolic extract of the plant material: (i) 5% (w/w) ointment and (ii) intra-peritoneal injection at a dose of 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg). Both the injection and ointment methanol extract were examined in two types of wound model in rats: (i) the excision wound model and (ii) the incision wound model. The results demonstrated that the L. lavandulifolia extract either in the form of ointment or injection produced a significant response in both wound types tested. The wound healing property of L. lavandulifolia was speculated to be due to the presence of glycosides or due to the presence of terpenoids in the essential oil of the plant. [5]
Antitussive activity
The antitussive effect of the methanol extract of L. lavandulifolia was evaluated in an animal model using sulfur dioxide gas as an agent to induce cough in mice. The extract caused significant inhibition of cough similar to the standard drug, codeine phosphate, (10 mg/kg) in a dose dependent manner. [7]
Hypoglycaemic activity
The L. lavandulifolia methanol extract was investigated for its antidiabetic activity in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. The plant extract (200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg doses) and glybenclamide (1 mg/kg) were administered simultaneously to STZ-diabetic rats. The findings showed that the extract caused a significant reduction of blood glucose concentrations in STZ-induced diabetic rats by 29.8% (p<0.001) when compared with control groups. [8]
Antidiarrhoeal activity
In a study to screen plants used traditionally for the treatment of diarrhoea, L. lavandulifolia was one of the four plants selected for evaluation of its anti-diarrhoeal properties in a rat model. Immediately after the ethanolic extract of the aerial parts of L. lavandulifolia was administered orally at a dose of 400 mg/kg, PGE2 was also administered orally (100 mg/kg) before the animal was given castor oil to induce diarrhoea. The control rats received castor oil only. The results showed that the ethanol extract of the plant material significantly inhibited the frequency of defecation and the wetness of the faecal droppings compared to untreated control rats. The observation suggests that the ethanolic plant extract at a dose of 400 mg/kg p.o. reduced diarrhoea by inhibiting gastrointestinal motility and PGE2-induced enteropooling. The results of this study ascertain the effectiveness of L. lavandulifolia as anti-diarrhoeal agent. [9]
Toxicity
No documentation
Clinical Data
No documentation
Poisonous Management
No documentation
Line Drawing
References
- The Plant List. Ver 1.1. Leucas lavandulifolia Sm. [homepage on the Internet]. c2013 [updated 2012 Mar 23; cited 2016 Sep 28]. Available from: http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-111761
- Quattrocchi U. CRC world dictionary of medicinal and poisonous plants: Common names, scientific names, eponyms, synonyms, and etymology. Volume III E-L. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, 2012; p. 762.
- Wardani M. Leucas lavandulifolia JE. Smith In: van Valkenburg JLCH, Bunyapraphatsara N Editors. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 12(2): Medicinal and poisonous plants 2. Leiden, Netherlands: Backhuys Publisher, 2001; p. 339-340.
- Chandrashekar KS, Prasanna KS, Joshi AB. Hepatoprotective activity of the Leucas lavandulaefolia on D(+)galactosamine-induced hepatic injury in rats. Fitoterapia. 2007;78:440-442.
- Saha K, Mukherjee PK, Das J, Pal M, Saha BP. Wound healing activity of Leucas lavandulaefolia Rees. J. Ethnopharmacol. 1997;56(2):139-144.
- Herbal Medicine Research Centre, Institute for Medical Research. Compendium of medicinal plants used in Malaysia. Volume 2. Kuala Lumpur: HMRC IMR, 2002; p. 95.
- Saha K, Mukherjee PK, Murugesan T, Saha BP, Pal M. Studies on in vivo antitussive activity of Leucas lavandulaefolia using a cough model induced by sulphur dioxide gas in mice. J. Ethnopharmacol. 1997;57(2):89-92.
- Saha K, Mukherjee PK, Das J, Mandal SC, Pal M, Saha BP. Hypoglycaemic activity of Leucas lavandulaefolia Rees. in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Phytother Res. 1997;11(6):463-466.
- Mukherjee PK, Saha K, Murugesan T, Mandal SC, Pal M, Saha BP. Screening of anti-diarrhoeal profile of some plant extracts of a specific region of West Bengal, India. J Ethnopharmacol. 1997;60(1):85-89.
