Scientific Name
Persicaria minor (Huds.) Opiz
Synonyms
Peutalis minus (Huds.) Raf., Polygonum minus Huds. [1]
Vernacular Name
Geographical Distributions
Persicaria minor can be found to spread widely throughout Europe and temperate and tropical Asia. [3]
Botanical Description
P. minor falls under the family of Polygonaceae. It is an annual to perennial, small, elegant, decumbent or ascending herb, 30-75 cm tall. [3]
The stems branched, especially below, spreading, slender and glabrous. [3]
The leaves simple, lobed or unlobed, ovate-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, linear-oblong, 2-7 cm x 0.3-2 cm, usually less than 8 mm wide, apex acute to subobtuse, appressed hairy on midrib beneath, subsessile; ocrea tubular, truncate, 0.5-1.2 cm long, short ciliate; leaf arrangement alternate, one leaf per node along the stem; leaf blade entire. [3]
The inflorescence consisting of 1-3 terminal or axillary spikes or pseudospikes, slender, erect, 1.5-5 cm x 0.5 cm, dense or interrupted; flower spikes dense, erect, stout, the flowers crowded and overlapping; petal pink to white, fused into a corolla tube and radially symmetrical; perianth approximately 2.5 mm long, usually reddish, perianth minute, pink, rarely white; bracts 2-2.5 mm long, obtuse, ciliate; stamens 5-6; pollen grains pantoporate, with spheroidal form and circular shape in polar and equatorial view, respectively. [3]
The nutlet ovoid or ellipsoid, 1.0 mm wide, 2.5 mm long, biconvex or trigonous, shiny black or brown; nut surface sculpture varies between species. [3]
Cultivation
No documentation
Chemical Constituent
Essential oil of leaves of P. minor has been reported to contain aldehydes (e.g. decanal, dodecanal, undecanal, tetradecanal, nonanal and hexanal), alcohols (e.g. 1-decanol, 1-dodecanol, 1-undecanol, 1-hexanol, 1-nonanol, 1-decanol and 1-dodecanol), sesquiterpenes (e.g. xanthorrhizol, α-bisabolol, β-caryophyllene, α-cubebene, (E)-caryophyllene, trans-α-bergamotene, farnesene, α-caryophyllene, β-himachalene, α-selinene, valencene, δ–cadinine, alloaromadendrene, α-curcumene, (-)-α-panasinsene, humulene, iso-caryophyllene, drimenol and Drimenin), oxygenated sesquiterpenes (e.g. cis–lanceol, farnesol, β-caryophyllene oxide, nerolidol, trans-α-(Z)-bergamotol, alloaromadendrene oxide-(1), trans-longipinocarveol and 8-bromoneoisolongifolene), monoterpenes (e.g. α-pinene) and others (e.g. undecane, n-decanoic acid, isobornyl acetate, dodecanoic acid and phytol). [4][5]
Plant Part Used
Whole plant. [6]
Traditional Use
In Sarawak it is being used to treat sprains and body aches. The whole plant in pounded with rice powder and make into a paste which is rubbed on to the affected area. It is also taken after childbirth and is used as a remedy for indigestion. [6]
Preclinical Data
Pharmacology
Anti-oxidant activity
The ethanol extract of P. minor leaves (1 mg/mL) had total phenolic content of 207 ± 0.011 mg/g compared to quercetin (63 ± 0.002 mg/g). The extract also showed anti-oxidant activity with ferric reduction antioxidant power (FRAP) value of 11220 ± 0.1 mmol/g compared to gallic acid (1216.67 ± 0.03 mmol/g) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) inhibition of 89.5 ± 1.07% compared to gallic acid (88.8 ± 0.85%). [7]
The aqueous extract of P. minor leaves (1 mg/mL) had total phenolic content of 55.5 ± 0.0021 mg/g compared to quercetin (63 ± 0.002 mg/g). This extract also showed potent anti-oxidant activity with FRAP value of 849.33 ± 0.32 mmol/g compared to gallic acid (1216.67 ± 0.03 mmol/g) and DPPH inhibition percentage of 81.88 ± 0.98% compared to gallic acid (88.8 ± 0.85%). Quercetin and gallic acid act as positive controls. [7]
Juice extract of P. minor leaves and stem had total phenolic content of 165.3 ± 1.0 mg GAE/100 g extract. The extract also showed anti-oxidant activity DPPH inhibition percentage of 82.6 ± 0.7% and FRAP value of 46.3 ± 1.2 µmol Fe (II)/g. [8]
The aqueous extract of P. minor leaves (200 µg/mL) had total phenolic content of 2800.6 ± 2.6 mg/100 g GAE. The extract also showed potent anti-oxidant activity with lipid peroxidation inhibitory of 98.3 ± 0.4% compared to butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) (200 μg), superoxide scavenging of 77.9 ± 1.0% compared to superoxide dismutase (SOD; 6×10-3 U/mL) and DPPH radical scavenging of 98.8 ± 0.5%. Butylated hydroxytoluene and superoxide dismutase act as positive controls. [9]
Antiviral activity
The ethanol extract of P. minor leaves showed antiviral activity on Herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1) (MIC = 0.01 mg/mL) and Vesicular stomatitis viruses (VSV) (MIC = 0.02 mg/mL) using simplified plaque reduction assay. [10]
Antitumor activity
Methanol extract of P. minor leaves (200 µg/mL) had cancer chemopreventive activity with cell viability rate of > 90% and inhibitory rate of 100% on tumor-promoter-induced Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) activation in Raji cells. [11]
Cytotoxicity activity
The aqueous extract of P. minor leaves was not cytotoxic on WRL-68 human liver cell line (IC50 = 322.95 ug/mL) and Vero monkey kidney cell line (IC50 = 334.70 ug/mL) using sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. [9]
The ethanol extract of P. minor leaves showed cytotoxicity effect on human cervical carcinoma cells (HeLa) with cytotoxic dose at 50% (CD50) value of 0.1 mg/mL using microtitration cytotoxity assay. [10]
Anti-ulcer activity
Aqueous extract of P. minor leaves (250 and 500 mg/kg) administered orally as single dose to male Sprague Dawley rats (aged between 6 to 8 weeks) one hour before induction of gastric ulcer with ethanol significantly (p < 0.05) increased mucus production, increased pH of gastric content, increased inhibition percentage and decreased the ulcer area. [12]
Toxicity
Acute toxicity
Oral single dose acute toxicity studies using aqueous mixture of dried powder of P. minor leaves on female Sprague Dawley rats (aged between 8 to 12 weeks old) showed no toxic effect on the parameters observed which includes behavior, body weight, food and water intakes (LD50> 2000 mg/kg). Study on aqueous mixture of dried powder P. minor twigs produced similar results. [13][14]
The aqueous extract of P. minor leaves (250 and 500 mg/kg) administered orally as a single dose to male and female Sprague Dawley rats (aged between 6 to 8 weeks old) for a duration of 14 days showed no toxic effect with LD50 value of > 5 mL/kg. [12]
Clinical Data
No documentation
Poisonous Management
No documentation
Line Drawing
No documentation.
References
- The Plant List. Ver 1.1. Persicaria minor (Huds.) Opiz. [homepage on the Internet]. c2013 [updated 2012 Mar 23; cited 2016 Oct 20]. Available from: http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-2572670
- Quattrocchi U. CRC world dictionary of medicinal and poisonous plants: Common names, scientific names, eponyms, synonyms, and etymology. Volume IV M-Q. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, 2012; p. 499
- Do NT. Persicaria minor (Huds.) Opiz In: van Valkenburg JLCH, Bunyapraphatsara N, editors. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 12(2): Medicinal and poisonous plants 2. Leiden, Netherlands: Backhuys Publishers, 2001; p. 414-415.
- Yaacob K. Essential oil of Polygonum minus Huds. J Essen Oil Res. 1990;2(4):167-172.
- Baharum SN, Bunawan H, Ghani MA, Mustapha WA, Noor NM. Analysis of the chemical composition of the essential oil of Polygonum minus Huds. using two-dimensional gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOF MS). Molecules. 2010;15(10):7006-7015.
- Wiart C. Medicinal plants of Asia and the Pacific. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, 2006; p. 49.
- Qader SW, Abdulla MA, Chua LS, Najim N, Zain MM, Hamdan S. Antioxidant, total phenolic content and cytotoxicity evaluation of selected malaysian plants. Molecules. 2011;16(4):3433-3443.
- Maizura M, Aminah A, Aida WW. Total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of kesum (Polygonum minus), ginger (Zingiber officinale) and turmeric (Curcuma longa) extract. Int Food Res J. 2011;18(2):529-534.
- Vimala S, Rohana S, Rashih A, Juliza M. Antioxidant evaluation in Malaysian medicinal plant: Persicaria minor (Huds.) leaf. Sci J Med Clin Trials. 2011:1:9-16.
- Ali AM, Mackeen MM, El-Sharkawy SH, et al. Antiviral and cytotoxic activities of some plants used in Malaysian indigenous medicine. Pertanika J Trop Agri Sci. 1996;19(2/3):129-136.
- Murakami A, Ali AM, Mat-Salleh K, Koshimizu K, Ohigashi H. Screening for the in vitro anti-tumor-promoting activities of edible plants from Malaysia. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2000;64(1):9-16.
- Wasman S, Mahmood A, Salehhuddin H, Zahra A, Salmah I. Cytoprotective activities of Polygonum minus aqueous leaf extract on ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in rats. J Med Plant Res. 2010;4(24):2658-2665.
- Teh BP, Hamzah NF, Rosli SNS, Yahaya MAF, Zakiah I, Murizal Z. Acute oral toxicity study of selected Malaysian medicinal herbs on Sprague Dawley rats. Institute for Medical Research Ministry of Health; 2012. Report No.: HMRC 11-045/01/PM/L/J.
- Teh BP, Hamzah NF, Rosli SNS, Yahaya MAF, Zakiah I, Murizal Z. Acute oral toxicity study of selected Malaysian medicinal herbs on Sprague Dawley rats. Institute for Medical Research Ministry of Health; 2012. Report No.: HMRC 11-045/01/PM/T/J.
