AKAPULKO

Akapulko

Common Name:    

                                    Ringworm bush or Ringworm shrub (English) [1]

Katanda, Andadasi and Palochina in Tagalog, Ilocos and in Visayas regions [2]

Ringworm tree, Christmas candle, candlestick or candle bush [3]

Scientific Name:    

                                    Cassia alata [4]

Family Name:         

                                    Fabaceae [4]

Description of the plant and its parts:

• The ringworm bush is a tropical shrub and found throughout the Philippines which grows about 1.5-3 meters tall with an open crown branched at base brittle branches of distinctive habit with large leaves and long terminal upright panicles of yellow flowers [1].

• Leaves are pinnate and 40 to 60 centimeters long, with orange rachis on stout branches. Each leaf has 16 to 28 leaflets, 5 to 15 centimeters in length, broad and rounded at the apex, with a small point at the tip. Leaflets gradually increase in size from the base towards the tip of the leaf [4].

• Flowers are roundish in compact axillary racemes, golden-yellow and very showy, about 20 to 30 cm long and 3–4 cm wide. The bracts are 2–3 by 1–2 cm. There are 5 unequal, oblong, 10–20 by 6–7 mm green sepals. The petals are bright yellow, ovate-orbicular to spathulate, short-clawed, 2 by 1–1.5 cm. There are 9–10 stamens; 2 large, 4 small, and 3–4 reduced. The anthers open via apical pores. There is only 1 pistil and glabrous ovary. Fruit are 4-winged pods, 10–15 cm long, dark brown when ripe [5].

• Barks are smooth to rough, greyish more or less lenticellate, with green to yellowish slash. Stems are more or less ridged at the leaf base, very shortly pubescent, becoming glabrous [1].

Akapulko plant & its important parts

Figure 1: Akapulko Leaves and Flower [6]  

Figure 2: Akapulko Leaves [4]

                                                         

Figure 3: Akapulko seed pods [4]

                                                  

 Figure 4: Entire plant [7]

ACTIVE CONSTITUENTS

Cassia alata has been reported to contain anthraquinones, the principal laxative constituent of many plants used as purgatives and also contain flavonoid glycoside [8]. Phytochemical studies of crude extract of stem bark yielded important secondary metabolites - tannins, steroids, alkaloids, anthraquinones, terpenes, carbohydrates and saponins [4].

Meanwhile, the leaves, flowers, stem and root of Cassia alata has methanolic extracts [8]. Phytochemical study of leaves yielded 12 compounds viz. chrysoeriol, kaempferol, quercetin, 5,7,4'-trihydroflavanone, kaempferol-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, kaempferol-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside, 17-hydrotetratriacontane, n-dotriacontanol, n-triacontanol, palmitic acid ceryl ester, stearic acid, palmitic acid [9].

TRADITIONAL USE

Akapulko is use against skin diseases [10]. Skin diseases such as Tinea infections, insect bites, ringworms, eczema, scabies and itchiness [2]. The seeds are used for intestinal parasitism. Tincture from leaves reported to be purgative. Decoction of leaves and flowers for cough and as expectorant in bronchitis and asthma. Also used as astringent. Crushed leaves and juice extract used for ringworm, scabies, eczema, tinea infections, itches, insect bites, herpes [4].

PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITY    

Antibacterial

• Akapulko has methanolic extracts from leaves, flowers, stem and root that had been shown to have a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity after fractionating with petroleum spirit, dichloromethane and ethyl acetate [8]. The activity was increased on fractionation (petrol, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate), the dichloromethane fraction of the flower extract being the most effective [11].

Antioxidant and Stimulating agent

• It is evident that the plant Cassia alata possesses strong antioxidant activity, as it contains good quantity of antioxidant compounds like phenols, Vitamin-C, Vitamin- A, flavonoids, carotenoids and anthraquinone. In addition, it has very high DPPH radical scavenging activity in contrast to the synthetic antioxidant compound, BHT. The plant Cassia alata has strong immune-modulating or immune-stimulating potency, as evidenced by a steep rise in the total count of leucocytes with concomitant increasing in granulocyte: a granulocyte ratio as well as remarkable increase in the total number of peritoneal macrophages in the rabbits treated with the aqueous extract of leaves of C. alata. Thus, the plant Cassia alata may extensively be used in therapeutic medicines as a resource of natural antioxidants and immune stimulating agent [12].

Antifungal

• The aqueous flower extract of Cassia alata was investigated for antifungal activity by agar diffusion method against three distinct groups of fungi, viz. aflatoxin producing fungi, Aspergillus flavus (NCBT 101) and A. parasiticus (NCBT 128); plant pathogenic fungi, Fusarium oxysporum ( NCBT 156 ) and Helminthosporium oryzae (NCBT 165); and human pathogenic fungi Candida albicans (NCBT 140) and Microsporum audouinni (NCBT 173). Total inhibition (100%) of growth was seen at 10 and 15 mg/ml concentrations for aflatoxin producing fungal strains. Whereas for plant and human pathogenic fungi total inhibition was at 15mg/ml concentration. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of the extract varied from 5.75 to 8.00mg/ml for these fungi. Thus, aqueous flower extract of C. alata can be used as a potential antifungal agent for these three varied groups of fungi [13].

Antimutagenic, Antifungal, Analgesic, Antiinflammatory and Hypoglycaemic Activities

• The hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate extracts of the leaves of Cassia alata were tested for their antimutagenic, antifungal, analgesic, antiinflammatory and hypoglycaemic activities [14].
• At a dosage of 5 mg/20 g mouse, the hexane extract was analgesic as it reduced the number of squirms induced by acetic acid by 59.5%. Both the hexane and EtOAc extracts exhibited antiinflammatory activity at a dosage of 5 mg/20 g mouse with a 65.5% and 68.2% decrease in carrageenan-induced inflammation, respectively [14].
• The chloroform extract was antimutagenic, at a dosage of 2 mg/20 g mouse, with a 65.8% inhibition in the mutagenicity of tetracycline. It was also the most active against Trichophyton mentagrophytes, at a concentration of 50 mg/mL but it had no activity against Candida albicans [14].
• The hexane and EtOAc extracts showed some activity against both organisms, with the EtOAc extract being more active against C. albicans. The EtOAc extract was hypoglycaemic. At a dosage of 5 mg/20 g mouse, it decreased the blood sugar level of mice by 58.3% [14].
• Pharmacological studies showed that all extracts caused an immediate decrease in motor activity, enophthalmus, hyperemia, micturition and diarrhoea. At a dosage of 150 mg/20 g mouse, the EtOAc extract caused paralysis, screen grip loss and enophthalmus accompanied by drooping and closure of the eyelids [14].

TOXICITY

The 50% ethanolic extract of Cassia alata’s leaf produced no acute toxicity in mice when given orally at the dose of 15 g/kg. LD50 of the extract in mice was more than 15 g/kg when administered either by p.o. or s.c. but was 8.03 g/kg when given i.p. Chronic toxicity of the leaf powder at 0.03, 0.15 and 0.75 g/kg/day was investigated for 6 months in 240 Wistar rats divided to four groups, 60 rats (male 30, female 30) in each group. Body weight, food consumption, hematology, blood chemistry, visceral organs both gross and histopathological changes were determined. No evidence of abnormalities has been observed [15].

Present study assayed the toxicity effect of ethanolic leaf and seed extract of Cassia alata and found promising activity. From the probit transformation ofresulting mortality data we got LC50 values of 4.31 ppm (mug mL-1) for seed and5.29 ppm for leaf extract. Seed extract explored potent cytotoxicity similar to thestandard garlic acid (LC50 = 4.53 ppm). These findings suggested that the seed extract was more toxic to brine shrimp than the leaf extract but was comparable to the standard gallic acid (LC50 = 4.53 ppm) [16].

 

REFERENCES

 [1] Arbonnier, M. (2004). Trees, Shrubs and Lianas of West African Dry Zones. France: Editions Quae

[2] Philippine Herbal Medicine (2005-2014). Akapulko / Acapulco (Cassia alata). Retrieved: July 24 2014. http://www.philippineherbalmedicine.org/akapulko.htm

[3] M Wuthi-udomlert, P Kupittayanant, W Gritsanapan (2010). In vitro evaluation of antifungal activity of anthraquinone derivatives of Senna alata. Retrieved: July 25. 2014. http://www.researchgate.net/publication/227344473_IN_VITRO_EVALUATION_OF_ANTIFUNGAL_ACTIVITY_OF_ANTHRAQUINONE_DERIVATIVES_OF_SENNA_ALATA/file/d912f4fe19eaa60a99.pdf

[4] Godofredo Umali-Stuart and Angela Stiuart-Santiago (2014) Akapulko. Philippine medicinal plants. http://www.stuartxchange.com/Akapulko.html

[5] Ivan A. Ross (2003). Medicinal Plants of the World. USA: Humana Press

[6] SimplyZhen. (2010). Akapulko / Acapulco (Cassia alata). Retrieved: July 25. 2014. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-hpxG_TwzjxeLyf0UsdDW2dwYAlhk3h02fGezUUdSw84XAtNotsrygLRaSsRJHHLsCt7FB0JkT6i0b7EMgIGYFWEsFQV7j8MAk11qt5khJcXa93KN2gAuvepSnQ-os7Pb-_sJ3G6zrBI/s1600-h/akapulko.jpg

[7] KdonGalay (2013). Acapulco. ). Retrieved: July 25. 2014. http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/37494064

[8] Owoyale JA, Olatunji GA, Oguntoye SO (2005). Antifungal and Antibacterial Activities of an Alcoholic Extract of Senna alata Leaves. J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Manage., 9(3): 105-107

[9] Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi.(2009). Studies on chemical constituents from leaves of Cassia alata. Retrieved: July 25. 2014. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19623982

[10] Batugal, P.A., Kanniah, J., Sy, L., Oliver, J.T. (eds.) 2004.  Medicinal Plants Research in Asia - Volume I: The Framework and Project Workplans. Malaysia: Bioversity International

[11] Khan MR, Kihara M, Omoloso AD (2001). Antimicrobial activity of Cassia alata. Fitoterapia, 72(5): 561-564

[12] Saheli Chatterjee, Sabyasachi Chatterjee, KK Dey and Sikha Dutta (2013). Study of Antioxidant Activity and Immune Stimulating Potency of the Ethnomedicinal Plant, Cassia alata (L.) Roxb. Retrieved: July 25. 2014.  http://omicsgroup.org/journals/study-of-antioxidant-activity-and-immune-stimulating-potency-of-the-ethnomedicinal-plant-cassia-alata-l-roxb-2167-0412.1000131.pdf

[13] Abubacker, M N, Ramanathan, R, Kumar, T Senthil (2008). In vitro antifungal activity of Cassia alata Linn. flower extract. Retrieved: July 25. 2014. http://nopr.niscair.res.in/handle/123456789/5636

[14] Irene M. Villaseñor, Arlyn P. Canlas, Marcy Paul I. Pascua, May N. Sabando and Leen Aloha P. Soliven. (2002). Bioactivity studies on Cassia alata Linn. leaf extracts. Retrieved: July 25. 2014. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ptr.768/abstract

[15] Nathrudee Sittisomwong, Songpol Chivapat, Aimmanasa Wangmad, Suthida Chaiyaraj, Patcharin Rugsamon, Charin Chuntarachaya (2013). Toxicity of Cassia alata. Retrieved: July 25. 2014. http://thailand.digitaljournals.org/index.php/BDMS/article/view/22845

[16] Awal, M.A., et al. (2004). Brine shrimp toxicity of leaf and seed extracts of Cassia alata Linn. and theirantibacterial potency. Retrieved: July 25. 2014. http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=PK2005000520

Compiled by: Rachelle Ababa