Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz, 1877

DeFilipps, Robert A. & Krupnick, Gary A., 2018, The medicinal plants of Myanmar, PhytoKeys 102, pp. 1-341 : 33-34

Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz

Names.

Myanmar: kyaung shar, sot-gren-itg (Mon), maleinka (Mak) (Shan). English: Indian trumpet flower.

Range.

Subtropical and tropical. Found from India to tropical China, south into Southeast Asia. Found growing naturally throughout Myanmar up to 1220 m altitude.

Uses.

Bark: A mixture of the bark powder with the juice of ginger and honey is given for asthma and bronchitis. The filtered liquid made from this powder is soaked in hot water for 2 hours and taken morning and night for chronic indigestion. The water from soaked bark is used as a mouthwash to relieve dry throat and cracked skin around the mouth. Bark of trunk and root used as an astringent and a tonic in dysentery, diarrhea, and rheumatism. Leaf: The juice is taken as a remedy for opium toxicity. Leaves are boiled and eaten to stimulate bowel movements. Fruit: Boiled or roasted, it is taken for indigestion, goiter, flatulence and hemorrhoids. It is eaten in a salad to alleviate boils on the skin. A mixture of fruit cooked with chicken is eaten to cure asthma. Consuming the fruit cooked with banded snakehead fish ( Ophiocephalus striatus ) is considered a cure for cholera that gives vitality as well as curing indigestion and diar rhea. As a remedy for palpitations or fatigue brought on by a weak heart, a mixture of fruit cooked with prawns is eaten. To reduce edema, increase weight, and strengthen a weak heart, a mixture of the fruit and hilsa fish ( Hilsa ilisha ) is eaten. A combination of the fruit cooked with the fish nga-mway-toh ( Mastacembelus armatus ) is ingested to cure dysentery associated with weakness in men and menstruation in women, as well as hemorrhoids. Root: A paste formed from grinding is applied to treat sores that continue to fester even though the skin has healed. Root bark is used to treat fever, joint pain, stomach bloating, and stomach pain.

Notes.

Medicinal uses of this species in India are discussed in Jain and DeFilipps (1991). Medicinal use of this species in China is discussed by Duke and Ayensu (1985).

In Indo-China and the Philippines the bark of the trunk and root are used in the same way as in Myanmar. On the Malay Peninsula the bark is used for dysentery. A decoction of the leaves is drunk for stomach disorders, rheumatism, and wounds; and is made into hot fomentations to treat cholera, fever, and rheumatic swellings. The cooked leaves are used as poultices for various ailments during and after childbirth; also for dysentery, and to relieve headache and toothache. In Indonesia the bitter bark serves as a remedy for stomach problems, and also as a tonic and appetizer. Additionally, the bark is chewed as a depurative, especially after parturition. The flowers are used as a remedy for inflammation of the eyes. The pith serves as a styptic. In the Philippines the juice from the crushed bark is rubbed on the back to relieve the ache accompanying malaria ( Perry 1980).

Oroxylin, isolated from the bark and seeds, has been found to be a mixture of three flavones, baicalein, 6-methylbaicalein, and chrysin. Oroxylin-A consists of phtalic and benzoic acids, and phloroglucinol ( Perry 1980).

References.

Agricultural Corporation (1980), Perry (1980), Forest Department (1999).