Celastrus paniculatus Willd.

DeFilipps, Robert A. & Krupnick, Gary A., 2018, The medicinal plants of Myanmar, PhytoKeys 102, pp. 1-341 : 45

Celastrus paniculatus Willd.

Names.

Myanmar: hpak-ko-suk, myin-gaung-nayaung, myin-gondaing, myin-lauk-yaung, new-ni. English: black oil plant.

Range.

India to southern China south (not in Borneo) to Australia and New Caledonia. In Myanmar, found in Chin, Kachin, Mandalay, and Yangon.

Uses.

Leaf: Used as an opium antidote. Seed: Used as a stimulant.

Notes.

In India the bark is used for wounds, cough, colds, and fever; the leaf and root for headache; and the seed for piles and digestive trouble (oil), rheumatic pain, and as a stimulant ( Jain and DeFilipps 1991). In Indo-China the oil from the seeds is used to treat beri-beri; in Indonesia the leaves are used in treating dysentery; and in the Philippines the pulverized seeds are employed as a nerve stimulant, and to treat rheumatism and paralysis ( Perry 1980).

Reported chemical constituents include phytosterol, celastrol, a resinous substance in the aril of the seed, and a semi-solid fat. Two alkaloids, celastrine and paniculatin, have been isolated from the oil cake, but were not found in the oil expressed from the seeds ( Perry 1980).

References.

Perry (1980), Forest Department (1999).