Gliricidia sepium

Scientific name: Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Kunth ex Walp.

Botanical family: FABACEAE

Vernacular names

(In territories with significant traditional TRAMIL use)

Martinique:

glysérya

Honduras:

madriado

Other vernacular names

Trinidad and Tobago:

Gloricida

St Vincent and Grenadines:

Glory cedar

Honduras:

Madriado

Panama:

Mata ratón

Geographical distribution

Native of tropical America, cultivated in the tropics as a shade plant.

Botanical description

Deciduous shrub or tree, up to 20 m. Imparipinnate compound leaves of 12 to 30 cm in length, with 7 to 25 leaflets, ovate or elliptic, glabrous on the upper side and sparsely pubescent on the underside; it has purple spikes when dry. Racemose inflorescence 5 to 7 cm; flowers with oblique calyx, erect petals 2 cm, pink in colour. Fruit, flattened linear pods of 10 to 15 cm, yellowish-brown to coffee-coloured lenticular seeds.

Voucher(s)

Ochoa,283,HPMHV
Suazo&Cardona,42,HPMHV
Longuefosse&Nossin,148,HAVPM

For skin conditions or gratel:
chop 20 grams of fresh leaves and add them to 4 cups (1 litre) of boiled water, leave to rest for 12 hours and apply in baths 2 or 3 times a day onto the affected area.

Preparations must never be stored for more than 24 hours, even if refrigerated.

According to the information available:

The use for skin conditions and gratel is classified as REC based on the significant traditional use documented in the TRAMIL surveys and the scientific information published.

All topical application must follow strict hygiene measures in order to prevent contamination or additional infection.

If deterioration is observed in the patient or the condition persists for more than 5 days in adults and 3 days in children, seek medical attention.

The seeds, leaves, bark and roots contain toxic substances (saponins). Avoid ingestion of these parts of the plant due of the risk of toxicity³.

No data are available to recommend medicinal use during pregnancy, breastfeeding or in children younger than 12 years of age.

The aqueous maceration of dried leaves (100 g/5 l, 2 times/day, for 5 weeks), topically in 16 monkeys, 5 of which had skin lesions, did not cause adverse effects¹⁰.

The aqueous extract from fresh leaves (1-5 g/kg) orally in mice showed no toxic effect in the acute toxicity test¹¹.

The LD₅₀ of the ethanolic extract from dried leaves, orally in mice, was above 5 g/kg¹².

The LD₅₀ of the hydroalcoholic extract 50% from aerial parts via the intraperitoneal route in mice was 0.75 mg/kg¹³.

There is no information available documenting the safety of medicinal use in children, during pregnancy or breastfeeding.

The leaves contain carbohydrates: sucrose; cyclitol: pinitol⁴; flavonoids: astragalin, robinin, trifolin⁵.

The leaves and roots contain aromatic compounds and saponins: hederagenin^6-7.

The continuous extraction with ethanol (98%) from dried leaves (100 g/500 ml), in vitro, agar diffusion method, showed activity against Staphylococcus aureus, β haemolyticStreptococcus , Bacillus cereus and Escherichia
coli , but not against Candida albicans⁸.

Under the same conditions with distilled water it showed no antimicrobial activity⁸.

The aqueous extract (decoction) from dried branches and leaves (1 mg/ml) in vitro, was active against Microsporum canis, Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. algodonosa; but was inactive against Epidermophyton floccosum, Microsporum gypseum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. granulare⁹.

With the aqueous maceration of dried leaves (100 g/5 l, 2 times/day, for 5 weeks), topically in 5 monkeys with cutaneous lesions, clinical improvement was observed in the lesions without reinfection due to Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Epidermophyton floccosum, Candida sp. and Fusarium sp.¹⁰.

Pharmacopoeia

Ed.3

References

1 LAGOS-WITTE S, TINOCO R, MERLO V, 1996
Encuesta complementaria TRAMIL. Laboratorio de Histología Vegetal y Etnobotánica, Dep. de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras UNAH, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
2 LONGUEFOSSE JL, NOSSIN E, 1990-95
Enquête TRAMIL. Association pour la valorisation des plantes médicinales de la Caraïbe AVPMC, Fort de France, Martinique.
3 COMISION NACIONAL PARA EL CONOCIMIENTO Y USO DE LA
BIODIVERSIDAD, 2010 Gliricidia sepium: www.conabio.gob.mx/conocimiento/info_especies/arboles/doctos/29-legum19… (18/11/2011)
4 CALLE J, RIVERA A, JOSEPH-NATHAN P, 1987
Pinitol from the leaves of Gliricidia sepium. Planta Med 53(3):303.
5 DAYAL R, 1985
Phytochemical investigation on flowers of Gliricidia sepium. J Indian Chem Soc 62(2):171.
6 RASTRELLI L, CACERES A, DE SIMONE F, AQUINO R, 1999
Studies on the constituents of Gliricidia sepium (Leguminosae) leaves and roots: Isolation and structure elucidation of new triterpenoid saponins and aromatic compounds. J Agric Food Chem 47(4):1537-1540.
7 WINA E, MUETZEL S, BECKER K, 2005
The Impact of saponins or saponin-containing plant materials on ruminant productions: A Review. J Agric Food Chem 53(21):8093-8105.
8 ROJAS JJ, OCHOA VJ, OCAMPO SA, MUÑOZ JF, 2006
Screening for antimicrobial activity of ten medicinal plants used in Colombian folkloric medicine: A possible alternative in the treatment of non-nosocomial infections. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 6(1):2.
9 CACERES A, LOPEZ BR, GIRON MA, LOGEMANN H, 1991
Plants used in Guatemala for the treatment of dermatophytic infections. I. Screening for antimicotic activity of 44 plant extracts. J Ethnopharmacol 31(3):263-276.
10 ZULUAGA A, UPEGUI I, RODRIGUEZ CJ, OCAMPO MC, RESTREPO M, PARRA
GJ, TORRES Y, 2005
Ensayo clínico fase I para evaluar la terapia con Gliricidia sepium en lesiones cutáneas de primates de la familia Cebidae. Rev CES Med 19(1):9-19.
11 CACERES A, LOPEZ B, GONZALEZ S, BERGER I, TADA I, MAKI J, 1998
Plants used in Guatemala for the treatment of protozoal infections. I. Screening of activity to bacteria, fungi and American trypanosomes of 13 native plants. J of Ethnopharmacology 62(3):195-202.
12 CACERES A, LOPEZ B, GONZALEZ S, BERGER I, TADA I, MAKI J, 1998
Plants used in Guatemala for the treatment of protozoal infections: I. Screening of activity to bacteria, fungi and American trypanosomes of 13 native plants. J Ethnopharmacol 62(3):195-202.
13 DHAWAN BN, PATNAIK GK, RASTOGI RP, SINGH KK, TANDON JS, 1977
Screening of Indian plants for biological activity. VI. Indian J Exp Biol 15(3):208-219.

Disclaimer

The information provided is for educational purposes only for the benefit of the general public and health professionals. It is not intended to take the place of either the written law or regulations. Since some parts of plants could be toxic, might induce side effects, or might have interactions with certain drugs, anyone intending to use them or their products must first consult with a physician or another qualified health care professional. TRAMIL has no responsibility whatsoever towards the user for any decision, action or omission made in relation to the information contained in this Pharmacopoeia.

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Gliricidia sepium

Vernacular names

Martinique:

Honduras:

Trinidad and Tobago:

St Vincent and Grenadines:

Honduras:

Panama:

Geographical distribution

Botanical description

Voucher(s)

Pharmacopoeia

References

Disclaimer