Persea americana

Scientific name: Persea americana Mill.

Botanical family: LAURACEAE

Vernacular names

(In territories with significant traditional TRAMIL use)

Guatemala:

aguacate

Dominican Republic:

aguacate

Mexico:

aguacate

Barbados:

pear tree

Martinique:

zaboka

Other vernacular names

Cuba:

aguacate

Mexico:

aguacate

Dominican Republic:

aguacate

Barbados:

pear leaves
pear tree

Haiti:

zaboka

Martinique:

zaboka, avocatier

Geographical distribution

Native to tropical America, cultivated in tropical and subtropical areas.

Botanical description

Fruit tree up to 20 m, with a dense, rounded or elongated crown. Alternate leaves, elliptic to obovate, acute or acuminate at the apex, cuneate to rounded at the base, penninervate. Panicles shorter than the leaves, subterminal; perfect flowers, greenish-
yellowish; pubescent calyx lobes on both surfaces. Fruit very variable in shape, size, colour and quality of the pulp.

Voucher(s)

Faujour,6,BAR
Girón,245,CFEH
Longuefosse&Nossin,25,HAVPM
Medina,60,CICY

amenorrhoea

(and/or abortifacient) : leaf or fruit, decoction, orally¹

cough

leaf, decoction, orally⁴

asthma

leaf, decoction, orally²

bronchitis

leaf, decoction, orally²

urinary infection

leaf, decoction, orally²

flatulence

leaf, decoction, orally³

The fruit of ^{Persea americana} is a food of relatively widespread human consumption.

For amenorrhoea, asthma, bronchitis, coughs, flatulence or urinary infections:
prepare a decoction with 20 grams of chopped leaves in 4 cups (1 litre) of water, boil for 5 minutes in a covered vessel. Leave to cool, strain (filter) and drink 1 cup 3 times a day.

For headaches:
wash the fresh leaves adequately, apply in sufficient quantities on the forehead, leave for 15 minutes, 3 times a day.

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

According to the information available:

The use for amenorrhoea is classified as REC based on the significant traditional use documented in the TRAMIL surveys,
the toxicity and validation studies, and the scientific information published.

The use for bronchitis, headache, flatulence, urinary infection and coughs is classified as REC based on the significant
traditional use documented in the TRAMIL surveys and the toxicity studies.

Due to the health risks of asthma, bronchitis and urinary infections, an initial medical assessment is recommended. The
use of this resource must be considered complementary to medical treatment, unless contraindicated.

If deterioration is observed in the patient and the headache, asthma, bronchitis or cough persist for more than 5 days or the
urinary infection for more than 3 days, seek medical attention.

Due to the risks of documented interactions with warfarin and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), people taking these drugs should avoid ingesting any part of the plant⁶.

Not for use during pregnancy because it may cause miscarriage, nor while breastfeeding or in children under 6 years of age.

TRAMIL Work¹⁹
The aqueous extract from the fruit and leaves (12.5 g/kg), orally in mice, did not produce evidence of toxicity during the 10 days
of observation. The LD50 of the extract intraperitoneally was 8.828 ± 3.729 g/kg.

The aqueous extract from the fresh fruit and leaves (500 mg/ml,18.75, 12.5 and 6.25 ml/kg weight of mouse/day) for 30 days orally in mice, did not cause obvious signs of toxicity in the 40 days of observation19.

TRAMIL Work²⁰
The freeze-dried aqueous extract (decoction) from fresh leaves (5 g/kg/day/5 days), orally in NGP mice (10 males and 10
females), did not cause death or signs of toxicity with observation for 7 days after treatment.

TRAMIL Work²¹
The fresh crushed leaf (0.6 g of plant material, in an area of approximately 6 cm²), was applied topically in patches on the
skin of male New Zealand rabbits. The patch was removed after 4 hours and observations were made for erythema and oedema
readings at 24, 48 and 72 hours, with no clinical signs evident, and therefore it is in the non-irritant category.

The fresh leaf aqueous extract (1-10 g/kg) orally and intraperitoneally in mice, did not cause death or evidence of
toxicity in the 24 hours of observation¹⁸.

The fresh leaves in lactating goats fed with more than 20 g/kg caused damage to the mammary glands and reduced milk production²².

The fresh leaves included as part of the feed in 21 sheep caused respiratory and cardiac problems; their autopsy showed
myocardial lesions²³.

It was reported that consumption of the fruit by people in anticoagulant therapy with warfarin caused a decrease in the effect of this drug. Also, the appearance of hypertensive crisis has been described in association with the ingestion of fruit together with taking monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) drugs⁶.

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

The leaf has been studied extensively and contains, among
other components, essential oil: estragole (80%)⁷, camphene, carvone, eugenol, methyl ether, limonene, β-myrcene, β-cimene, α and β pinene among others⁸; flavonoids: afzelin, guaijaverin, hyperoside, juglanin, quercetin, quercitrin, isoquercitrin⁹ , apigenin, astragalin¹⁰, procyanidin derivatives¹¹; coumarins: scopoletin¹⁰; alkanes¹².

TRAMIL Work¹³
The decoction from dried leaves (2 mg/ml) in vitro did not cause inhibition of microorganisms causing urinary infection:
Escherichia coli 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC27853, Salmonella typhi ATCC14028 and Staphylococcus aureus
ATCC6558, Candida albicans 10231 or Cryptococcus neoformans C13.

TRAMIL Work¹⁴
The aqueous extract (10-minute decoction chemically neutralised at pH 7) from the whole fruit and leaves (16.66 mg/ml) in vitro, experimental model of mouse uterus in oestrus, non-cumulative dose, produced a significant uterotonic response (p < 0.01).

TRAMIL Work¹⁵
The freeze-dried aqueous extract (decoction) from fresh leaves (14.28 mg/ml) in vitro, in isolated guinea pig trachea rings contracted with potassium chloride (80 millimoles), showed no relaxing effect.

TRAMIL Work¹⁶
The freeze-dried aqueous extract (decoction) from fresh leaves at a concentration of 66.67 mg/ml (1 g/kg), orally in Hsd:ICR
mice (10 males and 10 females), did not modify the intestinal transit speed compared to the control group that received distilled and deionised water (0.5 ml).

TRAMIL Work¹⁷
The aqueous extract (30% decoction) from fresh leaves (1, 5 and 10 g of plant material/kg), orally in male OF-1 mice (20-
25 g), 10 animals/group, acetic acid induced contortion model (0.75%), intraperitoneally (0.1 ml/10 g) and tail flick by immersion in hot water (55 °C). The decoction (1, 5 and 10 g/kg) showed significant analgesic activity in the contortion model, and only at a dose of 5 g/kg in the tail-flick model.

The aqueous extract (one-hour decoction 470 g/2 l of distilled water, filtered and evaporated to dryness at 40 °C, with a yield
of 7% weight/weight) from fresh leaves, reconstituted in distilled water (400 mg/ml, 200-1600 mg/kg) orally in mice, in formalin-
induced pain models (1% s.c.); contortions induced by acetic acid (0.6% v/v; 10 ml/kg) and hot plate (56 °C), inhibited the pain response dose-dependently. In the carrageenan-induced oedema inflammation model (1% w/v, 0.1 ml) in rat legs, a dose dependent anti-inflammatory response was obtained¹⁸.

Pharmacopoeia

Ed.3

References

1 GERMOSEN-ROBINEAU L, GERONIMO M, AMPARO C, 1984
Encuesta TRAMIL. enda-caribe, Santo Domingo, Rep. Dominicana.

2 GIRON L, 1988
Encuesta TRAMIL (Costa atlántica). Centro Mesoamericano de Tecnología CEMAT, Guatemala, Guatemala.

3 FAUJOUR A, MURREY D, CHELTENHAM B, CARRINGTON S, 2003
TRAMIL survey. enda-caribbean, IICA & UAG, Saint Thomas, Barbados.

4 LONGUEFOSSE JL, NOSSIN E, 1990-95
Enquête TRAMIL. Association pour la valorisation des plantes médicinales de la Caraïbe AVPMC, Fort de France,
Martinique.

5 MENDEZ M, MEDINA ML, DURAN R, 1996
Encuesta TRAMIL. Unidad de recursos naturales, Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán CICY, Mérida,
México.

6 CANIGUERAL S, VILA R, RISCO E, PEREZ F, PORTILLO A, FREIXA B, MILO B, VANACLOCHA B, RIOS JL, MORALES MA, ALONSO JR, BACHILLER LI, PERIS JB, STUBING G, 2002
Persea americana. Vademecum de Fitoterapia, Editorial Masson, Barcelona, España, Feb. 26, 2003. URL: www.masson.es/book/fitoterapia.html

7 BERGH BO, SCORA RW, STOREY WB, 1973
Comparison of leaf terpenes in Persea subgenus persea. Bot Gaz (Chicago) 134:130-134.

8 KING JR, KNIGHT RJ, 1992
Volatile components of the leaves of various avocado cultivars. J Agric Food Chem 40(7):1182-1185.

9 DE ALMEIDA AP, MIRANDA MMFS, SIMONI IC, WIGG MD, LAGROTA MHC, COSTA SS, 1998
Flavonol monoglycosides isolated from the antiviral fractions of Persea americana (Lauraceae) leaf infusion.
Phytother Res 12(8):562-567.

10 MERIÇLI F, MERIÇLI AH, YILMAZ F, YÜNCÜLER G, YÜNCÜLER O, 1992
Flavonoids of avocado (Persea americana) leaves. Acta Pharm Turc 34(2):61-63.

11 BATE-SMITH EC, 1975
Phytochemistry of proanthocyanidins. Phytochemistry 14(4):1107-1113.

12 MURAKOSHI S, ISOGAI A, CHANG CF, KAMIKADO T, SAKURAI A, TAMURA S, 1976
The effects of two components from avocado leaves (Persea americana) and related compounds on the growth of
silkworm larvae, Bombyx mori. Nippon Oyo Dobutsu Konchu Gakkaishi 20:87-91.

13 CACERES A, GONZALEZ S, GIRON L, 1998
Demostración de la actividad antimicrobiana de plantas TRAMIL en base a los usos populares en la cuenca del
Caribe. Informe TRAMIL. Laboratorio de productos fitofarmacéuticos Farmaya y Facultad de ciencias químicas y
farmacia, Universidad de San Carlos, Guatemala, Guatemala.

14 HERRERA J, 1986
Determinación de actividades biológicas de vegetales utilizados en medicina tradicional. Informe TRAMIL. Dep. de
Farmacología, Facultad de Salud, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia.

15 GARCIA GM, COTO MT, GONZALEZ CS, PAZOS L, 1999
Actividad bronquial del extracto acuoso de hoja fresca de Persea americana. Informe TRAMIL. Laboratorio de Ensayos Biológicos LEBi, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, Costa Rica.

16 PAZOS L, COTO T, GONZALEZ S, QUIROS S, 2003
Tránsito intestinal, en ratones, del extracto acuoso de hojas frescas de Persea americana. Informe TRAMIL.
Laboratorio de Ensayos Biológicos LEBi, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, Costa Rica.

17 MORON FJ, GARCIA AI, VICTORIA MC, MOREJON Z, LOPEZ M, BACALLAO Y, FUENTES V, 2008
Acción analgésica de la decocción de hojas frescas de Persea americana Mill. (aguacate) en ratones. Trabajo TRAMIL. Laboratorio Central de Farmacología, Facultad de Medicina “Dr. Salvador Allende”, Cerro, C. Habana, Cuba.

18 ADEYEMI OO, OKPO SO, OGUNTI OO, 2002
Analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of the aqueous extract of leaves of Persea americana Mill Lauraceae. Fitoterapia 73(5):375-380.

19 HERRERA J, 1988
Determinación de actividades biológicas de vegetales utilizados en medicina tradicional. Informe TRAMIL. Laboratorio de fitofarmacología, Dep. de Farmacología, Facultad de Salud, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia.

20 GARCIA GM, COTO MT, GONZALEZ CS, PAZOS L, 2000
Toxicidad aguda en ratones, del extracto acuoso de hojas frescas de Persea americana. Informe TRAMIL. Laboratorio de Ensayos Biológicos LEBi, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, Costa Rica.

21 LOPEZ M, MARTINEZ MJ, MOREJON Z, BOUCOURT E, FUENTES V, MORON F. 2005
Irritabilidad dérmica primaria de hoja fresca machacada de Persea americana Mill. Informe TRAMIL. Laboratorio Central de Farmacología, Facultad de Medicina “Dr. Salvador Allende”, Cerro, C. Habana, Cuba.

22 CRAIGMILL AL, SEAWRIGHT AA, MATTILA T, FROST AJ, 1989
Pathological changes in the mammary gland and biochemical changes in milk of the goat following oral dosing with leaf of the avocado (Persea americana). Aust Vet J 66(7):206-211.

23 GRANT R, BASSON PA, BOOKER HH, HOFHERR JB, ANTHONISSEN M, 1991
Cardiomyopathy caused by avocado (Persea americana Mill.) leaves. J S Afr Vet Assoc 62(1):21-22.

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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Persea americana

Vernacular names

Guatemala:

Dominican Republic:

Mexico:

Barbados:

Martinique:

Cuba:

Mexico:

Dominican Republic:

Barbados:

Haiti:

Martinique:

Geographical distribution

Botanical description

Voucher(s)

Pharmacopoeia

References

Disclaimer