Premna corymbosa
Rottler & Willd.
(c) Ria Tan, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND)
(c) Aravinth, some rights reserved (CC BY)
(c) Aravinth, some rights reserved (CC BY)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
In Vietnam, the aromatic leaves of P. serratifolia are used to cook in some braise or stir fry dishes with chicken, eels or frogs.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. In PNG it grows in Morobe Province near Lae.
Niue, Pacific, Papua New Guinea, PNG,
How to Identify
A shrub. It grows 6 m tall. It has several stems. Young growth is hairy. The leaves are opposite and oblong. They are 8 cm long by 5 cm wide. There are teeth along the edge. The flowers are small and greenish. The fruit are black berries with one stoney seed.
Medicinal Uses
The plant is extensively used in Indian traditional medicine. Studies on the root wood of P. serratifolia led to the isolation of acteoside, a glucoside derivative. The root bark of the plant which showed biological activities have also shown to contain a potent cytotoxic and antioxidant diterpene, 11,12,16-trihydroxy-2-oxo-5-methyl-10-demethyl-abieta-1,6, 8,11,13-pentene.
Names & Synonyms
Aloalo
References (1)
- Plants of Papua New Guinea LAE herbarium record
