Common Name:

General Information

Cocculus pendulus is a dioecious, much-branched climbing or scandent shrub[].
The plant is used in traditional medicine, being harvested from the wild.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Northern Tropical Africa through Arabia, east to India.

Habitat

Semi-desert scrub vegetation or deciduous bushland, sometimes in shady localities along streams, climbing on trees such as Acacia and Balanites spp., up to 1,900 metres[]. Found on sandy and gravelly soils, sometimes colonizes dry fallow land[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Shrub
Height	0.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the drier tropics and subtropics.
Plants can grow in a variety of habitats[].

Edible Uses

The flowers are added to food[].

The fruits are edible and Arabs make an intoxicating drink from them[]. The fruit is composed of 1 - 3 obovoid, flattened drupes, each drupe 4 - 7 mm × 4 - 5 mm, dark red, single-seeded[].

Medicinal

Various parts of the plant, but especially the root, are used in traditional medicine throughout the range of this plant[], The treatment of fevers, including intermittent fever, is the most common use, but a range of other conditions are also treated[].
Little investigation has been made of the chemical components of the root, though the stems and leaves are known to contain a great variety of alkaloids[]. Of the alkaloids, cocsulinin has been shown to have anticancer properties, whilst kurramine derivatives have shown anticholesterinase activity in vitro[]. The alkaloids cocsoline, penduline, tetradine and isotrilobine have all shown high antiplasmodial activity in vitro[]. In a comparison of 20 plant species from India, however, this species was not selected as one of the promising species with antimalarial properties for further research[].
High alkaloid-producing cell lines have been established, which produce actineoplastic agents299]

The main conditions treated by this herb are fevers and intermittent fevers. The root is the plant part most commonly employed, but the leaves and stem bark are also used[].

A decoction of the roots, together with those of Tinospora bakis, is used to prepare a stimulating tonic[]. Stem bark and root bark decoctions are used against intestinal parasites and gonorrhoea[]. The root has a great reputation in Senegal against biliousness and menstrual problems and as a diuretic[]. It is also part of medicines against jaundice, yellow fever, leprosy, syphilis, and of an aphrodisiac[].

An infusion of the plant is used to assist in removing thorns from the feet[].

In Kenya a wood infusion is taken as an emetic[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -

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