Common Name: Ayapana

General Information

Ayapana triplinervis is a herbaceous perennial plant growing up to 1.5 metres tall.
The plant is cultivated in Indonesia and the Philippines as a tea plant and for its medicinal uses, whilst in Brazil it is grown as an aromatic plant[]. It is also planted occasionally in places (e.g., Africa, Indonesia) as a soil binder for the stabilization of slopes[]. Originally native to Brazil, the plant has been cultivated in many other areas of the tropics and has become naturalized in some areas[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

South America - Brazil to Surinam. Widely naturalized in much of tropical America and elsewhere.

Habitat

Secondary forest, in moist locations, at elevations up to 1,600 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Perennial
Height	1.50 m
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

Tolerant of heavy shade[].

Edible Uses

The leaves are used to make a tea[]. A spicy taste[].

Medicinal

The plant smells strongly of coumarin, especially when crushed, and has a taste which is both bitter and aromatic[]. The leaves are antidote, febrifuge, haemostatic, stimulant, sudorific and tonic[]. They are laxative when taken in quantity[].
The leaves are widely used as a tea in the whole of the plant's distribution area, as a treatment against chronic diarrhoea, lung diseases, influenza, chest colds, pneumonia and constipation, and also as an antidote for snake bites[]. Because of its haemostatic properties the tea is used to regulate menstruation problems[]. It is also used as a cardiac stimulant, increasing the force of the heart beat but diminishing its frequency
Externally, the leaves are used to treat badly infected wounds[]. A gargle prepared from the leaves is used to relieve thrush, scurvy and angina[].

The red-flowered variety of Ayapana triplinervis is medicinally most active[].

The leaves contain ayapanine (7-methoxycoumarin) which has a distinct coumarin-like odour, and ayapine (6,7-methylenedioxycoumarin). Both compounds have excellent haemostatic properties, applied locally, as a tea or subcutaneously[]. Ayapanine and ayapine are generally non-toxic when administered locally or taken orally; moreover, they have no effect on respiration or on blood pressure[].
Further known constituents of the leaves include the terpenes phellandrene, borneol, 'BETA'-selinene, the quinones thymoquinone and thymoquinone-dimethylether, carotene and vitamin C (0.025%)[].
The essential oil isolated from the plant has been shown to inhibit the growth of certain fungi (Curvularia spp., Rhizopus spp., Aspergillus spp. And Penicillium spp.), but not that of Aspergillus fumigatus and Penicillium decumbens[]. Furthermore, the essential oil showed high activity against the bacteria Escherichia coli and Proteus vulgaris, and moderate activity against Bacillus anthracis, Staphylococcus aureus and some Salmonella spp[].

Agroforestry Uses:

Grown as a soil binder for the stabilization of slopes[].
Suitable as a ground cover in tea and rubber plantations[]. It is occasionally planted for this purpose, but more often it occurs spontaneously and is maintained by selective weeding[].
The plant has excellent ground-covering and soil retaining properties[].

Other Uses

A pale green essential oil is obtained by distilling the leaves[]. It is used in perfumery[].

An extract of the whole plant is used as an ingredient in commercial cosmetic preparations as a skin conditioner[].

A laboratory study showed strong feeding rejection by caterpillars of Diacrisia obliqua, Philosamia ricini, Trabala vishnou and Pshissama transiens on Ricinus communis leaves which had been sprayed with 7-methoxycoumarin (obtained from the leaves of this plant). Also, a methanol extract of the plant, used as an insecticide against the paddy brown plant hopper (Nilaparvata lugens), caused about 42% mortality of adult female grass hoppers[]

Propagation

Seed -
Cuttings
Suckers are an easy method[].

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