Common Name:

General Information

Stephania abyssinica is a climbing shrub with stems up to 10 metres long that twine into the surrounding vegetation for support[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine and source of tying material.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

Tropical Africa - Guinea, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, E. DR Congo, Uganda, Kenya, south to Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, S, Africa

Habitat

Grassland, usually in shady, damp localities, but not in rainforest; also in abandoned fields, road sides and where forest has been destroyed by fire; at elevations from sea level to 3.500 metres[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Climber
Height	7.00 m
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

All parts of the plant are applied as a powder to scarifications made in the skin of the painful body part, to relieve pain[].

The plant sap is taken to treat dysentery, diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach complaints, sexually transmitted diseases, and in remedies for menstrual disorders and sterility in women[].
The sap is taken with milk as an emetic to relieve chest pain and heart complaints, or administered topically to treat eye problems[].
The root sap is an antidote to snakebites[].

The purgative effects of the plant sap are mild and fresh leaves pounded with water are even given to children for this purpose; it is also used treat indigestion, to expel intestinal worms and to cure menorrhagia[].
Pulped leaves are applied as a dressing to heal fractures and dislocations[]. The crushed leaves are applied to tortoise bites[].

A decoction of the leaves and roots, used as a wash, is considered invigorating for pregnant women and weak children[].

The roots are aphrodisiac and parasiticide[]. Throughout eastern Africa a root extract is used in malaria therapy and against internal parasites, particularly roundworm, threadworm and pinworm. The powdered root, combined with the leaves of Momordica foetida, is used to treat abscesses on the skin[]. Combined with extracts of Catharanthus roseus and Indigofera arrecta, it is drunk to treat diabetes[].

Hasubanan and aporphine-type alkaloids are the principle phytochemical constituents in Stephania abyssinica. The aporphine alkaloids include corydine, crebanine, stephanine and stephalagine; also present are the oxoaporphine alkaloids dicentrinone and oxoxylopine, and hasubanan alkaloidssuch as stephabyssine, stephaboline, stephavanine and derivatives[].
Methanol extracts of the leaves and of the roots showed significant activity against HIV-1 and HIV-2 in vitro, but the cytotoxicity of the extracts as well as the isolated alkaloids were higherthan their activity against the viruses[].
An aqueous root decoction was significantly active against both chloroquine-sensitive and chloroquine-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparumin vitro, with an IC50of 22.9 μg/ml.[] .
Methanol extracts of the leaves and stems showed antibacterial activity in vitro against Neissera gonorrhoeaand Shigella dysenteriae[].

Other Uses

The stems are used as binding material, e.g. in fence constructions and also in basketry[].

Propagation

Seed -

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