AYAPANA TRIPLINERVIS
=EUPATORIUM AYAPANA
=EUPATORIUM TRIPLINERVIS
=AYAPANA TRIPLINERVE
ASTERACEAE
The botanical genus Ayapana includes severals herbaceous plants native to South America.
Some of them are traditionally used in South America and the West Indies.
Ayapana triplinervis is native to Brazil, and the eastern Amazonian regions of South America.
Exploratory navigators noticed this species widely used by Native Americans in Brazil and introduced it at the beginning of the 19th century to the islands of the Indian Ocean, first to Mauritius and then to Reunion Island where for a long time it was considered a panacea, therefore curing almost everything.
Ayapana triplinervis is now present and used as a medicinal and ornamental plant in Asia (India), Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia), China, and the Philippines.
Ayapana triplinervis has been incorporated into the Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia (Vishalyakarni, ayapan).
It is a medium-sized perennial herbaceous plant, quite bushy but sometimes creeping, with red or purplish stems, abundant lanceolate leaves with pink or red veins, flowers are grouped in pink capitula containing several dozen small flowers (1 mm in diameter). The seeds are achenes that carry bristles that help their dispersal.
The leaves have the sweet smell of coumarin (freshly cut grass, blond tobacco) and their flavor is slightly bitter.
This plant introduced in many hot and humid regions does not have an invasive character, it is generally propagated by cuttings.
The leaves and the essential oil they contain are the medicinal parts.
This plant can be grown in a tropical garden, but you can now also find herbal medicines or herbal teas based on ayapana triplinervis in pharmacies or on the internet, often from Reunion Island.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND PROPERTIES
AYAPANA TRIPLINERVIS LEAVES
The main compounds of interest to pharmacologists are:
- phenolic compounds (coumarins and tannins),
- sterols (phytosterols),
- terpenes and terpene derivatives of the essential oil,
- vitamins.
AYAPANIN or HERNIARIN
This is the main coumarin in Ayapana triplinervis (thymohydroquinone), it is also found in other plants including Herniara hirsuta used in the Maghreb against urinary stones.
The concentration of ayapanin is about 3 mg per gram of dry ayapana leaves.
It is a diuretic, antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory compound, hence its use in trying to eliminate stones from the urinary tract.
Recent studies show that ayapanin has a protective effect on the liver.
Other coumarins are also found in ayapana leaves, they have antifungal, anti-inflammatory or antimalarial properties like Daphnetin.
STIGMASTEROL
It is a substance chemically close to cholesterol and which can, through a competitive effect, reduce its absorption (anti-cholesterolemic effect), but it is also an anti-inflammatory compound.
AYAPANA TRIPNINERVIS ESSENTIAL OIL
The quantity of essential oil is quite low (less than 1% of the dry weight) but its composition is interesting.
The majority component (between 50 and 90%) is a terpene derivative, dimethyl thymohydroquinone (or 2,5-Dimethoxy-p-cymene) chemically close to thymoquinone. This latter molecule, very present in Nigella sativa (nigella or black cumin) but only in trace amounts in ayapana triplinervis, is considered by pharmacologists as a very interesting therapeutic molecule and perhaps one of the future.
The dimethyl thymohydroquinone of ayapana essential oil is for its part considered as an antifungal substance (against mycoses), antibacterial and insecticide.
TANNINS
Tannins are anti-inflammatory, dry out irritated and oozing mucous membranes, reduce inflammation in the stomach and intestines, and have an antidiarrheal effect (but can cause constipation).
VITAMINS
Fresh ayapana leaves contain a small amount of beta-carotene (provitamin A) and 25mg per 100g of vitamin C.
USES
ANCIENT USES
European navigators visiting Brazil were impressed by the medicinal properties attributed to Ayapana triplinervis.
It was a plant reputed to cure many ailments: life-threatening infections, serious digestive disorders, chronic ulcers, fever, bleeding or poisoned wounds (particularly secondary to inter-tribal fighting) and even poisonous snake bites.
Ayapana thus became a major medicinal plant after its introduction to Mauritius and Réunion, a panacea believed to cure both cholera episodes and high fevers, tuberculosis, episodes of dysentery, and disorders related to scurvy (vitamin C deficiency) very common in poorly nourished sailing crews in the 19th century.
Gradually, it was realized that its reputation was partly usurped and its use as a medicinal plant is now more limited, but it is still a medicinal plant that has a good reputation in the islands of the Indian Ocean and in Asia.
PREPARATIONS
INFUSION: This is the traditional preparation: a few fresh or dried ayayapa leaves in very hot water, infused for a few minutes. The « strength » of this infusion (herbal tea) can be varied depending on the number of leaves. There are also ayapana leaf tea bags.
Fresh leaves are of course more effective because they contain more essential oil, which is eliminated a little when the leaves dry.
ESSENTIAL OIL
It is not easy to find this essential oil because the plant contains little of it and the price is therefore high.
JUICE OF FRESH LEAVES AND STEMS
It is a traditional preparation, particularly among the Amerindians of Brazil: applied to infected or bleeding wounds or ulcers, and also orally for the same indications as the infusion and to treat mouth ulcers or gingivitis (the juice is quite astringent).
CURRENT USES
DIGESTIVE DISORDERS
This is currently the main use for this plant: gastric pain, peptic ulcer, diarrhea or constipation, vomiting, colon spasms, gastroenteritis, bloating, belching.
The plant does not treat the cause of these disorders but reduces the intensity of the symptoms.
We use the short decoction (10 to 15 minutes of boiling over low heat) of fresh or dried Ayapana leaves, a small handful of leaves in 1/2 liter of water: two to three hot or cold cups per day.
Infusion of ayapana leaves aids digestion: three to six leaves per cup of very hot water, let it infuse for a few minutes.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Ayapana extracts are mainly used to control feverish viral infections with or without pain (headache, joint or muscle pain): seasonal viral infections, flu, dengue fever, chikungunya.
Native Americans in Guyana use an infusion of ayapana leaves to reduce the intensity of malaria symptoms.
SKIN DISEASES WOUNDS HEMORRHAGES
Ayapana is a plant that has long been known in its region of origin as an anti-hemorrhagic (haemostatic effect) for local (bleeding wounds) and internal (digestive hemorrhages, hemorrhages of the oral sphere).
The fresh crushed plant (leaves and stems) is then used: the crushed plant can be applied directly to the wound as a plaster or the crushed plant can be squeezed and the juice collected, which can be applied to the bleeding wound or drunk in the event of digestive or oral hemorrhage.
It can also be used to treat or alleviate the symptoms of various skin disorders: eczema, chronic ulcers, shingles, itchy erythema.
Ayapana plaster is also used to « ripen » (mature) abscesses and boils.
In some cases it is preferable to use a bath especially for children. Add a liter of ayapana leaf decoction to the bath water.
LIVER DISORDERS
Some experiments reveal that Ayapana extracts protect liver cells (hepatoprotective effect) and are therefore usable in cases of infectious or toxic hepatitis.
It is possible that they also protect pancreatic tissues (acute or chronic pancreatitis).
PAINS
Ayapana leaf herbal tea or decoction is anti-inflammatory and traditionally used to soothe certain painful phenomena: menstrual pain, joint and muscle pain.
THYMOQUINONE
The main coumarin in Ayapana triplinervis is ayapanin or thymohydroquinone, but there is also a small amount of thymoquinone, which is chemically very close to ayapanin but has many more pharmacological properties.
This thymoquinone is mainly present in aromatic Nigella (black cumin), Nigella sativa.
It is considered by pharmacologists as a promising molecule, that is to say an emerging therapeutic molecule, due to its immunomodulatory (immune strengthening), hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, cytotoxic and therefore potentially anti-cancer properties.
CULTIVATION OF AYAPANA TRIPLINERVIS
Ayapana triplinervis is very easy to grow in warm regions, and is generally propagated by cuttings (the easiest method). It is not considered an invasive plant in all the countries where it has been introduced.
Ayapana prefers rich, moist soils with moderate sunlight, but can also cope with more difficult growing conditions. It is a medicinal plant as well as a decorative one, so it has a place in tropical gardens or warm regions.
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