PANSIT-PANSITAN: rarely acknowledged weed but an effective medicinal plant!

Scientific Name:
Piper pellucida Linn., Micropiper pellucidum Miq., Peperomia hymenophylla Miq.

Common name:
Ulasiman bato, Ulasimang bato, Ikmo-ikmohan, Sida-sida, Tagulinaw, Tangon-tangon, Shiny bush (Engl.)


Botany
An annual herb, shallow rooted, may reach 40 cm high, with succulent stems. Leaves are alternate, heart-shaped and turgid, as transparent and smooth as candle wax. Tiny dotlike flowers scattered along solitary and leaf-opposed stalk (spike); naked; maturing gradually from the base to the tip; turning brown when ripe. Propagation by seeds. Numerous tiny seeds drop off when mature and grow easily in clumps and groups in damp areas.

Distribution
An annual herb, favoring shady, damp and loose soil.
Often grows in groups in nooks in the garden and yard.
Conspicious in rocky parts of canals.

Parts utilized
Leaves and stems.

Constituents and properties
• Considered anti-inflammatory, refrigerant, analgesic, antifungal, anticancer.
• Study yielded 5 new bioactive compounds: two secolignans, two tetrahydrofuran lignans, and one highly methoxylated dihydronaphthalenone. source

Uses
Nutritional
Leaves and stems may be eaten as vegetable.
In salads, the fresh plant has the crispness of carrot sticks and celery.

Folkloric
Infusion and decoction of leaves and stems are used for gout and arthritis.
Externally, as a facial rinse for complexion problems.

Pounded whole plant used as warm poultice for boils, pustules and pimples.
In Bolivia, decoction of roots used for fever; aerial parts for wounds.
Used for headaches, rhumatic pains, impotence.

In Brazil, used to lower cholesterol; for treatment of abscesses, furuncles and conjunctivitis

New uses
Belongs to the "preferred list" of Philippine medicinal plants, being studied for its use in the treatment of arthritis and gout.

For arthritis: Leaves and stems of the fresh plant may be eaten as salad. Or, as an infusion, put a 20-cm plant in 2 glasses of boiling water; and 1/2 cup of this infusion is taken morning and evening.

Studies
• Analgesic / Antiinflammatory: Extract study of aerial parts of PP tested in rats and mice exhibited anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities. The antiinflammatory activity was attributed to interference with prostaglandin synthesis. Results also showed low toxicity.

• CNS Depressant Activity: Study of peperomia leaf extract showed dose-dependent depressant effects probably due to psychoactive substances that are CNS depressant.

• Antipyretic: Study of PP leaf extract on rabbits showed antipyretic effects comparable to a standard aspirin.

• Antibacterial: Study of methanolic extract of PP exhibited a very good level of broad spectrum antibacterial activity.

• Phenological Antiedematogenic: P pellucida has a phenological cycle of about 100 days. The aqueous extract is used as antiedematogenic during pheophases 1 and 2 of winter and spring.

Availability
Wild-crafted.

reference:
http://www.stuartxchange.com/Pansit.html