Condurango ( lat. Gonolobus condurango ) - a plant of the Kutrov family , a species of the genus Honolobus .
| Condurango |
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| International scientific name |
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Gonolobus condurango Decne. |
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Content
The range of the species covers the entire Andean region of South America from Colombia and Ecuador to Argentina . The plant is also cultivated in East Africa.
Winding climbing creeper in trees. The trunk can reach a thickness of 10 cm. The leaves are opposite, cordate-oval, petiolate, pubescent on both sides. The flowers are small greenish, collected in dichotomous inflorescences that stand out from the corners of the leaves.
The plant bark contains up to 2.5% of condurangoglycoside formed by the genin condurangin and five monosaccharide molecules, including glucose and deoxysaccharide . When glycoside is hydrolyzed, cinnamic and acetic acids are cleaved.
Condurango bark is collected by tubes or gutter-shaped pieces. Its thickness varies from 1 to 6 mm. The outer surface of the cortex is tuberous grayish-brown, the inner surface is yellowish with longitudinal grooves. Fractures of the cortex are even, in places with protruding long soft fibers. The taste is bitter astringent. The smell is weak, characteristic of this raw material.
The local population uses condurango bark powder for snake bites, malignant ulcers and wounds. Since the beginning of the century, condurango has been used as a specific remedy against stomach cancer. However, clinical studies did not confirm the specificity of codurango as an anti-cancer agent, but showed its high effectiveness in severe forms of gastric catarrh .
- β For the conventionality of specifying the class of dicotyledons as a superior taxon for the plant group described in this article, see the APG Systems section of the Dicotyledonous article .
- Muravyova D.A. Tropical and subtropical medicinal plants. - M .: Medicine, 1983 .-- S. 303-304. - 336 p.