Securidaca longepedunculata Fres.
| Botanical Name | Securidaca longepedunculata Fres. |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Polygalaceae |
| Genus: | Securidaca |
| Species: | S. longipedunculata |
| Common Names: | Violet tree (English), Arbuste a Serpent (French) |
Plant Synonyms
Securidaca spinosa Sim. Lophostylis pollida klotzsch
Plant Local Names
Burkina Faso : Moore - Palgu ;Pelga, Bissa - Hensasi, Dioula - Djoro;Djoto, Fulfulde — Mali
Cote d'lvoire: Lobi - Samuele, Gagou: Dioro, Malinke - Diulo, Ndjuru
Gambia: Malinke - Juto Djuto, Wolof- Fuf, Fula -Alali
Ghana: Akan - Ofodo Kyrito
Guinea Conakry: Malinke - Diodo, Fula - Diantu
Mali: Bambara - Djoro Dioro, Peulh - Iguili, Dogon - Toroe
Niger: Hausa - Warnagunguna, Fula - Adali, Djerma - Hasukore
Nigeria: Hausa - Sanya, Fula: Adali, Adehi, Yoruba - Ipeta
Senegal: Diola - Fu Daray, Serer - Kuf Kuf, Wolof - Fuf
Togo: Ouatchi - Etritou, Mina - Metritu, Ewe - Kpeta
Sierra Leone: Malink§ - Juto, Jodoo
Plant Habitat
S. longipedunculata occurs in a broad range of vegetation, from semi-arid scrub to dense forest, including many woodland and bush habitats and gallery forests. It is widely distributed in the Sudano-Sahelian, Sudanian and Sudano- Guinean regions of Africa including Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d'lvoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Plant Material of Interest
Leaf and root bark, Stem bark
Plant Description
S. longipedunculata is a semi-deciduous shrub or small tree that grows to 12 m high, with an often flattened or slightly fluted bole; much branched, with an open, rather straggly looking crown; young branches drooping and pubescent; bark smooth, thick and light yellow, covers a yellow wood fibre; very thick roots; have a characteristic odour of methyl salicylate; leaves alternate, entire, simple, oblong-elliptic, 5 to 6 cm long and 13-20 mm wide with very fine hairs when young but losing these by maturity; apex rounded; base narrowly tapering; petiole slender; purple papilionaceous flowers, about 10 mm long, very fragrant, on long slender stalks in terminal axillary racemes; fruit is a samara of 4 to 5 cm long, more or less a round nut, somewhat heavily veined, occasionally smooth, bearing a single, oblong, rather curved, membranous wing up to 4 cm long.
Plant Used Parts
Plant Uses
The fresh root is reduced to a pulp and rubbed vigorously on a snake bite. Decoction of the root pulp or leaves in combination with other plants is used to induce emesis and purgation after poisoning (Kerharo and Adam, 1974). The decoction of the crushed leaves is applied to sores and boils to drain pus. The foam obtained from the root is mixed with water to treat gonorrhoea, while fresh root decoction is used to treat bronchitis, stomach pain and leprosy. Root and stem bark infusions are recommended as an antidote for poisoning; a powder made from the root is used as a snuff for headaches. In Ethiopia, smoke from the root is inhaled as a medicinal incense to treat flatulence. The powdered bark is used to treat wounds and a paste of pounded bark with copper sulfate is applied to blisters caused by Guinea worm to promote expulsion and for rheumatoid arthritis, chronic rheumatism, bruises or swelling, a paste of powdered root bark is used. In West Africa, the plant is used for the treatment of infantile convulsions and combined with Boophane disticha for psychoactive purposes. The plant is known in many African countries as an abortifacient (Oliver-Bever, 1986).
Plant Therapeutic Action
Anti-inflammatory (Coulibaly Nee Diop, 1986, Metou, et al., 1989), antibacterial (Almagboul ef a/., 1985); antimalarial (Weenen et al., 1990), antiviral (Beuscher et al., 1994; Mahmood et al., 1993); analgesic and hypoglycaemic (Ojewole, 2008); antiparasitic (Nibret et al., 2010); antioxidant (Akinmoladun et al., 2010); anticonvulsant, sedative and anxiolytic (Muanda et al., 2010), anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Green etal., 2010, Luo et al., 2011).
Plant Precaution for Use
Do not exceed the recommended doses; the root has demonstrated a very low safety dose margins and self-medication is not encouraged
Plant Adverse Effect
Bad smell and taste, root may stimulate nausea and vomiting
Plant Contraindication
Pregnancy, liver and heart diseases
Plant Dosage Forms
Decoction, powders
Plant Dosage
Seneginate magnesium is used in capsule 130 mg and at 2 to 10 capsules a day
Plant Storage
Store in a cool dry place
Plant Chromatographic Fingerprint
Analytical TLC on silica gel G60 F254, 0.25 mm layer in petroleum ether (40-60 °C)/chloroform [2:8], detection in daylight, after spraying with anisaldehyde (0.5 ml) mixed with 10 ml glacial acetic acid, 85 ml methanol and 5 ml Sccuridaca longepedunculata concentrated sulphuric acid and heated to 100- 110°C (or 5-10 min. Presence of two characteristic purple spots with R|S 0.92 and 0.35.
Plant Constituents
Saponins, tannins, anthraquinones; alkaloids; terpenes; methyl salicylate; sterols, sugars, caffeic acid, sinapic acid; (Odebiyi, 1978; Kamwendo sf al., 1985; Kerharo and Adam, 1974; Declaude, 1971; Lenz, 1913; Mahmood ef al., 1993; Costa ef al., 1992, Scandola et al., 1994; Mitaine-Offer et al., 2010; Muanda, et al., 2010).
Plant Pictures
Plant References
Aderbauer, B., Clausen, P.H., Kershaw, O., Melzig, M.F. (2008). In vitro and in vivo trypanocidal effect of lipophilic extracts of medicinal plants from Mali and Burkina Faso. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 119(2):225-231.
Adeyemi, O.O., Akindele, A.J., Yemitan, O.K., Aigbe, F.R., Fagbo, F.I. (2010). Anticonvulsant, anxiolytic and sedative activities of the aqueous root extract of Securidaca longepedunculata Fresen. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 130(2):191-195.
Ajiboye, T.O., Salau, A.K., Yakubu, M.T., Oladiji, A.T. (2010). Aqueous extract of Securidaca longepedunculata root induce redox imbalance in male rat liver and kidney. Human Experimental Toxicology 29(8):679-688.
Akinmoladun, A.C., Obuotor, E.M., Farombi, E.O. (2010). Evaluation of antioxidant and free radical scavenging capacities of some Nigerian indigenous medicinal plants. Journal of Medicinal Food 13(2):444-451.
Almagboul, A.Z., Farouk, A., Bashir, A.K., Karim, A., Salah, M. (1985). Antibacterial activity of Sudanese plants used in folkloric Medicine III. Fitoterapia 56:195-200.
Bah, S., Paulsen, B.S., Diallo, D., Johansen, H.T.(2006). Characterization of cysteine proteasesJJi Malian medicinal plants. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 107(2):89-198.
Beuscher, N., Bodinet, p., Neumann-Haefelim, D., Marstom, A., Hostettmann, K. (1994). Antiviral activity of African medicinal plants. Journal Ethnopharmacology 42:101 -109.
Chang, Hui-yun, (1974). Toxicity of securinine and comparaison with strychnine. Chinese Medical Journal 4:65.
Costa, C., Bortazzo, A., Allegri, G., Curcuroto, D., Traloli, P. (1992). Indole alkaloids from the roots on an African plant, Securidaca