Bandicoot Berry
Parts Usually Used
Leaves, Fruits, Roots & Shoots
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Bandicoot Berry is an erect shrub to small tree, often with several stems. It usually grows from 2 – 10 meters tall, occasionally to 16 meters, with stems around 19cm in diameter. Plants are frequently stilt-rooted. The fruit is a purple-black berry 5 – 10mm in diameter, occasionally to 15mm, containing 6 seeds.
Where Found
East Asia – Southern China, Indian subcontinent, through tropical Asia to Australia and SW Pacific
Medicinal Properties
Antimicrobial, antioxidant, cytotoxic, enzyme inhibitory, analgesic, hepatoprotective, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, larvicidal, thrombolytic, analgesic, sedative, and antidiarrheal The root is antidiarrheal, antidysenteric, antispasmodic, cooling, and sudorific.
Biochemical Information
Phthalic acid, palmitic acid, 1 eicosanol, solanesol, farnesol, three phthalic acid esters, gallic acid, lupeol, β sitosterol, ursolic acid, Alkaloid, terpenoids, flavonoids, steroid, tannin, glycoside, cardiac glycoside, triterpenoid glycosides, quercetin, gallic acid saponins, phenols
Legends, Myths and Stories
Extracts of the fruits are used for purple dye.
Uses
Historically, folk traditions employed bandicoot berry for a variety of ailments, including fever, eczema, itching, bone fractures, rheumatism, asthma, diarrhea, dysentery, body ache, hyperdipsia, pruritus, skin injuries, joint pain, colic, headache, and gastric ulcers. Herbalists also dried the leaves to prepare a tea, and an ointment prepared from the roasted leaves was traditionally utilized in folk medicine for vertigo.