Plectranthus amboinicus

Scientific name: Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng.

Synonym: Coleus amboinicus Lour.

Botanical family: LAMIACEAE

Vernacular names

(In territories with significant traditional TRAMIL use)

Cuba:

orégano francés

Mexico:

orégano grueso

Venezuela:

orégano orejón

Other vernacular names

Colombia:

Big thyme
Orégano

Haiti:

Orèg

Cuba:

Orégano francés
Oreganón

Mexico:

Orégano grueso, castrán de Castilla, de Tabasco

Dominican Republic:

Orégano poleo

Geographical distribution

Native to tropical Asia and Africa, cultivated in the tropical areas of the world.

Botanical description

Herbaceous, succulent, aromatic, generally less than 1 m. Leaves ovate, cuneate or obtuse at the apex, subordinate at the base, crenate margins, pubescent. Flowers in bunches of 10 to
30 cm; calyx tomentose, upper lip oblong; corolla whitish, pink or lilac-coloured.

Voucher(s)

Medina,47,CICY
Giménez, 20&42,VEN

cough

fresh leaf, fried, orally¹⁷

catarrh

fresh leaf, fried, orally¹⁷

asthma

leaf (half-roasted), infusion, orally¹

The leaves of Plectranthus amboinicus are a relatively widespread condiment for human consumption.

For asthma, catarrh or coughs:
prepare a decoction or infusion with 35 grams of leaves in 4 cups (1 litre) of water. For decoctions, boil for 5 minutes in a covered vessel. For the infusion, add the boiling water to the leaves, previously lightly toasted or not, and cover. Allow to cool, strain (filter) and drink up 3 times a day as required by the indications of the symptoms¹⁹.

Preparations must never be stored for more than 24 hours, even if refrigerated.

According to the information available:

The use for asthma, catarrh and coughs is classified as REC based on the significant traditional use documented in the TRAMIL surveys, the toxicity studies and the scientific information published.

Due to the health risk of asthma, an initial medical assessment is recommended. The use of this resource for asthma must be considered complementary to medical treatment, unless
contraindicated.

If deterioration of the patient is observed or if the asthma persists for more than 2 days or the asthma attack for 1 hour, seek medical attention.

Not for use during pregnancy, breastfeeding or in children under 3 years.

TRAMIL Work¹⁴
The freeze-dried aqueous extract from fresh leaves (decoction,1g/kg/day) was administered orally in 10 male Swiss mice (21.33 ± 0.64 g), 5 consecutive days per week for 2 weeks (10
administrations). The control was carried out with distilled water (0.3 ml) with another 10 mice of the same characteristics. They had an additional 7-day observation period at the end of the
administration of the treatment. No mortality or signs of toxicity occurred during the test. The macroscopic autopsy showed no alterations in the internal organs.

TRAMIL Works¹⁵
The fresh leaves fried in 50% oil (average dose of 1000 mg of leaves/animal of 200 g/24 h/5 days) were administered orally in Wistar rats (10 animals per group, 5 of each sex), the control
received oil, LEBi repeated dose toxicity model; they were observed in the first 12 hours and then every 24 for 14 days.Two deaths occurred, although there were no signs of toxicity.
The experiment was then repeated under the same experimental conditions, only the concentration of the plant material was reduced to 30%. In this case there were no deaths
or manifestations of clinical signs of toxicity. In both concentrations the weight increase was normal during the 14 days, with no differences in weight with respect to the control group and no organ damage was observed in the necropsy. The freeze-dried aqueous leaf extract (2 g/kg), orally in mice, did not cause death or signs of toxicity¹².

The aqueous extract from the aerial parts dried at 40 oC (20% weight/volume, boiling), concentrated and freeze-dried, was administered orally (50 and 500 mg/kg, equivalent to 0.5 and 5 g of dry plant material/kg, for 90 days) in Wistar rats, 24 females and 24 males, the control group received purified water, the animals were weighed weekly and at the end of the treatment they were sampled to determine haematological indicators (haemoglobin, haematocrit, leukocytes and differential) and blood chemicals (glucose, protein, alanine-amino-transferase, aspartate-aminotransferase and urea), as well as the histological study of organs (heart, lung, stomach, small and large intestine, kidney, brain, testicle and ovary). Neither the
behaviour, indicators nor microscopy were affected by the repeated administration of the freeze-dried product¹⁶.

The aqueous extract from dried leaves orally in Swiss albino mice (18-22 g) showed an LD50 = 8193 mg/kg according to the OECD-1987 method. Under the same conditions the ethanolic
extract (25.53%) showed an LD50 = 4902 mg/kg¹⁷.

The ethanolic leaf extract (70%, 0.323-1.292 mg total solids/ml) and the essential oil from the leaves (0.01-0.1%), in vitro, in the somatic segregation model in Aspergillus nidulans D30, showed significant cytotoxic and genotoxic action and dose-dependence. The ethanolic extract orally in mice (195-773 mg/kg) in vivo in the micronucleus induction test in mouse bone marrow showed no genotoxic effect¹⁸.

There is no information available documenting the safety of medicinal use in children, during pregnancy or breastfeeding.

The leaves contain essential oils: tert-butylanisole, caryophyllene, p-cymene, 4-terpineol, thymol and verbenone⁴, carvacrol, cineol, sesquiterpenes: β-caryophyllene, humulene, α-terpineol, β-terpineol, terpinolene, ethyl salicylate⁵; flavonoids: apigenin, chrysoeriol, cirsimaritin, eriodictyol, luteolin, quercetin, salvigenin, taxifolin; triterpenes: euscaphic, maslinic, oleanolic, dihydroxyoleanolic,pomolic, tormentic and ursolic acid^6-7.

All parts of the plant contain tannins⁸.

Proximate analysis of 100 g of leaves⁹: calories: 17; water: 94.4%; protein: 0.9%; fat: 0.4%; carbohydrates: 3.1%; fibre: 0.5%; ash: 1.2%; calcio: 232 mg; phosphorus: 8 mg; iron: 3.9
mg; carotene: 980 μg; thiamine: 0.03 mg; riboflavin: 0.07 mg; niacin: 0.20 mg; ascorbic acid: 12 mg.

TRAMIL Work10
The juice of the leaves at concentrations of 106, 213 and 426 μg/ml in vitro shows no activity against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6341), S. saprophyticus (ATCC 15305),
Escherichia coli (ATCC 4157), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 7700), Proteus vulgaris (ATCC 6896), Haemophilus influenzae (ATCC 8142) or Candida albicans (ATCC 752).

The freeze-dried aqueous extract (decoction) from fresh leaves (1-3 mg/ml) in vitro, in isolated guinea pig ileum, produced a spasmolytic effect by competitive muscarinic antagonism. In
isolated rat vas deferens (3 mg/ml) it enhanced the effect of exogenous adrenaline (0.1-30 ng/ml) and in isolated and stimulated rat vas deferens it inhibited the intraneuronal reuptake of catecholamines (reserpine 30 mg/ml; adrenaline 45 mg/ml)¹¹.

The aqueous and ethanolic (30%) leaf extracts (20 mg/kg) in the experimental model against cough by ammonia aerosol in guinea pigs, showed an antitussive effect similar to codeine¹².

The aqueous 10% and hydroalcoholic 5% extracts from dried aerial parts, orally in Swiss mice (25-30 g), 10 males per group, in vivo method of staining with 1% phenol red, induced
expectorant activity1³.

Pharmacopoeia

Ed.3

References

1 MENDEZ M, MEDINA ML, DURAN R, 1996
Encuesta TRAMIL. Unidad de recursos naturales, Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán CICY, Mérida, México.
2 MOREJON Z, LOPEZ M, GARCIA MJ, BOUCOURT E, VICTORIA M, FUENTES V, MORON F, BOULOGNE I, ROBINEAU L, 2009
Encuesta TRAMIL preliminar a grupos de vecinos en los municipios 10 de Octubre, Lisa, Marianao, Habana del Este (Cojímar) en la Ciudad de la Habana. Laboratorio Central de Farmacología, Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de La Habana, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba.
3 ZAMBRANO LE, 2007
Encuesta TRAMIL en Guareguare, Miranda. UCV, Caracas, Venezuela.
4 HAQUE I, 1988
Analysis of volatile constituents of Pakistani Coleus aromaticus plant oil by capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. J Chem Soc Pak 10(3):369-371.
5 TIMOR CE, MANZINI ME, FERNANDEZ A, GONZALEZ ML, 1992
Physicochemical assessment of the essential oil from the leaves of Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour) Spreng. growing in Cuba. Rev Cubana Farm 25(1):63-68.
6 BRIESKORN CH, RIEDEL W, 1977
Flavonoids from Coleus amboinicus. Planta Med 31:308.
7 BRIESKORN CH, RIEDEL W, 1977
Triterpene acids from Coleus amboinicus. Arch Pharm (Weinheim) 310(11):910-916.
8 ATAL CK, SRIVASTAVA JB, WALI BK, CHAKRAVARTY RB, DHAWAN BN, ROSTOGI RP, 1978
Screening of Indian plants for biological activity. Part. VIII. Indian J Exp Biol 16(3):330-349.
9 DUKE JA, ATCHLEY AA, 1986
Handbook of proximate analysis tables of higher plants. Boca Raton, USA: CRC Press. p47.
10 LUCIANO-MONTALVO C, GAVILLAN-SUAREZ J, BOULOGNE I, 2013
A screening for antimicrobial activities of Caribbean herbal remedies. Informe TRAMIL. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 13:126.
11 LLANIO M, PEREZ-SAAD H, FERNANDEZ MD, GARRIGA E, MENENDEZ R, BUZNEGO MT, 1999
Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng. (orégano francés): efecto antimuscarínico y potenciación de la adrenalina. Rev Cubana Plant Med 1(4):29-32.
12 MENENDEZ RA, PAVON V, 1999
Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng. Rev Cubana planta Med 3(3):110-115.
13 BARZAGA P, TILLAN J, MARRERO G, CARRILLO C, BELLMA A, MONTERO C, 2009
Actividad expectorante de formulaciones a partir de Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng. (orégano francés). Rev Cubana de Plant Med 14(2):revista electrónica.
14 GARCIA-GONZÁLEZ M, FALLAS LV, 2005
Toxicidad aguda dosis repetida, en ratones, del extracto acuoso (decocción) de las hojas frescas de Plectrantus amboinicus. Informe TRAMIL. PRONAPLAMED. Depto de Fisiología, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, Costa Rica.
15 LOPEZ M, GARCIA A, BACALLAO Y, DUMENICO A, MARTINEZ I, MORON F, 2013
Toxicidad aguda oral a dosis repetidas de hoja fresca de Plectranthus amboinicus Lour. frita en aceite al 50% y 30%. Informe TRAMIL. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas “Dr. Salvador Allende”, Laboratorio Central de Farmacología, Habana, Cuba.
16 TILLAN J, BUENO V, MENENEZ R, CARRILLO C, ORTIZ M, 2008
Toxicología subcrónica del extracto acuoso de Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng. Revi Cubana Plant Med 13(1):revista electrónica.
17 PARRA AL, YHEBRA RS, SARDINAS IG, BUELA LI, 2001
Comparative study of the assay of Artemia salina L. and the estimate of the medium lethal dose (LD50 value) in mice, to determine oral acute toxicity of plant extracts. Phytomedicine 8(5):395-400.
18 VIZOSO A, RAMOS A, EDREIRA A, BETANCOURT J, DECALO M, 1999
Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng. (orégano francés). Estudio toxicogenético de un extracto fluido y del aceite esencial. Rev Cubana Plant Med 3(2):68-73.
19 ALBORNOZ A, 1993
Medicina Tradicional Herbaria. Caracas, Venezuela: Editorial Instituto Farmacoterápico Latino S.A. p102.

TRAMILibrary

Plectranthus amboinicus

Vernacular names

Cuba:

Mexico:

Venezuela:

Other vernacular names

Colombia:

Haiti:

Cuba:

Mexico:

Dominican Republic:

Geographical distribution

Botanical description

Voucher(s)

Pharmacopoeia

References

Disclaimer

Main navigation

TRAMILibrary

Plectranthus amboinicus

Vernacular names

Cuba:

Mexico:

Venezuela:

Colombia:

Haiti:

Cuba:

Mexico:

Dominican Republic:

Geographical distribution

Botanical description

Voucher(s)

Pharmacopoeia

References

Disclaimer