HOME      •      SEARCH      •      EMAIL    •     ABOUT


Family Leguminosae
Apostola
Cassia javanica L.
PALAWAN CHERRY
Zhao wa jue ming

Scientific names Common names
Cassia javanica L. Ankohan (Tag.)
Cassia javanica var. indochinensis Gagnep. Apostola (Tag.)
Cassia megalantha Decne. Palawan cherry (Engl.)
Cassia nodosa Buch.-Ham. ex Roxb. Pink shower (Engl.)
Cathariocarpus javanicus Pers. Pink-and-white shower (Engl.)
Philippine compilations list Cassia javanica (appleblossom shower, tindalo) as a separate species from Cassia nodosa (apostola, pink-and-white shower). Some compilations list them as synonymous species, with a sharing of common names. The botanical demarcations seem unclear.
The Plant List lists Cassia bacillus Gaertn. as a synonym of Cassia javanica L.
Cassia nodosa Roxb. is a synonym of Cassia javanica subsp. nodosa (Roxb.) K.Larsen & S.S.Larsen The Plant List
Cassia nodosa is very similar to Cassia javanica, differing mostly from the latter in the absence of spines on the trunk and branches.
Tropicos Resource consider Cassia javanica as the preferred name and C. nodosa Buch.-Ham. ex Roxb. as a synonym. EOL

Other vernacular names
CHINESE: Jie guo juo ming, Fen hua shan bian dou, Zhao wa jue ming.
THAI: Chaiya phruek, Kanla phruek, Kanlapa phruek.

Botany
Apostola is an unarmed tree, attaining a height of 10 meters or taller. Leaves are about 30 centimeters long, divided into 5 to 12 pairs of oblong to elliptic-ovate leaflets, with acute tip. Leaves shed before flowering starts. Flowers are clustered, pale pink at first, become bright pink, fading to white with age. Fruit is cylindrical, 40 to 60 centimeters long, 0.5 to 1 centimeter wide, green when young, becoming black as it ripens. Seeds are numerous along the entire length of the fruit.

Cassia nodosa is very similar to Cassia javanica, differing mostly from the latter in the absence of spines on the trunk and branches.

Distribution
- Introduced.
- Garden cultivation.
-
Indigenous in the Eastern Himalayas to the Malay Peninsula.

Constituents
- In a study for primary metabolites, pods yielded the highest amount of soluble sugars, lipids, phenols, DNA, and chlorophyll; the leaves, ascorbic acid, proteins, RNA and carotenoids; and in stems, starch. (4)
- Leaves yielded a new chromone, 5,4'-dihydroxy-7-methyl 3-benzyl chromone, along with three known flavonoid compounds as unsubstituted flavone, kaempferol-3-o-rhamnoside and quercetin-3-o-arabinoside. (7)

Properties
- Hypoglycemic, antifertility.

Parts used
Leaves, flowers.

Uses

Folkloric
- No reported folkloric medicinal use in the Philippines.
- Closely related and/or considered synonymous to Tindalo (Cassia javanica). Folkloric uses are shared.


Studies
Hypoglycemic:
Study investigated the hypoglycemic effect of C. nodosa leaves on normal and STZ-induced diabetic rats. Unlike acute, subacute treatment showed highly significant reduction of blood glucose (40.29%) compared to standard drug gibenclamide (63.51%). (3)
Nodososide: Study isolated a new anthraquinone glycoside, nodososide, from the alcoholic extract. Hydrolysis of the compound yielded d-glucose and an aglycone, nodosin. (5)
Antifertility / Kaempferol-7-O-glucoside: Study isolated flavonoids from C. nodosa and evaluated it for antifertility activity. Study yielded a new flavonoid kaempferol-7-O-glucoside which when fed to rats reduced fertility in male rats by 95%, with significant reduction of sperm concentration of testes and epididymides, with reduced motility of cauda epididymal sperm. (6)
Antioxidant: Study evaluated the methanolic extracts of leaves of seven Egyptian Cassia species using the DPPH scavenging activity method. Cassia nodosa was 3rd in antioxidant potency. (8)
Antimicrobial / Kaempferol-7-O-Glucoside: Study isolated flavonoids from different parts of C. nodosa and evaluated for antimicrobial activity. Flowers yielded the highest levels of flavonoids, with higher levels of total quercetin and kaempferol(F+B) and kaempferol-7-O-glucoside. Quercetin was highly effective against E. coli, A. flavus, A. niger. F. moniliforme and R. bataticola. (9)
Antimicrobial / Leaves: Study investigated the antimicrobial activity of sequential extracts of leaves of Cassia nodosa against S. aureus, S. typhi, E. coli, P aeruginosa and fungi including A. flavus, A. niger, F monilliformae and R bataticola. Results showed most of the extracts were effective against all the test organisms. (10)
Study on Primary Metabolites of Cassia Sp: In a study of Cassia species for primary metabolites, it was found that C. nodosa leaves had higher levels of starch, lipids, chlorophylls and nucleic acid. Phenol content was also high in the leaves of C. nodosa. (11)
Anthraquinones / Emodin and Rhein / Antimicrobial: Study evaluated the antimicrobial activity of isolated anthraquinones from different parts of C. nodosa against various bacterial and fungal strains. Phytochemical screening yielded Emodin and Rhein. Emodin showed maximum activity against F. moniliforme, while Rhein was more active against A. flavus. (12)
• Acute Toxicity Study: Acute toxicity study using OECD guideline in male Wistar albino rats (200 to 250 g) showed the drug to be safe up to 2 g/kg body weight. Test dose of 0.5 g/kbw was chosen for efficacy studies. (14)

Availability
Wild-crafted.


Updated July 2017 /
Aug 2014
June 2013


IMAGE SOURCE: Photo / Flowers / File:Cassia nodosa hatem moushir.JPG / Hatem Moushir / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license / click on image to go to source page / Wikimedia Commons

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Cassia javanica L. (accepted name) / Chinese names / Catalogue of Life, China
(2)
Sorting Cassia names / Authorised by Prof. Snow Barlow / Maintained by: Michel H. Porcher / MULTILINGUAL MULTISCRIPT PLANT NAME DATABASE / Copyright © 1997 - 2000 The University of Melbourne.
(3)
Evaluation of hypoglycaemic activity of Cassia nodosa leaves in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats / Kumavat, Urmila C.; Shimpi, Shraddha N.; Jagdale, Sandesh P. / nternational Journal of Green Pharmacy;Jan-Mar2012, Vol. 6 Issue 1, p9
(4)
BIOCHEMICAL ESTIMATION OF PRIMARY METABOLITES OF CASSIA NODOSA BUNCH. / Ankita Yadav et al / Journal: International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research, Vol 3; No 9; 2012.
(5)
CHEMICAL AND SPECTRAL STUDIES OF NODOSOSIDE A NEW ANTHRAQUINONE GLYCOSIDE FROM THE FLOWERS OF CASSIA NODOSA / S. A. I. Rizvi, P. C. Gupta, R. K. Kau / Planta Med 1971; 19(1): 222-233 / DOI: 10.1055/s-0028-1099635l
(6)
Antifertility activity of kaempferol-7-O-glucoside isolate from Cassia nodosa Bunch. / Daulat Singh; K. sharma, S.; Shekhawat, M. S.; Yadav, K. K.; Sharma, R. A.; Yadav, R. K. / Electronic Journal of Environmental, Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2012 Vol. 11 No. 5 pp. 477-492
(7)
A new chromone from Cassia nodosa. / R Kumar, M Ilyas, M Parveen, Shafiullah / J. Asian Nat Prod Res: 8(7), pp 595-598.
(8)
Antioxidant properties of methanolic extracts of the leaves of seven Egyptian Cassia species
/ EZZAT EL-SAYED ABDEL-LATEEF2 et al / Acta Pharm. 60 (2010) 361–367 / 10.2478/v10007-010-0030-y
(9)
Isolation and Quantification of Kaempferol-7-O-Glucoside and their Antimicrobial Screening of Cassia nodosa Bunch / Daulat Singh, Santosh K. Sharma, H.C.Gupta & Ram Avatar Sharma / Asian Journal of Biochemical and Pharmaceutical Research, Issue 3 (Vol. 1) 2011
(10)
Antimicrobial activity of sequential extracts from leaves of Cassia nodosa Buch / Sharma, R. A.*, Richa Bhardwaj and Pallavi Sharma / African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Vol. 7(27), pp. 1876-1879, 22 July, 2013 / DOI 10.5897/AJPP09.292
(11)
STUDIES ON SOME PRIMARY METABOLITE'S EXTRACTION AND QUANTIFICATION IN DIFFERENT PLANT PARTS OF SELECTED CASSIA SPECIES / B. L. SHARMA, DAULAT SINGH, SANTOSH K. SHARMA*, AFZAL HASHMI, ARJUN SINGH, ANIL BANSAL /Asian J Pharm Clin Res, Vol 6, Suppl 2, 2013, 309-314
(12)
Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Activity of Anthraquinones Isolated from Different Parts of Cassia nodosa / Ankita Yadav, Richa Bhardwaj and R A Sharma / Research Journal of Medicinal Plant, 2013 / DO!: 10.3923/rjmp.2013
(13)
Cassia javanica / Synonyms / EOL
(14)
Hypoglycemic activity of Cassia javanica Linn. in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats / Urmila C. Kumavat, Shraddha N Shimpi, and Sandesh P Jagdale / J Adv Pharm Technol Res. 2012 Jan-Mar; 3(1): 47–51.  / doi:  10.4103/2231-4040.93562

 


It is not uncommon for links on studies/sources to change. Copying and pasting the information on the search window or using the DOI (if available) will often redirect to the new link page.

HOME      •      SEARCH      •      EMAIL    •     ABOUT