Rank Species | Genus Erythrina Higher classification Erythrina | |
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Similar Erythrina, Erythrina velutina, Bauhinia forficata, Espinheira Santa, Legumes | ||
Erythrina mulungu v xten du blir mulugn av
Erythrina mulungu (Mulungu) is a Brazilian ornamental tree and medicinal plant native to the cerrado and caatinga ecoregions in Brazil, South America.
Contents
Herbal medicine
Several Erythrina tree species are used by indigenous peoples in the Amazon as medicines, insecticides and fish poisons. Tinctures and decoctions made from the leaves or barks of Mulungu are often used in Brazilian traditional medicine as a sedative, to calm an overexcited nervous system, to lower blood pressure and for insomnia and depression.
Commercial preparations of Mulungu are available in Brazilian drugstores, but is not very widely known in North America and almost unknown in Europe; mostly appearing as an ingredient in only a few herbal formulas for anxiety or depression.
Mulungu extract composition
Chemical compounds found in Mulungu extract include the tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids erythravine and (+)-11α-hydroxy-erythravine.
