Erythrina mulungu

Erythrina mulungu (Mulungu) is a Brazilian ornamental tree and medicinal plant native to the cerrado and caatinga ecoregions in Brazil, South America.

Mulungu
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Rosids
Order:
Fabales
Family:
Fabaceae
Genus:
Erythrina
Species:
E. mulungu
Binomial name
Erythrina mulungu
Synonyms

Corallodendrum mulungu Kuntze
Erythrina flammea Herzog
Erythrina verna Vell.

Description
A single flower of Erythrina mulungu

This tree reaches up to 15 meters in height.[1]

Seeds
Erythrina mulungu seeds

The red-orange seeds germinate in organo-sandy substrates covered with a layer between 0.5 - 2 cm of the same, being irrigated daily, emerging between 7 and 16 days having high germination rate.[2] Breaking dormancy is not usually necessary. But when it is needed, it is performed through germinative treatments consisting of mechanical scarification of the area opposite to the hilum and immersion in water for 24 hours.[3]

The seeds are considered very toxic. Ingestion should be avoided and there is a danger of death.[1]

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.[4][5]

Commercial preparations of Mulungu are available in Brazilian drugstores, but is not very widely known in North America and almost unknown in Europe, appearing mostly as an ingredient in only a few herbal formulas for anxiety or depression.[5]

Mulungu extract composition

Chemical compounds found in Mulungu extract include the tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids erythravine and (+)-11α-hydroxy-erythravine.[6]

See also

References
  1. "Mulungu-da-caatinga (Erythrina velutina Willd.)" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  2. "Sementes de Mulungu Suinã - Erythrina verna". Click Mudas (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  3. Vasconcellos, Henrique Castro; et al. (8 July 2013). "Physiological responses of Erythrina verna seedlings on seed pre-germinative treatments and sowing depth". Ciência Florestal. 25 (1): 59–66. doi:10.1590/1980-509820152505059 (inactive 2021-01-11). ISSN 1980-5098. Retrieved 3 April 2019.CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2021 (link)
  4. Lorenzi, H (2009-01-01). Árvores brasileiras: manual de identificação e cultivo de plantas arbóreas nativas do Brasil (in Portuguese). Nova Odessa: Instituto Plantarum. OCLC 709271473.
  5. Rodrigues, V.E.G.; Carvalho, D.A. (2001-01-01). "Levantamento etnobotânico de plantas medicinais no domínio do cerrado na região do Alto Rio Grande - Minas Gerais". Ciência e Agrotecnologia. 25 (1). ISSN 1413-7054.
  6. Flausino Jr, OA; Pereira, AM; Da Silva Bolzani, V; Nunes-De-Souza, RL (2007). "Effects of erythrinian alkaloids isolated from Erythrina mulungu (Papilionaceae) in mice submitted to animal models of anxiety". Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin. 30 (2): 375–8. doi:10.1248/bpb.30.375. PMID 17268084.



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