Lemba

Lemba
Scientific Name	Molineria latifolia
Family	Hypocedaceae
Synonyms	Curculigo latifolia Dyrander
Common Name	Lemba, lumbah, Sweet Seed plant
Plant material of Interest	Leaves, Rhizome and flowers. Decoctions of flowers and roots are taken as a stocachic and diuretic Stemless herb, bears fruits weighing 1 g. The pulp of fruite taste sweet

{slider=Geographical & Distribution}

Malaysia, India, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines.Ecology: Shade locing plants, thriving under partly shaded or sunless conditions with abundant water supply

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{slider=Chemical Contents}

Curculin (Yamashita H. et al 1990).

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{slider=Traditional Uses}

To treat distended stomach: eat the leaves To treat cough: chew the fruit together with bettel leaves To treat swelling, cut and malaria, kidney disorder, headaches, ulcers, cough and swellings. Decoction of rhizome drunk for menorrhagia and fever, flowers and root are used as stomachic and duretic in genito-urinary disorders, fruits which have sweet tasting and taste modifying activities are used for dianbetis control and poultice of the flowers is exerted on inflammations and wounds.

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{slider=Pharmacology}

Antimicrobial:

Root of M. latifolia exhibited an activity against Candida albicans, the results comparable with available antibiotics, antifungal and Cassia alata extracts at equivalent concentration (Napisah H et al 2011).

Antioxidant:

Hot water extract of leaves has the highest antioxidant activity compared to ethanolic extract of leaves and roots.(Kiewyot R. et al 2013).

Antidiabetic and Hypolipidemic Activities:

C. latifolia fruits used as alternative sweetener while root is used as alternative treatment for diuretic and urinary problems. The antidiabetic and hypolipidemic activities of C. latifolia fruit:root aqueous extract in high fat diet and 40 mg streptozotocin induced diabetic rats through expression of genes involved in glucose and lipid metabolisms were investigated. Diabetic rats treated with C. latifolia fruit:root extract for 4 weeks. Plasma glucose, insulin, adiponectin, lipid profiles, alanine aminotransferase, gamma glutamytrensferase, urea and critinine levels were measured before and after treatments. Results showed the significant (P<0.05) increase in body weight, high density lipoprotein, insulin and adiponectin levels and decreassed glucose, total cholesterol, triglicerides, low density lipoprotein, urea, creatinine, ALT and GGT levels in diabetic rats after 4 weeks treatment. C. latifolia fruit:root extract significantly increased the expression of IRS-1, IGF-1, GLUT4, PPARα, PPARγ, AdipoR1, AdipoR2, leptin, LPL and Lipase genes in adipose and muscle tissues in diabetic rats. These results suggest that C. latifolia fruit:root extract exerts antidiabetic and hypolipidemic effects through altering regulation genes in glucose and lipid metabolisms in diabetic rats (Ishak N. et al., 2013).

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{slider=Reference}

Kieyot R., S. Yonchai, K. Nakklaing, O. Chaichumporn and Siriphatr Chamutpong (2013). Free Radical Scavenging and Antioxidant Properties of Molineria latifolia Herb. Extracts. Proceeings of the 1st Academic Science and Technology Conference ASTC2013.

Ishak N., M.Ismail, M. Jhamid, Z. Ahmad & S.A. Abd Ghafar (2013). Antidiabetic and Hypolipidemic Activities of Curculigo latifolia Fruit: Root extract in high fat diet and low dose STZ Induced Diabetic Rats. Evidance Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine  http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2013/601838/

Napisah H., A. Azmahani, A.L. Zubaidi, A. Intan and A. Nazifah (2011). A Preliminary study on the Antimicrobial Properties of Several Plants Collected from Trengganu , Malaysia. J. Agrobiotech , 2,p99-106.

Yamashita H., S. Theerasilp, T. Aiuchi, K. Nakaya, Y. Nakamura & Y. Kurihara (1990). Purification and complete amino acid sequence of a New Type of Sweet Protein with Taste-modifying activity, curculin. The Journal of Biological Chemistry  265 Pg 15770-15775.

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