Sunday, February 13, 2011

White weed, a natural wound healer

White weed or Chick weed (Ageratum conyzoides) is an annual herbaceous plants, including members of the Asteraceae tribe. These plants come from tropical America and into Indonesia known as "Bandotan". "Bandot" is another word for goat. This plant is called so because it has an odor resembling the smell of goat.

In Indonesia, white weed is a plant weeds that interfere with agricultural. This plant can live between 1 to 2100 m altitude above sea level. Shape rounded plant stems, standing erect, rarely hairy and branched. The high may reach 90 to 120 cm. Leaf-stemmed, situated facing each other and compositae, leaf blade ovate with rounded base and pointed tip, serrated edge, 1-10 cm long, 0.5 to 6 cm wide, long-haired second leaf surface with a gland located in lower surface of leaves, the color green.

Flowers with the same sex together in the hump, hump it then gather 3 or more, panicle-shaped flat coming out of the end of the shaft, it was white. 6-8 mm long flower bulbs, with a hairy stem. Crown with a narrow tube, white or purple. The fruit is black, pentagonal, and is small. This herb flowering throughout the year and can produce up to 40,000 seeds per individual plant. Therefore, it felt pretty annoying weeds in plantation.

This plant is known in Indonesia as a traditional medicinal plants to treat wounds. According to the results of a study, "white weed leaf extract in a dose of coconut oil 40% and 80% to heal wounds significantly with increasing dose. In fact, the effect of wound healing at doses of 80% did not differ significantly with povidone iodine 10% "(Eliza Magdalena, the UI JF Science, 1993).

White weed plants containing amino acids, organacid, pectic substance, volatile oil coumarin, ageratochromene, friedelin, ß-sitosterol, stigmasterol, tannins, sulfur, and potassium chloride. White weed roots contain essential oils, alkaloids, and coumarins. Savor White weed is a stimulant, tonic, reliever fever (antipyretic), antitoksik, eliminating swelling, stopping the bleeding (hemostatis), launched menstruation (emenagog), paved the urine (diuretic), and launch a fart (carminative). White weed leaf can be used also as a botanical insecticide. In addition conyzoide.s Ageratum L., there are other varieties of white weed that has the same efficacy, namely Ageratum haoustonianum Mill. (www.iptek.net.id)

However, it also has a power plant toxins. In Western countries, white weed is also used as an insecticide and Nematisida. Meanwhile, other studies have found that this plant can cause injuries to the liver and tumor growth. This plant contains alkaloids pirolizidina. (id.wikipedia.org)

Following the traditional ingredients of white weed plants commonly for the treatment of wounds. Wash the fresh taste of white weed thoroughly, then mash until smooth. Place the herbs into the body of the sick, and then bandaged with a bandage. Change the dressing 3 times a day. Perform this treatment until healed.