Chithirapala

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Overview

Euphorbia hirta, also known as asthma-plant, is a pantropical weed native to the tropical regions of the Americas.
It is a hairy herb that grows in open grasslands, roadsides, and pathways, widely used in traditional herbal medicine across various cultures for asthma, skin ailments, and hypertension.
It is also consumed as herbal tea, known as tawa-tawa in the Philippines, used for fevers, especially in treating dengue fever and malaria.

Asthma weed is a slender-stemmed, annual hairy plant with many branches, reaching up to 40 cm in height, and displaying a reddish or purplish colour.
Leaves are opposite, elliptic-oblong to oblong-lancelike, 1-2.5 cm long, with purple blotches in the middle and toothed edges.
Flowers are purplish to greenish, forming dense, axillary, short-stalked clusters or crowded cymes, about 1 mm in length.
Capsules are broadly ovoid, hairy, three-angled, approximately 1.5 cm.

E. hirta has been studied by various researchers, revealing several active constituents.
Compounds isolated from the methanolic extract of E.hirta include Afzelin, quercitrin, and myricitrin.
Other identified compounds in E. hirta encompasses rutin, quercitin, euphorbin-A, euphorbin-B, euphorbin-C, euphorbin-D, 2,4,6-tri-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose, 1,3,4,6-tetra-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose, kaempferol, gallic acid, and protocatechuic acid.
Additional components consists of β-amyrin, 24-methylenecycloartenol, β-sitosterol, heptacosane, nonacosane, shikimic acid, tinyatoxin, choline, camphol, and quercitol derivatives containing rhamnose and chtolphenolic acid.

Asthma weed has traditionally been used in Asia for bronchitic asthma and laryngeal spasms, and in modern herbalism, it is often employed for the treatment of intestinal amoebic dysentery.
Expert guidance is advised, as large doses may cause gastrointestinal irritation, nausea, and vomiting. The plant possesses anodyne, antipruritic, carminative, depurative, diuretic, febrifuge, galactogogue, purgative and vermifuge properties.
Aerial parts of the plant, harvested when in flower during the summer, can be dried for later use. Internally, the stem is renowned for treating asthma, bronchitis, and various lung complaints.
The herb relaxes the bronchioles but depresses the heart and general respiration. It is commonly used in combination with other anti-asthma herbs such as Grindelia camporum and Lobelia inflata.
It is also used to treat intestinal amoebic dysentery. The whole plant is decocted and used in the treatment of athlete’s foot, dysentery, enteritis, and skin conditions. It has historical use in the treatment of syphilis.
The sap is applied to warts for removal, requiring 2 – 3 repetitions daily over several weeks for full effectiveness.
Asthma weed has been used for remediating respiratory diseases, dysentery, jaundice, gonorrhea, pimples, tumors, digestive problems, and childhood infections.

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