MEDlCINAL PLANTS OF JAMAICA. PARTS 1 & 11.

ANACARDIACEAE
About five hundred species of woody plants of tropical and temperate regions. Resin ducts are present
and fats, tannins, resins and pigments are widely distributed in bark, wood, seeds and leaves. Alkaloids,
glycosideii, saponins and essential oils are, with few exceptions, absent.
ANACARDIUM OCCIDENTALE L. Cashew.
Beckwith reports the use of cashew leaves in combination with Dryopteris sp.. rat ears (Peperomia
pellucida, Kth.) and maidenhair fern in the treatment of colds and 'any sickness at all'. A plant of each of the last
three is wrapped in a wad with three cashew leaves and boiled in water. Cashew leaves are sometimes used in
bush baths for fever, Barham recommended the use of a leaf decoction to bathe ulcers, and in some parts of
Africa young leaves are used in the treatment of dysentery, diarrhoea and piles, while infusions of the leaves
and bark are used for dysentery, toothache and sore gums. Such infusions are astringent. The bark contains
tannin.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the astringent cashew apple or the expressed juice (fermented
or in wine) were considered valuable in treatment of gastric or uterine disorders and dropsy. The ripe fruit is
said to be diuretic and antiscorbutic, while some consider that punch prepared from it is an aphrodisiac.
The shell of the nut contains gallic acid and an acrid red-brown oil containing cardole (C 32H 52O 8) and anacardic
acid, (C2~ H:J~08)' This oil is a vesicant and has been used to remove warts, corns, freckles, 'worms in ulcers'
(Barham), chigoes, and. in parts of Africa for carious teeth. The pericarp oil is said to contain 10 per cent
cardole which is the caustic principle.
Anacardium gum is similar to gum acacia and has been used in a similar manner. The seeds (cashew
nuts) contain 40 to 50 per cent fatty oil. (2, 5. 7. 8, 14. 15, 18, 24, 26, 27).
MANGIFERA INDICA L. Manqo.
It seems doubtful if this species is much used medicinally in Jamaica but the fruit contains vitamins A.
Band C and traces of D. Black mangoes particularly are said to be laxative. Leaves are used in baths. Tannins
and resins are present in bark and leaves, and these parts of the plant are used for their astringent properties in
Africa and the East. In Africa the juice of the trunk is used as an anti-syphilitic and the seeds are said to be
anthelmintic. The bark contains up to 20 per cent tannins. (2, 15, 27).
SPONDIAS MONBIN L. Hoq Plum.
Beckwith says that the buds are chewed and the juice swallowed or they are boiled for tea in the
treatment of colds. while Barham mentioned an infusion of bark and leaves for oedema. In Africa the bark,
leaves, and fruit are used medicinally in cases of coughs, fever, constipation, yaws. gonorrhoea, tapeworms.
children's stomach troubles. and as tea and lotion in childbirth. The bark contains tannins and gum-resin. (2. 7).
ANNONACEAE
A mainly tropical family of about eight hundred species. Essential and fatty oils are found in the flowers
and seeds. The fruits contain sugar and organic acids. The essential oils contain phellandrine. limonene. pinene.
geraniol. eugenol and cineole.
ANNONA MURICATA L. Soursop.
The fruit pulp. which is used in the preparation of drinks and ice-cream. contains vitamin C. It has been
used as a febrifuge and the dried unripe fruit in the form of a powder was at one time used for dysentery. The
plant (probably a tea made from the leaves) is said to induce perspiration and to be used for colds and 'nerves'.
In Africa the whole plant is used for colds. coughs and fever, and the bark and root. which contain tannin. for
dysentery and worms. In the Grenadines the leaves are used to make tea for fever, coughs and colds, 'to
cool the blood' and as a sedative for vomiting. The leaves contain volatile oil, an alkaloid-like substance. fatty
acids. phytosterol. myricyl alcohol and anonol which is isomeric with grindelol (C 23H 36O 2(OH) 2). (5. 10, 13, 25,
27).