Dominican Medicinal Plants: A Guide for Health Care Providers

- Contusions and musculoskeletal trauma
- Cysts
- Excess or abnormal vaginal discharge
- Menstrual cramps (dysmenorrhea)
- Postpartum
- Skin inflammation
- Uterine fibroids
- Vaginal infections
Plant Part Used: Seeds and powdered seed-covering.
Traditional Preparation: The seed coat of this plant is ground to a powder and may be heated in oil,
extracted in alcohol and/or added to herbal mixtures prepared as a tea by decoction or as a tincture.
Traditional Uses: The red seed coat (aril) of this plant is often thought of as a good source of iron and
used as a remedy for anemia. Seeds are ground to a coarse powder and combined with beets and molasses
to treat uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, breast cysts, dysmenorrhea and anemia. Sometimes other
ingredients are added to this mixture, such as powdered iron supplements (hierro de polvo), magnesium,
beets (remolacha) or malt beverage (malta alemana, a non-alcoholic drink that is popular in the
Dominican Republic).
For skin conditions, such as burns, the seeds are boiled with milk or heated in cooking oil to
extract their therapeutic properties and then applied locally to the affected area. For recovering from
injury, musculoskeletal trauma or contusions, the seeds are crushed, combined with red wine (vino tinto)
and taken orally. For labor pain during childbirth and postpartum recovery, bija seed-coat is combined
with the following plants to make a medicinal drink (bebedizo): guinea hen-weed (anamú), minnieroot
(guaucí) root, passionflower (caguazo) herb and castor bean plant (higuereta) seed oil (Yukes et al. 2002-
2003). For vaginal infections characterized by excessive vaginal discharge (flujo vaginal), the seeds are
taken orally (Vandebroek & Balick 2009).
Availability: Dried bija seeds are commonly sold at grocery stores, supermarkets, neighborhood
convenience stores, bodegas and botánicas.
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
Bija (Bixa orellana) is a small tree that grows to 8 m in height. Leaves are arranged in an alternate pattern
and are oval or heart-shaped with a pointed tip, long leaf-stalk and clearly defined veins. Flowers have
pink, rose or white petals and yellow stamens. Fruit capsules are green to brown and densely covered with
soft, pliable, reddish spines. Each capsule contains numerous small seeds that are covered with a scarlet
aril and attached to the inside wall (Bailey Hortorium Staff 1976).
Distribution: Native to tropical America, this plant is widely cultivated as a dye and food plant and has
become naturalized in tropical areas of the Old World (Bailey Hortorium Staff 1976).
SAFETY & PRECAUTIONS
Bija is considered safe for human consumption as a food and flavoring agent. In a nutritional and toxicity
study, annatto seeds were dried, powdered and analyzed for their chemical constituents and nutritional
value. The toxicity level was found to be insignificant and the vitamin and mineral content as well as the
fiber fractions were very similar to those of cereals but with a higher level of carotenoids. Results support
the safe use of this resource as a food for human nutrition when combined with other foodstuffs (Wurts &
Torreblanca 1983). Allergic reactions have been reported: in a human clinical trial, 56 patients suffering
from chronic urticaria and/or angioneurotic edema were given annatto extract (dose equivalent to that in
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